August 29, 2022
Congratulations to Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, the awardee of this year’s Ronald Kendrick Memorial Award for Regional Collaboration! As the Chair of the County Board of Supervisors, Supervisor Fletcher has been on the front lines, leading in collaboration across our region’s communities through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Supervisor Fletcher took action to make funding and support services available to small business owners, nonprofits, and their employees at the onset of the pandemic. Nearly $150 million in funding was provided through programs such as the County Relief Program for Small Businesses and Restaurants; Economic Relief Packages for businesses closed in the Purple Tier; and the San Diego COVID-19 Community Response Fund, administered by The San Diego Foundation, assisted people struggling with food security, other essential living expenses, emergent needs, and rent and utility payments. Recently, Supervisor Fletcher Secured $10 million for Frontline Worker Childcare Vouchers and $1 million to support YMCA Summer Camp operations and scholarships so children from low-income homes could have a place to go as parents returned to work.
Regional collaborations were also sought with the San Diego & Imperial Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network to establish the SBDC Businesses Adapting to the New COVID-19 Environment initiative with $1.7 million in funding from the US Small Business Administration (SBA) and the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (Go-Biz.), to educate, communicate, and assist San Diego County small business owners with navigating requirements related to the COVID-19 pandemic as they reopened. Supervisor Fletcher has provided transparent, consistent communication regarding public health, emergency response and pandemic recovery to our communities. His partnership with the City of San Diego and the Governor of California were vital to the success of how San Diego navigated the pandemic with safety and consideration of constituents’ needs. Supervisor Fletcher continues to demonstrate strong, collaborative, compassionate leadership during extraordinary times.