Coren addresses crowd at UVAC
'I'm here because I still trust my community' he told the somewhat hostile crowd
In a rapidly warming parking lot Saturday morning, Mendocino County Public Health Officer Dr. Andy Coren addressed a large and mildly hostile crowd gathered outside the Ukiah Valley Athletic Club to discuss his proposed vaccine mandates for employees and customers of local restaurants and bars.
“What I want to hear is another alternative — how do we keep our restaurants safe and open?” said Coren, reminding the crowd that he had listened politely to many of them for at least an hour-anda-half as they described the effect the last 18 months of the pandemic has had on their businesses, and how much more damage they worried a vaccine mandate would cause.
“A third of my employees told me they will quit (if a vaccine mandate is imposed), said Alex Ibrahim, who owns Star’s restaurant in Ukiah, adding that he believed “we need to educate, not mandate.”
One woman named Carol who works at Taste Buds in Ukiah said that perhaps businesses could put
up signs declaring their approach to vaccines, such as alerting customers that, “If you are comfortable being around people who aren’t vaccinated, please come inside.”
Coren said that such signage was a good suggestion, that perhaps businesses could alert customers to the vaccine status of its employees by putting up a “green star,” or some other indicator.
“I’m honored to be here and listen to what you have to say, and I’m here because I still trust my community — let’s work together,” said Coren, explaining to the crowd that sometimes their actions in the name of personal freedom adversely affect others in the community, particularly those who cannot safely take the vaccine due to age or medical conditions.
John Strangio, who hosted the event with his wife, Lauren, and fellow business owner Stephanie Dunken, said he was impressed that Coren accepted his invitation and went “into the lion’s den” to meet faceto-face with what he knew could be a hostile crowd, especially given that the event was not strictly controlled by county officials.
“I think it showed a lot of trust, courage and respect on his part,” said Strangio, describing Coren as staying for another half hour after his public comments to talk with members of the crowd and hear their suggestions.
To help ensure the event was constructive and civil, Strangio said he had asked six people he knew planned to be disruptive not to attend, and asked Mendocino County Sheriff Matt Kendall to be on hand.
“Dr. Coren was on the phone with me at 10 p.m. last night because he was reading every single email that came in and taking every single suggestion,” Kendall told the crowd after a man shouting “Let my people go” at Coren was asked to leave. “Let’s listen, let’s have a good dialogue, and let’s work together.”
Coren did not announce Saturday when he expected to release vaccine guidelines for restaurants and bars.