The order signaled to managers that plans for working remotely would need to be set in motion in order to keep employees safe while maintaining day to day operations throughout the City and County of San Francisco.
MEA managers worked tirelessly to transition teams into effective remote-based units. Public-facing departments had the added challenge of finding new ways to provide services online.

The Department of Emergency Management's Emergency Operations Center (EOC) moved its headquarters from 1011 Turk Street to what became the COVID Command Center (CCC) at Moscone.

For nearly one year, MEA managers were among 1,000 Disaster Service Workers (DSW) who reported to the CCC. Managers were on the frontlines helping the City prepare and cope with the pandemic.

Emergency operations included setting up temporary shelters and housing for people experiencing homelessness and needing to quarantine, securing and distributing personal protective equipment (PPE), providing free meal deliveries and transportation, and overseeing logistics for community test sites across San Francisco.

Under DEM’s exceptional leadership, more than 11,000 San Francisco public servants were involved in the City’s overall emergency response. MEA managers from the Department of Public Health (DPH), Department of Emergency Management (DEM), Human Services Agency (HSA) and the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) worked around the clock serving the most vulnerable populations in the City.

Managers from the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families (DCYF), with the support of San Francisco Recreation & Parks (REC), set up 84 community learning hubs and emergency child care programs serving 1,972 children and youth while their parents, many essential service workers, reported to duty during the pandemic. DEM
and CCC responders distributed more than three million health and safety flyers in multiple languages to help residents stay safe and informed about how to access critical services while sheltering in place.

As of the shelter-in-place anniversary, more than 1.6 million COVID-19 tests have been administered, over two million bags of groceries distributed, 1.6 million meals provided to people experiencing food insecurity, and 236,000 residents have received at least one vaccine dose.

In addition to emergency response efforts, MEA managers continued running day to day operations for the City. From water and power (PUC), to keeping streets safe (DPW), and every public service in between, MEA managers and City employees delivered in spite of the severe restrictions imposed by COVID-19. MTA managed to successfully stave off layoffs and made rapid changes in order to preserve its workforce while providing limited public transportation services across the City.

“MEA managers stepped up in every way,” explains CCC Unified Commander and MEA Board Secretary Linda Yeung (DEM). “We saw compassion, equity and inclusion from every department. Our managers helped save lives and keep our most vulnerable residents safe, housed, and fed.”

The Controller’s Office (CON) faced the daunting task of keeping the City’s day to day financial functions running without disruption. To compound the situation even further, the City projected a deficit of $1.1 to $1.7 billion due to revenue shortfalls.

CON worked hard to ensure that COVID-19 response hours were captured and reported in a timely manner. Thanks to their diligent oversight and a new Administration in the White House, the City’s shortfall was lower than initially anticipated due to 100% reimbursement from FEMA.

MEA managers demonstrated exceptional resilience in the face of COVID-19 and its devastating effects on California and the nation as a whole. Tragically, as of March 21st, over 542,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the United States. With the help of MEA managers, the City continues its ongoing response efforts and will be moving into recovery efforts shortly including assisting with administering vaccines to San Francisco residents.

The City and MEA Managers continue working through recovery efforts. Thanks to the leadership and oversight of the DEM and the CCC, the City has achieved remarkable vaccination rates.

As of June 11, 2021, 80% of eligible San Francisco residents have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and nearly 70% have been fully vaccinated. The City’s rates are among the highest in the country and rival those of many nations.

On June 15, the City re-opened businesses and activities in alignment with the State’s reopening schedule. The post-pandemic response will be funded by the Mayor’s COVID-19 recovery budget proposal of $477 million over the next two years. $384 million of the proposed total is earmarked for ongoing response efforts such as shelter and housing, food security programs, vaccinations, testing, the CCC, and community-based programming for populations disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.

“Our managers are strong, resilient and committed to serving the people of San Francisco,” beams MEA President Jocelyn Quintos (CON). “We are tremendously proud of them.”

Below is a list of MEA members who served as DSW workers at the CCC during the pandemic.