I'm writing to voice my support for all of APTP's demands, including the demand to cut the OPD budget by 50%. I think that this money should be reallocated to OUSD in the following ways:
- Remove police from all schools, hire more school counselors, social workers, nurses and increase their pay
- Hire more support staff for classes who exceed the maximum class size
- Hire more Playworks employees
- Invest in more robust after school programs
- Hire more specials teachers (art, music, PE) to give classroom teachers more time to prep
- Invest in healthier food programs
- Invest and provide hot spots to families to help with distance learning
- Invest in more health services in schools like dental services & access to food for families
- Hire more reading and math specialists
- Update school facilities so that they meet health codes
- Extra support in classrooms with majority newcomers

Our OUSD schools are desperately in need of more funding and our students deserve these investments!

I am a resident of District 2 and am urging the mayor and city council to cut OPD's budget by $150M. It's not often you have the opportunity to completely rethink how we invest in communities. As a city and a nation, we are ready to right our past wrongs. To reinvest in health, education and people. But first, we need you to find the courage to put communities ahead of cops.

I am an Oakland resident and I urge the Council to divest from OPD and use those funds to re-invest in community-based services. Increased police presence does not make our city safe; on the contrary, enhanced policing actively harms communities of color, low-income residents, unhoused residents, and other marginalized communities. I am a resident of District 2 and I appreciate the budget proposal put forth by my representative, Nikki Fortunato Bas, but I do not think it goes far enough. I urge the Council to summon the courage and integrity to enact the following:

- Reduce OPD’s allocation from the General Fund by at least 50% (roughly $150 Million)
- Disallow unauthorized overtime by OPD
- Invest in housing, jobs, youth programs, restorative justice, and mental health workers to keep the community safe.

Oakland cannot wait any longer for a budget that meets the needs of its residents. The only way to achieve this is to take immediate steps to defund OPD. Thank you.

As a resident of District 1, I urge city council to OPPOSE this measure. Our police force is terrorizing our citizens of color and perpetuating mass incarceration. Please reallocate these funds towards local, community run organizations that support our communities of color. DEFUND the police budget by 50%, listen to your constituents! The systems of policing are not serving our communities. We need to try something different.

My name is Erin Anderson, and I am an Oakland resident. This proposal does not go far enough. Please reduce Oakland Police Department budget by 50%. Please reinvest the money into our community through programs like education, community mediation, and aid for unhoused people.

My name is Jennifer Foot, and I'm a resident of District 3. I'm standing with APTP to demand the defunding of OPD by at least 50% and reinvestment of those funds into resources that will keep our community safe in place of police terror and senseless violence.

We demand that the funds saved from the crucial defunding of OPD be reinvested in living wage jobs, housing for all, health care inclusive of free mental health clinics, restorative justice, social workers and mental health workers trained to respond to emergencies, EMS & fire departments not tied to the police force, and passing the full Black New Deal to ensure long term health and safety to the community members bearing the most harm during the current public health crisis as a direct result of 500 years of discriminatory treatment.

The inaction so far is inexcusable. You have the opportunity to create lasting change, and we're telling you exactly what you need to do to begin the healing process. Listen to us. Take it.

My name is Layla Cooper, and I am an Oakland resident since 1998 writing to urge you to defund OPD.

I support the spirit of the proposal by Nikki Fortunato Bas: "to reallocate (from the police budget) at least $25 million towards improving safety and providing the services our residents really need," but this proposal does NOT go far enough. Thank you for your leadership councilmember Bas, we know that when the people speak you listen.

Over 700 people e-commented on last week’s meeting. Over 150 spoke at the meeting itself. Over 95% of both sets of comments were in favor of defunding the Police. Listen to your constituents.

As Oakland residents, we continue to demand that you take immediate action to ensure the following:

1. DEFUND OPD by 50%
2. INVEST that $150 million in the Black New Deal
3. STOP the use of violence against protesters
4. CANCEL CHP's contract & remove them from Oakland

Thank you for being on the right side of history. We will remember in November.

My name is Sydra, and I am a resident of district 3. I urge you to defund OPD. Around the country much of the police response is directed toward quality-of-life issues – homelessness, drug addiction, domestic violence – which would be better served by people and organizations specializing in these areas.
I urge you to:
1. DEFUND OPD by 50%
2. INVEST that $150 million in the Black New Deal
3. STOP the use of violence against protesters
4. CANCEL CHP’s contract and remove them from Oakland
5. End Oakland School Police who exacerbate the school prison to pipeline by disproportionately and unfairly targeting students of color. All students deserve to feel safe in school. The OSP actively make students of color feel in danger.
Reallocate the $150 million to social services for schools, affordable housing, healthcare, and mental health services. Reallocate funds to benefit and uplift the community.

The most critical item is strategic defunding - which means directing OPD funds toward the MACRO pilot as an incremental start in a complete transformation of the public safety budget with major reduction of OPD responders. We also need to use that reallocated money, again strategically, to expand the resources that non-police responders to 911 calls will need to assist people in crisis. Folks can get rhetorical about "Defund the Police!" but we need real plans. And not stuff centered on mental health professionals but crisis intervention teams that bring expertise and experience from the communities most impacted. MACRO is a beginning in this direction. Every journey of 1000 miles begins with first steps. And if this alternative response isn't structured into 911, it means Barbecue Becky gets to decide which number to call and who shows up, not a retrained 911 operator who is mandated to use the alternative response system. Fund and expand MACRO! This isn't rhetoric, it's real.

My name is Meredith and I am an Oakland resident living in district 2 writing to urge you to defund OPD.

I support the spirit of the proposal by Nikki Fortunato Bas: "to reallocate (from the police budget) at least $25 million towards improving safety and providing the services our residents really need," but this proposal does NOT go far enough!

Over 700 people e-commented on last week’s meeting. Over 150 spoke at the meeting itself. Over 95% of both sets of comments were in favor of defunding the Police. Listen to your constituents.

As Oakland residents, we continue to demand that you take immediate action to ensure the following:

1. DEFUND OPD by 50%
2. INVEST that $150 million in the Black New Deal
3. STOP the use of violence against protesters
4. CANCEL CHP's contract & remove them from Oakland

Thank you for being on the right side of history. We will remember in November.

My name is Adrien Colon and I am an Oakland resident in District 3 writing to urge you to defund OPD. I support the spirit of the proposal by Nikki Fortunato Bas: "to reallocate (from the police budget) at least $25 million towards improving safety and providing the services our residents really need," but this proposal does NOT go far enough! Over 700 people e-commented on last week’s meeting. Over 150 spoke at the meeting itself. Over 95% of both sets of comments were in favor of defunding the Police. Listen to your constituents. As Oakland residents, we continue to demand that you take immediate action to ensure the following:

1. DEFUND OPD by 50%
2. INVEST that $150 million in the Black New Deal
3. STOP the use of violence against protesters
4. CANCEL CHP's contract & remove them from Oakland

Thank you for being on the right side of history. We will remember in November.

I strongly oppose this measure, as it contains deep cuts to many areas of services, except the OPD. The OPD is a huge expenditure for the city, taking 44% of the city budget. This department is bloated and needs to be cut. It is a bad investment for Oakland, especially when we need services more than ever during the Coronavirus outbreak. I strongly oppose this measure and further demand that you cut the OPD Budget by 50% and reallocate those funds directly into community services in low income neighborhoods. The OPD is corrupt and racist, to continue funding this gang shows that you have no respect for the people of your city, who have made their needs to defund the OPD clear with multiple 10,000 person plus marches. DEFUND THE OPD.

I want to voice my support for Councilmember Bas's amendment proposals. They are a good first step, reinvesting $25 million from OPD in this budget cycle in community services, and I am in support of her plan to commit to defunding OPD by 50% in the next budget cycle. Councilmembers Reid, Gallo, McElhaney, and Taylor's proposal completely ignores the clear demands of Oaklanders to defund OPD, allowing the police to continue to eat up a massive share of Oakland's General Purpose Fund even though they have shown themselves to be corrupt, ineffective, and unable to reform after 17 years of federal oversight. I urge every member of the Council to take action in this clear historical moment, listen to the voices of their community, and do the right thing - reinvest OPD's budget in our community.

Hello, My name is Tisha Barros and I am a resident and voter from district 1. I am baffled by the inaction from you all and Mayor Libby Schaaf. We have a chance to do the right thing by our citizens and make real sustained changes.
We demand that Oakland City Council DEFUND OPD and REINVEST in community by:

Defunding the Oakland Police Department by at least 50%

Investing the money from defunding OPD into passing the full Black New Deal

Stopping the use of violence of any kind against protestors

Cutting the contract with the California Highway Patrol — who brutally murdered Erik Salgado in East Oakland a week ago — and removing them from Oakland

We can best keep our community safe by using The People’s Money to create living wage jobs, housing for all, youth programs, health care, restorative justice and other essential community services.

Hey There, I'm Zoe and I've lived in district one for most of my life. Please listen and act on APTP's plan to defund OPD. They have worked for years to get this past and the council and mayor have done nothing. I'm asking you to please do something about the OPD. I think the protests have more than shown that something needs to be done and should have been done years ago. I'm asking you to defund the police and put that money towards homelessness in the city of Oakland. With the budget decimated because of Covid there will need to be cuts. I want these cuts to come out of the OPD budget and not services that protect the cities most under resourced. You are the ones that can speak for all of us and if you don't we will not be able to stay silent. We are counting on you.

I specifically oppose this part of Measure Q budgeting - "Transfer 3.00 FTE’s from the Oakland Police Department Homelessness Unit from the General Purpose Fund." While the city is pulling money out of the general fund and not the funds generated from taxes in Measure Q, it's still a blatant misuse of voter directed funds. We do not need police to help with our homelessness problem. We need social services. And the suggestion that the Interim Police Chief made at the Commissioners meeting on June 18th, that Public Works wanted armed officers, is false. We need to stop funneling money to OPD and redirect it towards social services that support the community, not oppress it.
Additionally, we need larger reductions in the $150M that the police get in the general fund. This is where we can make a real impact to reduce the system gaming OPD engages in, and provide real help for our community.

BBQ Becky calls 911. That's why I want MACRO to go through 911.

BBQ Becky isn't going to learn another phone number. BBQ Becky isn't going to call another number. BBQ Becky is going to keep right on calling 911. And I want her calls to go to community responders, not cops.

Hello, my name is Kelly Wells and I am a resident of District 1. READ THE ROOM, members: how many more weeks of protests do you need before you start listening? In a time of public health and economic crisis, it is imperative to redirect resources away from violent policing and towards services that will keep the community safe and prevent crime in the first place. In a moment when too many of our neighbors are unhoused; a pandemic is disproportionately killing black and brown residents; and our struggling schools now have to adapt to distance learning, it is an utter moral failing that City Counsel continues to direct 44% of the budget to policing.

We, the people of Oakland, DEMAND that Oakland City Council:
-Defund the Oakland Police Department by at least 50%
-Invest the money instead into passing the full Black New Deal
-Fund the MACRO (Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland) program, which should mirror successful programs like MH First in Sacramento.

Dear Mayor Schaaf and Members of the Council,

Thank you for reading my comment. I live in District 1 and am disappointed not to see Dan Kalb's name on any of the proposals his colleagues and their staffs have worked so hard to produce. If he's just waiting to see which way the wind blows, what a waste of a city council seat! I support Councilmember Bas's budget amendment proposals as a bare minimum and would like to see a more aggressive redistribution of funds away from OPD and into healthcare and housing for all who live here.

A couple of summers ago, I woke up to the sound of a man yelling for anyone who could hear that he was being arrested. I took my camera and followed his voice around the corner. No fewer than 6 officers were already physically restraining one black man. A half hour later, there were 20 cops on the scene. This isn't efficient, community-informed policing. This is "kill the man with the ball" on steroids and with firearms. Cut the macho crap and defund OPD!

I am a homeowner and resident of District 2 and a public health professional. Our City budget needs to invest in protecting the health and safety of our communities, especially those most impacted by the current pandemic and the racism that exists in our City's policies and institutions. The current budget as stands shows that City leaders do not value the health and lives of Black and Brown residents.

Councilmember Bas' proposed amendments to defund OPD is a step in the right direction. However, it does not do enough. I urge the council to:
(1) Defund OPD's portion of the general fund by 50%
(2) Invest the $150mil in the Black New Deal and other services, such as affordable housing, mental health, youth leadership and career development programs, restorative justice, that address root causes of health and social inequity in our town.