Community

Marin Ranked Healthiest County in State

Marin County again has been ranked the healthiest of California’s 58 counties because of its relatively low burden of premature deaths, high scores in quality of life, clinical care, and social and economic factors, according to the 2023 County Health Rankings & Roadmaps[External] released March 29.

Published

1 month ago

April 21, 2023

Oakland Post

The rankings, released annually by the University of Wisconsin and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, allows counties across the nation to measure community health and well-being over time. Marin has been ranked No. 1 for 13 of the 14 years the rankings have been compiled.

Despite retaining top spot, work continues to tackle inequities

San Rafael, CA – Marin County again has been ranked the healthiest of California’s 58 counties because of its relatively low burden of premature deaths, high scores in quality of life, clinical care, and social and economic factors, according to the 2023 County Health Rankings & Roadmaps[External] released March 29.

Although Marin is consistently ranked among the healthiest counties in California, Marin County Public Health is determined to improve health for all and reduce disparities.

The rankings place greatest weight on quality and length of life. The average Marin resident can expect to live 85.2 years, among the longest in the nation. The report highlights specific factors that support health and longevity at a community level, and Marin ranks highly in almost all areas including access to high quality health care, clean air and water, and access to green space and healthy foods.

“There’s lots to celebrate here,” said Dr. Matt Willis, County of Marin Public Health Officer. “The rankings reinforce what we’re doing right and show us where we have work to do. It’s important to see that a single ranking can hide real disparities in Marin.”

While Marin consistently fares well in most measures, the county falls short in the same two areas year after year: health inequities between communities, and high rates of substance use.

Life expectancy among African American residents in Marin County is 78.3 years, a difference of nearly seven years from the countywide average. The rankings also highlight racial disparities that continue to drive the gap in life expectancy, including disparities in income, housing, health care, and education.

Those known inequities fuel the County’s work to address factors including mental health and housing, as outlined in Marin County’s 2022 Race Equity Plan and the 2018 Health and Human Services Plan for Health and Wellness Equity.

To better inform health equity efforts, Marin County Public Health is developing a data dashboard to describe life expectancy and causes of preventable deaths in all Marin communities. The local data will allow County and community partners to develop informed, equity-focused interventions and help residents participate in improving the health of their own neighborhoods through participation in initiatives such as the County’s participatory budgeting process.

“We remain committed to doing the hard work and changing the outcomes so all in Marin can thrive and live healthy lives,” said Niccore Tyler, Marin Health and Human Services’ Chief Strategy Officer.

“During the pandemic, the success of COVID-19 Community Response Teams demonstrated the value of leading our work through an equity lens to achieve equitable outcomes,” she continued. “While Marin is a healthy place for many, we must recognize that the benefits of our thriving county are not jointly shared. Race is the largest determining factor for outcomes related to health, wealth, and overall quality of life. This is why we, as a county, must continue to lead with race in achieving equitable health outcomes.”

Marin also stands out for higher than state-average overdose deaths. High rates of substance use in all Marin communities is a consistent theme in the rankings. New efforts to curb overdose include the launch of OD Free Marin, a countywide coalition to promote awareness, increase the availability of the overdose reversal spray naloxone, and increase access to substance abuse treatment and mental health services.

Todd Schirmer, Director of Marin County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, said Marin residents are dying from substance use at alarming rates, impacting families, schools, and communities.

“Substance use is a complex problem and requires innovative, system-wide solutions,” Schirmer said. “Marin is increasing its investments to flatten the overdose curve in multiple areas, including deploying additional substance use care navigators, enhancing outreach efforts to overdose survivors, and implementing naloxone vending machines throughout the county.”

Willis concluded, “This report reinforces key lessons of the pandemic. While we’re fortunate to live in a healthy community, significant gaps remain. We’ll have a lot more to celebrate when everyone in Marin has the same chance for a long and healthy life.”

Each year, the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute updates the factors evaluated in the rankings to match emerging public health issues; this year Civic Infrastructure and Participation were added as priority metrics.

Visit www.MarinHHS.org for more information or review Marin’s ranking in more detail at CountyHealthRankings.org.

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Activism

Community Opposes High Rise Development That Threatens Geoffrey’s Inner Circle

City Council chambers were full for the May 17 Planning Commission hearing, and almost all the 40 speakers who had signed up to make presentations talked about the importance of the Inner Circle as part of Oakland and Geoffrey Pete as a stalwart community and business leader who has served the city for decades.

Published

2 days ago

May 30, 2023

Oakland Post

Geoffrey Pete went to City Hall to appeal the city Planning Commission’s approval of the high-rise development that threatens the closure of his 44-year historic cultural mecca. Photo by Jonathan ‘Fitness’ Jones.

By Ken Epstein

An outpouring of community supporters – young, old, jazz lovers, environmentalists and committed Oakland partisans – spoke out at a recent Planning Commission hearing to support Geoffrey Pete and his cultural center – The Inner Circle – an historic Oakland landmark whose future is threatened by a proposed skyscraper that out-of-town-developer Tidewater Capital wants to build in the midst of the city’s Black Arts Movement and Business District (BAMBD).

The speakers argued passionately and persuasively, winning the sympathy of the commissioners, but were ultimately unsuccessful as the Commission unanimously approved the high-rise to be built either as a residential building or office tower on Franklin Street directly behind Geoffrey’s building.

Mr. Pete has said he would appeal the decision to the City Council. He has 10 days after the hearing to file an appeal on the office building. His appeal on the residential tower has already been submitted.

Mr. Pete said the Planning Department still has not published the boundaries of the BAMBD. “Tidewater’s applications and subsequent applications should not be approved until the Planning Department fully acknowledges the existence of the BAMBD,” he said.

“This (proposed) building poses a grave danger to the historic (Inner Circle) building next to it, arguably Oakland’s most meaningful historic building,” Pete said.

“We’re here to advocate for what’s best for the African American district and community that has gotten no representation, no advocacy, as of yet,” he said. “The (commission) is guilty, the City of Oakland is guilty, and Tidewater is guilty.”

One of the first speakers was Gwendolyn Traylor, known as Lady SunRise, who directly addressed the developers.

“With all due to respect to your business, it’s not a need of this community. I would like to ask you to reconsider the location …What is being (promised) here does not add to the healing of this community,” she said.

Naomi Schiff of the Oakland Heritage Alliance emphasized that Geoffrey’s Inner Circle is a treasure of Oakland’s history.

“Our first concern is the integrity of the historic district, in particular the former Athenian-Nile Club, now Mr. Pete’s equally historic venue, which has been the location of a great number of important community events,” she said. “It would not be OK with us if the integrity of the building were damaged in any way, no matter how much insurance (the developer bought) because it is very difficult to repair a historic building once it’s damaged.”

The Inner Circle was previously owned and operated by the Athenian-Nile Club, one of the Bay Area’s largest all-white-male exclusive private membership club, where politicians and power brokers closed back-room deals over handshakes and three martini lunches.

Cephus “Uncle Bobby X” Johnson pointed out that commissioners and the city’s Planning Department have “acknowledged that you went through the entire design review process without even knowing that the Black Arts Movement and Business District existed.”

The district was created in 2016 by City Council resolution. “At the heart of the opposition to this building is the desire to further the legacy of local Black entertainment and entrepreneurship exemplified by businesses like Mr. Pete’s … a historical landmark and venue (that serves) thousands of people who listen to jazz and other entertainment and hold weddings, receptions, and memorial services,” said Uncle Bobby.

This development is taking place within a context in which the “Black population in Oakland has decreased rapidly … because of the city’s concentration on building houses that are not affordable for people who currently live in Oakland,” he said.

John Dalrymple of East Bay Residents for Responsible Development said, “This project will result in significant air quality, public health, noise, and traffic impacts. He said the city has not adequately studied the (unmitigated) impacts of this project on the Black Arts Movement and Business District.

“This project is an example of what developers are being allowed to do when they don’t have to follow the law, and they don’t have to be sensitive to our city’s culture and values,” he said. The commission should “send a signal today that we will no longer be a feeding ground for the rich.”

Prominent Oakland businessman Ray Bobbitt told commissioners, “Any decision that you make is a contribution to the systemic process that creates a disproportionate impact on Black people. Please do yourself a favor, (and) rethink this scenario. Give Mr. Pete, who is a leader in our community, an opportunity to set the framework before you make any decision.”

Though the City Council created the BAMBD, the 2016 resolution was never implemented. The district was created to “highlight, celebrate, preserve and support the contributions of Oakland’s Black artists and business owners and the corridor as a place central historically and currently to Oakland’s Black artists and Black-owned businesses.”

The district was intended to promote Black arts, political movements, enterprises, and culture in the area, and to bring in resources through grants and other funding.

Activism

Community Meeting on Crime and Violence

Join Oakland City Councilmember Dan Kalb to discuss the uptick in crime and violence in District 1 and across Oakland. Representatives from the Oakland Police Department will be in attendance. This event will be held in-person and online.

Published

2 days ago

May 29, 2023

Oakland Post

Oakland City Councilmember Dan Kalb

Tuesday, May 30, 2023
6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.

Oakland Technical H.S. Auditorium
300-340 42^nd St.
Oakland, CA 94611

For more information, contact District 1 Chief of Staff Seth Steward: ssteward@oaklandca.gov, 510-238-7013.

Bay Area

UniverSoul Circus Opens in Richmond

Described by show organizers as a highly interactive combination of circus arts and theatre that spans musical genres, UniverSoul Circus will feature flipping motorcycles, stilt dancers, Fire Limbo Benders, ancestral carnival characters, clowns, flamboyantly costumed dancers and more “in a celebration of energy.”

Published

2 days ago

May 29, 2023

Oakland Post

Clowns who perform with UniverSoul Circus. Photo courtesy UniverSoul Circus.

By Kathy Chouteau | The Richmond Standard

UniverSoul Circus kicked off its Bay Area run under the Big Top at Hilltop Mall last week with the performances continuing during various times through Sun., June 19.

The UniverSoul Circus is a single ring circus, established in 1994 by Cedric Walker and Calvin “Casual Cal” Dupree, an African American man who had a vision of creating a circus with a large percentage of people of color performing. He began searching for people from all around the world with incredible talents. Richmond police Chief Bisa French and City Manager Shasa Curl were set to be guest ringmasters for the opening night show.

“Get ready to be amazed and frightened at the terrifying, gravity- defying acrobats on the Wheel of Death or the bold, breathtaking daredevils on the High Wire,” said UniverSoul Circus in a statement about the show.

This season’s theme is, ‘We All Belong,’ according Walker, the circus founder and CEO. “We all belong to one human race. Everyone is coming together, different cultures, different people, a new transcultural fusion, a new generation inclusive and together in a UniverSoul Experience!”

Venue:
Hilltop Mall
2200 Hilltop Mall Rd, Richmond, CA 94806

Showtimes:
Thurs-Fri: 7:00 p.m.
Sat: 11:30 a.m., 3:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m.
Sun: 11:00 a.m., 2:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m.

Box Office Hours:
Tues: 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Wed-Fri: 11:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Sat: 9:00 a.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Sun: 9:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Mon: 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (Memorial Day)

Tickets range from $27.50 to $60 depending on your seat and you can purchase them on Ticketmaster. Visit www.universoulcircus.com for more info.