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HomeMy WebLinkAbout6/1/2021 Item 6a, Rivera Wilbanks, Megan From:Nathalie Krystina Rivera < To:Harmon, Heidi; Stewart, Erica A; Marx, Jan; Christianson, Carlyn; Pease, Andy; E-mail Council Website Subject:SLO PD Budget Concerns This message is from an External Source. Use caution when deciding to open attachments, click links, or respond. Hello, my name is Nathalie Rivera and I'm a Cal Poly Student. I, as well as many others, have some points about the SLO PD budget that we've agreed on, and we hope you'll take our points into consideration before approving the budget. We would like: o A budget that serves the people!  DO NOT PASS THIS BUDGET AS-IS! DON’T increase the SLO-PD budget  Defund SLO-PD by at least $5 Million instead  Shift another $5 Million away from other sources in the budget to invest in additional rent & other expense relief for the bottom 10% income residents of SLO city  Invest in 100% very-low-income housing  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!  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!!  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.  SLOPD is NOT less violent than any other police department! We need to be safe from them, so we need to cut their bloated budgets and reduce more officer positions than just the one position (cannabis officer) the budget cuts! Cutting one position is not meaningfully divesting from police!  There are hundreds of thousands of $ going to the downtown bike police. That money is a waste of public funds because it could be going to directly meeting people’s basic needs instead.  There is almost half a million $ going towards police information technology like new storage and hardware. We don’t Want more investments in maintaining a system that we need to be transitioning away from. 1  There is over $200,000 going towards police fleet replacement. We don’t want more police vehicles. We don’t want more investments in maintaining a system that we need to be transitioning away from.  There is so much money going to transportation and capital improvement projects. But transportation, capital improvement projects, and market-rate housing developments should Not be prioritized over directly meeting people’s basic needs! We need additional rent & other expense relief for the bottom 10% income residents of SLO city! and we need very-low-income housing!  “Low-income,” so--called “affordable” housing means housing targeted at 80% of the area median income. That is still inaccessible for many of us. 80% of the median income in a rich area like SLO excludes lots of low-income, especially Black brown and Native folks / people of color! We don’t need more “low-income” housing if it comes without no-income or very-low-income housing as well. 100% no-income or very-low-income housing is what we need long-term, not band-aid solutions! The money is there if you take it from the police!  State funds for rent relief are a start. But they still have huge gaps. The landlord has to opt in or else the tenant can only get about 30% of their rent relieved. And there are so many more expenses besides rent that people have had during a pandemic in which people are Still struggling. This pandemic is STILL going on. That is why we need additional rent & other expense relief for the bottom 10% income residents of SLO city to Fill the gaps in relief, and it will disproportionately benefit Black, brown, Indigenous, and low-income community members.  The people have been told that full rent relief for all is not feasible. But looking at the budget, $5 Million or even $10 Million for rent & other expense relief seems Very feasible through a combination of shifting LRM allocations, using state funds and American Rescue Plan funds, and private donors. Especially if it’s pursued in partnership with other sources of funding as well. $10 Million in direct relief for the bottom 10% of incomes in SLO would come out to about $2,000 per person. That would be HUGE for me / other people that I know who have been hit hard during this pandemic. Please take these points into consideration and prioritize the needs of the people. Thank you. -Nathalie Rivera 2