HomeMy WebLinkAbout6/1/2021 Item 6a, Blonski
Delgado, Adriana
From:Mae Blonski <maeblonski@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, June
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Concerns on the city budget
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Hello council members,
Thank you for being open to critique and communication with your constituents. I have been a permanent resident of
SLO county for about a decade now, and love living here so much. I am emailing today to express concern about the
budget proposal being discussed at tonight's meeting. Crucially, I'm against increasing the police fund. Money is a finite
resource, but 25% of the budget is going to the police, the single biggest expense for the city. Consider taking the
increase in the police budget and using it instead to help those less fortunate in our community by meeting their basic
needs, such as housing. “Low-income,” so--called “affordable” housing means housing targeted at 80% of the
area median income. That is still inaccessible for many, and disproportionately disadvantages black, brown
and indigenous people.
The recent tragic deaths of Detective Benedetti and Eddie Giron shed light on how much we need more social workers
(not tied to police), better mental health services, and a more robust safety net for those who fall into addiction,
paranoia/mental health crises, and poverty. The multiple failures of the police to acknowledge Eddie's condition, and the
lack of resources for his mental health, shows the holes in the system. Let's put money towards the existing mental
health services AND introduce more social workers.
I absolutely believe that if we can tackle our community at their fundamental levels of human need, we will experience
less crime and violence. Crime comes from desperation and cannot be fixed through reactionary institutions like
the police. If you truly want to help reduce crime and make our community safer, uplift those in need first. Consider why
people commit crimes, and work from there.
Thank you for your time,
Mae
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