To survive and recover, Calvert says, U.S. should seek help, city must change culture

Adkisson and the late Helen Dutmer, Calvert said, “We are sometimes that conscious burr in the backs of political discourse.”

So it stands to reason that Calvert, who soon will turn 40, has been vocal about gaps in the response to COVID-19 in San Antonio, Texas and the nation. He plans to testify next year before state legislators for higher standards for nursing homes, where many deaths have occurred.

Calvert said he’s proud of efforts by BiblioTech, the county’s digital library system, to supply hundreds of Wi-Fi hot spots to people during the pandemic. But he wants to do more to improve education and literacy by expanding affordable online access throughout Bexar County, which he said has “the worst internet connectivity” of any of America’s 40 largest urban counties.

The commissioner also has strong feelings about coronavirus testing in Texas: South Korea, he said, has “whooped our rear end.”

The Express-News spoke to Calvert about the pandemic, its impact on people of color, and the prospects for social and economic recovery. The following has been edited for clarity and length.

During the pandemic, a disproportionately high number of people in your precinct have sought rental assistance. How else has Precinct 4 been affected by COVID-19 in ways that are different from the rest of Bexar County?

I have a dozen cities from Cibolo to Elmendorf, and then we have the most densely populated unincorporated (areas). So just purely by who qualifies in the county (rental assistance) program versus the city program, because of the density of the population in areas in Precinct 4, we have a lot of applications.

Then there’s an added level of ethnic diversity. We have the most ethnically diverse precinct. Of course,