HomeMy WebLinkAbout1/12/2021 Item 08, McGlinchey
From:Colin McGlinchey <
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Re: SLO City 2021-2023 Financial Plan
Follow Up Flag:Follow up
Flag Status:Flagged
Name: Colin McGlinchey, Democratic Socialists of America - SLO
Date: 12/12/20
Re: SLO City 2021-23 Financial Plan.
Dear San Luis Obispo City Council, Mayor Heidi Harmon, City Manager Derek Johnson, and all those with the
power to make a change in SLO,
My name is Colin McGlinchey, I am a third-year student at Cal Poly San SLO, currently studying
economics. Everything that has happened to me over the past 2-and-a-half years that I’ve spent in San Luis
Obispo has made me feel more at home here than anywhere else in my life. I have made some of my best
friends here, found places that bring me great joy, and discovered the path to my future. For all of these
reasons, I have come to care about this place deeply, and I feel like it cares for me. I feel like I can now call
this place my home. But over the past year, it has become apparent to me that San Luis Obispo does not
care for all of its community members in the way that it cares for me. And because of that, I feel like I have a
duty to my new home to speak up for what I feel is right. I would like to see the city of San Luis Obispo divest
funds from its police force and invest more money in its community. I ask for these six pieces of action:
1. Halt all plans to build a new police station, and instead conservatively update the current police
station so that it is up to code.
2. Divert 3% at least of the of the sheriff coroner budget to cover all demands from Black Lives Matter
Community Action - SLO.
3. Allocate money for helping houseless members of our community - affordable housing, public
sanitation rooms, public housing that does not discriminate on job status or relationship to drugs
and alcohol, job search programs.
4. Invest in local healthcare - community centers for mental and physical well-being.
5. Invest in local community programs and organizations, such as a community/public garden
network, afterschool childcare, libraries, etc.
6. Providing funds for small businesses and workers affected by the COVID-19 crisis.
1. An overfunded police department is not the answer to the problems in our community. If anything,
more police would only add to the problems of houselessness, systemic racism, and a lack of funds to help
underprivileged community members amidst the pandemic. The roughly $50.5 million dollars planned for
the new police station would be much better used investing in community programs that actually address
the roots of the problems, rather than criminalizing the problems themselves.
2. BLMCA-SLO has analyzed the city budget proposal and created their own budget
recommendation. On their Instagram (@blmcaslo), they have a story highlight which states every single
direct action they recommend for the SLO county budget. This organization is doing amazing work, and
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their recommendations are much more thorough and concrete than mine, so please give them your
consideration.
3. Ever since I moved to SLO, I have seen the problem we have with the number of houseless people
in the area. I believe it is our duty as neighbors to extend a helping hand to those who need it. Even if they
made poor choices that led them to the place they are today, they still deserve our help. Would you turn
your back on your brother, sister, son or daughter, or your best friend, just because they need help?
4. The pandemic has exposed the flaws in our public health care system. Until something is done at
the federal level, it’s up to us to invest more in community mental health services and affordable public
health distributors like public clinics. I have been lucky enough to witness first hand the efficacy of local
therapists provided by the community wellness center on Pismo Street. I only wish more people had easier
access to these kinds of centers.
5. A community garden network would do wonders in helping to rebuild our local soil and the
plant/animal life that it supports, while simultaneously beautifying our city with the natural wonder of plant
life. It would also help to provide food for our houseless population in SLO - two birds with one stone.
Afterschool childcare would help parents who have to work many hours to feed and support their children
while providing another outlet for children to learn and grow. Local libraries are centers for community
interaction and learning and play an essential role in allowing our citizens access to the knowledge
necessary for making them productive citizens.
6. The law of supply and demand work at all times and all around us, and often times in ways we
don’t expect. For instance, people don’t really expect how their decision to save money because of an
economic recession can actually make the recession even worse. When they decide to save money, they
don’t end up buying from businesses that need their sales to stay afloat and pay for their workers. This leads
firms to shut down and send their former workers into unemployment, and the cycle continues. To stop
this, the consumers need to have enough money so that they don’t have to save as much as they previously
thought. Some form of direct payment or other services to cover the economic disparities caused by the
COVID-19 crisis is a must.
I am only one person, so I cannot possibly know what is best for San Luis Obispo and all of the people that it
supports. But I truly believe that diverting money planned for the new police station and the sheriff-
coroners office, and instead investing that money into the programs which will address the root causes of
our problems will help to make San Luis Obispo a better place.
Sincerely,
Colin McGlinchey
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