HomeMy WebLinkAbout6/1/2021 Item 6a, Uchiyama
Wilbanks, Megan
From:Luka Uchiyama <
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:A Call for Change from a Member of the SLO Community
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Dear SLO City Council,
I am a third-year student at Cal Poly / SLO community member, and in light of the vote happening on the new
budget this coming week, I am voicing concerns about the continuing investment that this newly proposed
allocation of public funds will have in policing and carceral institutions. As a queer student of color living in the
SLO community, I and my fellow peers and allies know that we deserve better than increases to the police
budget. Moreover, I have only lived in the Central Coast for a few years but have already seen and experienced
multiple accounts of prejudice and oppression from the police state and its affiliated institutions, and this is
troubling, terrifying, and unacceptable. With that said, here are some of our propositions and demands for how
we believe public funding should be allocated:
o SLO-PD’s budget is ~25%% of the city’s operating expenses! They’re the single biggest expense for the
city; there is NO excuse for that when that money should be going to making sure people’s basic needs
are met, and other things that are actually effective at ensuring public safety!
o The city and some city staff have said the city is “locked in” to these funding increases for SLO-PD. But
the police union contract negotiations are happening right now! The city is absolutely NOT locked in;
they can reduce budget + officer headcount as part of this round of contract negotiations this year if
they listen to their constituents!!
o We don’t want money for de-escalation & diversity trainings for police. Trainings are not the problem.
The problem is relying on police to solve these social problems, and trying to make police about safety
when they’re really about control.
We are aware that the newly proposed budget calls for an increase in policing funds, which includes, but
is not limited to, new investments in servers and information technology that would contribute to
increased surveillance which historically and statistically oppresses marginalized people in our
community. This is not acceptable, especially for a city and city authority that has seen multiple groups
mobilize all of 2020 and through 2021 to resist these carceral investments.
We are demanding that the city of SLO and its authorities honor what the movement for abolition and
justice fights for and grant the people's will -- divest and invest.
Thank you.
Luka Uchiyama (she/they)
Engineers Without Borders Cal Poly: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Coordinator
Cal Poly Zero Waste Ambassador
B.S. in Electrical Engineering
Minor in Gender, Race, Culture, Science & Technology
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
uchiyama@calpoly.edu | uchiyamaluka@gmail.com | LinkedIn
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