BY DAVE PRICE
Daily Post Editor
Sometimes I wonder if there is a God. And then God does something to make it clear that He’s here.
In December 2020, everybody was pretty depressed. The Covid lockdown, which began as “three weeks to flatten the curve,” had become 35 weeks of home confinement and there was no end in sight. People had lost their jobs, businesses had failed and the despair led two people I knew to take their own lives.
Even more depressing was the fact that people in East Palo Alto were coming down with Covid at a much higher rate than in Palo Alto. One member of a family would bring it home and it would rapidly spread throughout the house because homes in EPA generally housed more people than Palo Alto.
So we started writing about that in the Post. We had front-page banner headlines and the strongest editorials I could muster urging our local governments to do more testing and expedite the distribution of the vaccinations.
Usually, I’m not emotional when covering a story. I don’t care who wins the election, just that we get the results before deadline. If a business fails, I want the story first and to get all the details right. If I cover a gruesome car accident, I’m able to interview witnesses and take pictures with a stiff upper lip.
The EPA story was different. People I knew were getting Covid. It was spreading through families like wildfire. EPA had a much higher rate of Covid per capita than other cities. The other newspapers never mentioned a word about it. Nothing on the plight of EPA made the TV news. Very few local officials cared.
Then one Monday night in December 2020, I was watching the Palo Alto City Council meeting while they were talking about disbursement of federal block grant money to various nonprofits. Not very exciting TV. But if you were paying attention, there was a twist. One of the agencies that was supposed to get about $350,000 turned down the grant, saying they couldn’t meet federal guidelines. So the council had an unexpected $350,000 to spend.
Because of the Covid lockdown, public comment was occurring over the phone. Mayor Adrian Fine went to the phones and said something like, “We have Joe from Palo Alto on line 1,” as if it was a radio call-in show.
“Joe,” as it turned out, was none other than Santa Clara County Supervisor and Palo Alto resident Joe Simitian. Simitian had a great idea for the newly freed-up funds. He asked council to give the money to East Palo Alto’s Ravenswood Family Health Center so it could buy a mobile Covid testing and vaccine clinic.
Approved unanimously
Right away there were questions about whether Palo Alto — a city in Santa Clara County — could use its block grant money to help a nonprofit in San Mateo County. After some discussion, Mayor Fine said that because Palo Alto is more affluent, it could afford to front the cost of helping other cities in the Covid crisis. Council approved the idea unanimously.
Many politicians had ignored the situation in EPA. But Simitian and the Palo Alto City Council knew that helping their neighbor was the right thing to do. You could say they were doing God’s work.
Editor Dave Price’s column appears on Mondays.
As a non-religious person I find it offensive that I would need a supreme being to do good work and help others. I’m fully capable of empathy and generousity without being threatened with eternal damnation.
I agree. Well said.
So a human in the physical world had an idea that used real technology to help other humans in the real world and that’s proof of a god? Interesting logic.
Simitian was the real deal. It was a shame he didn’t get into congress. Too bad Julie Lythcott Haims decided to run, she took away the Palo Alto votes that would have put Simitian over the top considering the district was gerrymandered to give San Jose another seat in the House.
This column is incredibly disappointing. Regardless of your personal beliefs, Dave, what happened to jouranlism’s most sacred vow of separation of church and state? I’ve no idea what made you take this public path, but–again–I’m disappointed for the countless devoted readers who’ve no interest in your imagined god (s). For decades, we’ve trusted you for you sane perspective during treacherous times. Now that trust is lost.
Kait, you’re one confused puppy. The separation between church and state is about the constitution. Newspapers are free to discuss religion however they want. In fact, there are newspapers that are affiliated with religious groups, like the Christian Science Monitor, J News, the Valley Catholic, the Epoch Times and the Washington Times, to name a few. So I realize you’re a big fan of censorship but you live in the wrong country.
I think it’s OK for Price to give his opinions on the Opinion page of the paper, as he has done here. If you disagree with his viewpoint, I’m sure he would print your letter. One purpose of the paper is to explain things, and this is his explanation. I guess you have a better one. But everyone was ignoring the problem in East Palo Alto until this happened.
If you’ve worked in an emergency department for any amount of time, and talked to people who realize they’re going to die, it’s amazing how many atheists discover a belief in god in their final moments on earth. Funny how that happens.