Last year, Black organizers held a town hall. They educated community members on the City Council budget. MANY were angry, rightfully so, with the budget. The budget showed the the funding for the police was increasing by tens of millions and taking up 41% of the budget. With the Fire Dept. taking up another 16%, that means the scraps of only 43% are left for the remaining services. Keep that in mind. The same budget that only one service, the police, get? It’s roughly the same pool of money EVERY OTHER SERVICE has to fight to share.
Following the informative presentation of the budget, each of more than a hundred community members were given the opportunity to say what services they would invest in and what they would disinvest in, which you can see listed below.
Priorities for Investment:
- Racial Equity Policies and Plans
- Youth Developmental and Education Services
- Public Health (Mental & Behavioral Health)
- Housing & Homeless Services
- Building Black Economic Equity
- Violence Prevention (Non-Policing)
Priorities for Disinvestment:
- Police and Policing
- Parking Enforcement
The next step is for the community to engage in a participatory budget process that City Council should already be doing. You can click here to take the survey and answer what services you would like to invest and disinvest in.
Peoples Budget Bako 