7 21-0472 Subject: Council President's Proposed Budget Amendments
From: Council President Fortunato Bas
Recommendation: Approve A Report And Recommendation Of The Council President's Proposed Budget Amendments To The Fiscal Year 2021-2023 Proposed Budget For The City Of Oakland
My name is Adrian Vazquez and I'm a D3 resident. I support Councilmember Bas's divestment from OPD in favor of funding essential services like the department of violence prevention. I would like to see more alternatives to OPD be funded equally with the militarized force of the police department and in the future for an independent study to be conducted of effectiveness of those programs.
My name is Reverend Allison Tanner, I am the Pastor of Public Witness at the historic Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church which is located just a stone's throw from where 22-year old DeShawn Rhodes lost his life to gunfire this past Saturday. Public safety is a major concern for my congregation. That is why I am asking the Oakland City Council to set aside $100,000 to fund Homies Empowerment. I have already raised personal funds for that organization. They are doing the work to provide the sort wholistic services to the community that prevent violence. As a minister, I can not tell you to do what I have not done. I have personally raised $6,000 for Homies Empowerment. Fund this grassroots movement which is making a difference. I am grateful to CM Reid for nominating Homies Empowerment for these funds.
My name is Minister Cherri Murphy and I live in D5. I am a faith rooted organizer with Faith Alliance For A Moral Economy (FAME) and we are an initiative of the East Bay Alliance For A Moral Economy (EBASE)We joined with Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity and created a faith delegation around the budget . This delegation represents 140 faith leaders and 28 faith institutions.
This weekend’s tragedy has made absolutely clear that police officers are not violence preventers—they are violence responders. There were over 60 armed officers at the Lake this weekend, but that did not stop what was a completely preventable tragedy.
We need to fully fund a moral budget which includes fully funding the city’s Department of Violence Prevention in order to identify and support individuals before they get caught in a cycle of violence. Please reject CM Taylor's proposal to use funding to support a police academy. We need a moral A People’s budget where there are enough resources to support everyone to thrive so that our communities are living interdependently and in solidarity, and not pitted against each other.
Thank you.
Hello, My name is Kendra Edwards and I am a resident of District 3 and a provider of gender based violence prevention services. Oakland needs to expand funding to support survivors of gender based violence, period. Gender-based violence response services and prevention efforts are not adequately funded in Oakland. Oakland needs to provide more funding for non-law enforcement-based support. There is significant evidence that community-based, human-centered, responses that are led by appropriately trained providers are the most effective when addressing and healing violence in communities. The community, those affected, have been asking for this and it is time to take action on their behalves. Many young women, girls and gender expansive people are unable to leave dangerous situations and abusive relationships because of a lack of resources and services. In Oakland, like the rest of the world, we have seen a surge in gender based violence perpetrated against girls, women and gender expansive people. Therefore, there must be more funding available for organizations to assist those experiencing gender-based violence. I urge you to support Council President Bas' budget proposal. Her proposed $17 million for the Department of Violence Prevention is just a first step toward shifting Oakland's approach to violence, but it is a step that needs to happen immediately. Thank you!
I am a D5 resident here in support of Bas's proposed amendments to the budget. This proposal puts caring for the people of Oakland at the center of its focus. This proposal makes supporting individuals and their needs the root of creating safer and healthier communities through programs such as affordable housing and houselessness solutions, public safety and violence prevention that listens to the community, investing in small businesses and staffing parks/communal places. As we have seen, policing creates more uncertainty and feelings of unsafety in our community. Please put more emphasis in supporting people and their livelihood rather than putting more money into systems that have continually let the people down. Please support these proposed amendments in support of our collective future.
As an Oakland native, mother, OUSD staff and mental health professional, I am writing in support of Council President Fortunato Bas' budget amendments. Activists and community members came out in droves in support of alternatives to policing over this past year. We know that increased funding for the police will NOT solve the problem of violence in our community. Instead, we must use some of that funding to invest in programs like MACRO, which will be able to respond to crises that the police are not trained to address, as well as investing in programs to eliminate poverty and inequities which are often the cause of violence.
I am in District 1 and strongly support Council President Bas's Budget Amendments. A great difference can be made by fully funding the MACRO project, using funds from OPD. Police expertise and their role differs from that of mental health and social service experts, but both are crucial to a safe, just and especially humane city. Thank you!
Hello, My name is Lydia Henkel-Moellmann and I have been a resident of District 3 for the last seven years. Gender-based violence response services and prevention efforts are not adequately funded in Oakland. Oakland needs to provide more funding for non-law enforcement-based support. There is significant evidence that community-based, human-centered, responses that are led by appropriately trained providers are the most effective when addressing and healing violence in communities.I urge you to support Council President Bas’ budget proposal. Her proposed $17 million for the Department of Violence Prevention is just a first step toward shifting Oakland's approach to violence, but it is a step that needs to happen immediately.
My name is Dr. Sherry Congrave Wilson and I am the deputy director for MISSSEY. My tenure at MISSSEY started March 1st and since that time two of our clients have been murdered. As a former educator, I am all too familiar with losing students….but I have never experienced two losses this closely before….ever. Every time it happens, it makes me reflective and critical because I know ultimately it means that I need to do a better job. And I am committed to that.
But we need the city of Oakland to better protect our girls and gender expansive youth. In Oakland, like the rest of the world, we have seen a surge in gender based violence perpetrated against girls and gender expansive youth. We must increase funding to create and sustain services, programs and community centers tailored to the needs of vulnerable youth.
I urge you to support Council President Bas’ budget proposal. Her proposed $17 million for the Department of Violence Prevention is just a first step toward shifting Oakland's approach to violence and it must be supported now. Help make my job easier.
My name is Gala King, I am a D2 resident of 18 years, mother of two brown boys in Oakland schools, and staff with the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity based in Oakland Chinatown. I live blocks away from where the tragic shooting took place on Saturday evening. My heart breaks from the death and trauma experienced by our black, brown, and AAPI communities in Oakland. Clearly the investment we have made in policing and incarceration has NOT stopped the violence that continues to plague our communities. My voice represents the 140 people and 28 faith institutions who signed the Faith Moral Budget Letter that calls our electeds to: REIMAGINE public safety, and REINVEST in our communities. I believe President Bas' Budget Amendments are in line with the Moral Budget, and what we need for Oakland. We need to address the root causes of the violence, by investing in jobs, housing, and the Dept of Violence Prevention. Thank you!
I'm a D2 resident and I enthusiastically support Council President Fortunato Bas and her budget team's amendments. It's time to try something new. We've already demonstrated that increasing police funding does not make communities safer. OPD's solve rates in 2019 were 53% for homicides, 16% for rapes, 11% for aggravated assaults, and 6% for robberies. They're just not that helpful. Let's do something different. Let's invest in our communities to prevent violence in the first place and give our residents real options for safe, good lives in Oakland.
I am commenting as a lifelong Oaklander, resident of D4, and elected ADEM delegate to the Dem Party for AD 18. I support Council President's amendments and those submitted by Thao, Taylor, and Reid to fund community services, infrastructure, and violence prevention. All amendments can go further in reallocating funds from OPD to truly reimagine and invest in a holistic public safety system including increased funding for MACRO to ensure it is effectively piloted. I OPPOSE CM Taylor's amendment to add a 5th police academy and related policy directive. I support the policy directives advanced by Council President. Council needs to get real follow-through on action already authorized including to remove special events from OPD. Council also needs to find a real way to regulate the police overtime issue. The MOU explicitly provides the City with management rights over scheduling employees (which leads to overtime) so there are already some tools to control the city's own department accruing overtime. See MOU Art. II Sec. A and B. See also exemplar language in other cities like National City, CA where the MOU includes a provision that: "At the request of either party to this agreement, a committee composed of representative of the National City Police Officers' Association and the City will meet and discuss overtime and leave issues with the intent to reduce unnecessary overtime and maximize the opportunity to reduce furlough and comp time balances."
My name is Katy Morsony, I am the president of the Glenview Neighborhood Association but I provide these comments as an individual resident of District 5. All proposed budgets insufficiently fund the implementation of traffic safety measures throughout Oakland. During the pandemic reckless driving has increased across the city resulting in additional injuries and deaths, including of a pedestrian waiting for the bus on my street, Park Blvd. Consistent with removing police from non-violent crimes, the city will entrust the Department of Transportation with the role of traffic enforcement, but the Department remains under resourced to ensure that it can implement the design changes needed to increase pedestrian safety. If Oakland is to meet its goal of Vision Zero for traffic injuries and deaths it must invest in the infrastructure required to slow traffic and ease reckless driving. I support the Reid/Thao/Taylor amendments that would provide additional dollars for traffic calming throughout east Oakland (districts 4, 5. 6 and 7) but this additional funding is insufficient for the gravity of the problem. Funds need to be made available not just for interim measures to address the problem but investment in permanent solutions is required as well.
More policing is not the answer to addressing the roots of violence or unlivable conditions, in many cases, results in more harm. Bas & Fife's proposal will focus on getting to the root of what breeds healthy & safe communities such as affordable housing & homelessness solutions; public safety and violence prevention; investing in small businesses; and staffing at our parks and other communal places. This proposal invests the funds into the people of Oakland and into programs what will generate more sustainability for Oakland residents. Oakland youth and residents deserve to be held and taken care of by their city. I urge City Council to invest in the longevity, safety, and vibrancy of Oakland by voting YES to these proposed budget amendments.
My name is Denishia Clark, and I am a public health advocate and a higher education professional working at Stanford University. I also serve on the board of directors for MISSSEY, Inc., a non-profit in Oakland that provides services to commercially sexually exploited youth and aims for systemic change with the youth served. As an Oakland native myself, I call on you to support resources being directed to violence prevention efforts in the city of Oakland. Gender-based violence response services and prevention efforts at this time are not adequately funded. And our community needs healing and a promising future. Therefore, I wholeheartedly encourage you to support Council President Bas' budget proposal of $17 million for the Department of Violence Prevention. The allocation of these resources would be a step in the right direction to support gender-expansive youth in Oakland. Please approve the proposed funding and work on culturally responsive, community-based, and human-centered approaches to prevention services. We can do this together! Thank you for your time and consideration and the support of the Department of Violence and Prevention by way of sustaining and expanding support services for our vulnerable youth.
I enthusiastically support council president Bas’s proposed amendments to the budget proposed for the city of Oakland fiscal year 21-23. The presidents budget reflects a moral commitment to the people of Oakland. This budget accepts that what has been the standard approach to public safety, community well being, healthy neighborhoods, and equitable opportunity for sustainability and thriving for all who make their home in Oakland has failed us all. The moment we are in and The Town deserve a new approach that has the intention of serving us all humanely, and engage the roots of systemic issues that feed inequity, speed displacement, and create uncertainty for families struggling to make life in Oakland. we desperately need a budget that invest in people. that’s what council president passes amended budget does. I strongly urge the council to pass president Bas’s amendments to the proposed budget; send a clear signal to the people of Oakland that our voices and needs matter to those elected to serve both.
Good morning. I am a District 5 voter and a member of Neighbors for Racial Justice. I strongly support Council President Bas's Budget Amendments. In particular I want to advocate for full funding of the MACRO project, using funds from OPD to make this possible. Police agree that they are not the trained experts for responding to mental health crises. Thank you.
I support Council President Fortunato Bas and her budget team's amendments. I want to see less funding for OPD, no new funding for BIDs, and much more funding for humane homelessness solutions, affordable housing, parks (including San Antonio Park in my district), libraries, and City staff raises. I support IAD being shifted to CPRA.
My name is Nichola Torbett. I am a member of First Congregational Church of Oakland. I live and work in District 4, and I join with the 140 faith leaders and 28 faith institutions calling for a moral budget that invests in people and not police in the service of public safety. I fully support the Bas budget recommendations.
Police do not deter crime; they simply respond to it. Short of having armed officers at every corner in Oakland, which I would hope no one wants, it is not possible to prevent crimes through policing strategies. It is time that we invest in solutions to the root causes of crime by investing in the community.
Further, I reject the Taylor amendments. We need that ARP funding for housing and direct relief for Oaklanders, not for extra police academies.
My name is Adrian Vazquez and I'm a D3 resident. I support Councilmember Bas's divestment from OPD in favor of funding essential services like the department of violence prevention. I would like to see more alternatives to OPD be funded equally with the militarized force of the police department and in the future for an independent study to be conducted of effectiveness of those programs.
My name is Reverend Allison Tanner, I am the Pastor of Public Witness at the historic Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church which is located just a stone's throw from where 22-year old DeShawn Rhodes lost his life to gunfire this past Saturday. Public safety is a major concern for my congregation. That is why I am asking the Oakland City Council to set aside $100,000 to fund Homies Empowerment. I have already raised personal funds for that organization. They are doing the work to provide the sort wholistic services to the community that prevent violence. As a minister, I can not tell you to do what I have not done. I have personally raised $6,000 for Homies Empowerment. Fund this grassroots movement which is making a difference. I am grateful to CM Reid for nominating Homies Empowerment for these funds.
Historically, the Prescott Neighborhood (in West Oakland Area) has shared police services/coverage with the Downtown/Lake Merritt Area.
Unlike other police beats, our community resource officers are responsible for 4 beats.
Similar to the East Oakland area Gang violence, murder, burglaries, assaults, domestic violence, ...thefts, sideshows plague our neighborhood daily.
We demand a police presence that provides more than evidence collections and coverage for other first responders.
As residents/property owners, We pay for police services and demand them.
THE PRESCOTT NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL SAY "NO CUTS TO POLICE SERVICES"...WE DEMAND BETTER COVERAGE IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
My name is Minister Cherri Murphy and I live in D5. I am a faith rooted organizer with Faith Alliance For A Moral Economy (FAME) and we are an initiative of the East Bay Alliance For A Moral Economy (EBASE)We joined with Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity and created a faith delegation around the budget . This delegation represents 140 faith leaders and 28 faith institutions.
This weekend’s tragedy has made absolutely clear that police officers are not violence preventers—they are violence responders. There were over 60 armed officers at the Lake this weekend, but that did not stop what was a completely preventable tragedy.
We need to fully fund a moral budget which includes fully funding the city’s Department of Violence Prevention in order to identify and support individuals before they get caught in a cycle of violence. Please reject CM Taylor's proposal to use funding to support a police academy. We need a moral A People’s budget where there are enough resources to support everyone to thrive so that our communities are living interdependently and in solidarity, and not pitted against each other.
Thank you.
Hello, My name is Kendra Edwards and I am a resident of District 3 and a provider of gender based violence prevention services. Oakland needs to expand funding to support survivors of gender based violence, period. Gender-based violence response services and prevention efforts are not adequately funded in Oakland. Oakland needs to provide more funding for non-law enforcement-based support. There is significant evidence that community-based, human-centered, responses that are led by appropriately trained providers are the most effective when addressing and healing violence in communities. The community, those affected, have been asking for this and it is time to take action on their behalves. Many young women, girls and gender expansive people are unable to leave dangerous situations and abusive relationships because of a lack of resources and services. In Oakland, like the rest of the world, we have seen a surge in gender based violence perpetrated against girls, women and gender expansive people. Therefore, there must be more funding available for organizations to assist those experiencing gender-based violence. I urge you to support Council President Bas' budget proposal. Her proposed $17 million for the Department of Violence Prevention is just a first step toward shifting Oakland's approach to violence, but it is a step that needs to happen immediately. Thank you!
Good morning,
I am a D5 resident here in support of Bas's proposed amendments to the budget. This proposal puts caring for the people of Oakland at the center of its focus. This proposal makes supporting individuals and their needs the root of creating safer and healthier communities through programs such as affordable housing and houselessness solutions, public safety and violence prevention that listens to the community, investing in small businesses and staffing parks/communal places. As we have seen, policing creates more uncertainty and feelings of unsafety in our community. Please put more emphasis in supporting people and their livelihood rather than putting more money into systems that have continually let the people down. Please support these proposed amendments in support of our collective future.
As an Oakland native, mother, OUSD staff and mental health professional, I am writing in support of Council President Fortunato Bas' budget amendments. Activists and community members came out in droves in support of alternatives to policing over this past year. We know that increased funding for the police will NOT solve the problem of violence in our community. Instead, we must use some of that funding to invest in programs like MACRO, which will be able to respond to crises that the police are not trained to address, as well as investing in programs to eliminate poverty and inequities which are often the cause of violence.
I am in District 1 and strongly support Council President Bas's Budget Amendments. A great difference can be made by fully funding the MACRO project, using funds from OPD. Police expertise and their role differs from that of mental health and social service experts, but both are crucial to a safe, just and especially humane city. Thank you!
Hello, My name is Lydia Henkel-Moellmann and I have been a resident of District 3 for the last seven years. Gender-based violence response services and prevention efforts are not adequately funded in Oakland. Oakland needs to provide more funding for non-law enforcement-based support. There is significant evidence that community-based, human-centered, responses that are led by appropriately trained providers are the most effective when addressing and healing violence in communities.I urge you to support Council President Bas’ budget proposal. Her proposed $17 million for the Department of Violence Prevention is just a first step toward shifting Oakland's approach to violence, but it is a step that needs to happen immediately.
My name is Dr. Sherry Congrave Wilson and I am the deputy director for MISSSEY. My tenure at MISSSEY started March 1st and since that time two of our clients have been murdered. As a former educator, I am all too familiar with losing students….but I have never experienced two losses this closely before….ever. Every time it happens, it makes me reflective and critical because I know ultimately it means that I need to do a better job. And I am committed to that.
But we need the city of Oakland to better protect our girls and gender expansive youth. In Oakland, like the rest of the world, we have seen a surge in gender based violence perpetrated against girls and gender expansive youth. We must increase funding to create and sustain services, programs and community centers tailored to the needs of vulnerable youth.
I urge you to support Council President Bas’ budget proposal. Her proposed $17 million for the Department of Violence Prevention is just a first step toward shifting Oakland's approach to violence and it must be supported now. Help make my job easier.
Thank you.
My name is Gala King, I am a D2 resident of 18 years, mother of two brown boys in Oakland schools, and staff with the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity based in Oakland Chinatown. I live blocks away from where the tragic shooting took place on Saturday evening. My heart breaks from the death and trauma experienced by our black, brown, and AAPI communities in Oakland. Clearly the investment we have made in policing and incarceration has NOT stopped the violence that continues to plague our communities. My voice represents the 140 people and 28 faith institutions who signed the Faith Moral Budget Letter that calls our electeds to: REIMAGINE public safety, and REINVEST in our communities. I believe President Bas' Budget Amendments are in line with the Moral Budget, and what we need for Oakland. We need to address the root causes of the violence, by investing in jobs, housing, and the Dept of Violence Prevention. Thank you!
I'm a D2 resident and I enthusiastically support Council President Fortunato Bas and her budget team's amendments. It's time to try something new. We've already demonstrated that increasing police funding does not make communities safer. OPD's solve rates in 2019 were 53% for homicides, 16% for rapes, 11% for aggravated assaults, and 6% for robberies. They're just not that helpful. Let's do something different. Let's invest in our communities to prevent violence in the first place and give our residents real options for safe, good lives in Oakland.
I am commenting as a lifelong Oaklander, resident of D4, and elected ADEM delegate to the Dem Party for AD 18. I support Council President's amendments and those submitted by Thao, Taylor, and Reid to fund community services, infrastructure, and violence prevention. All amendments can go further in reallocating funds from OPD to truly reimagine and invest in a holistic public safety system including increased funding for MACRO to ensure it is effectively piloted. I OPPOSE CM Taylor's amendment to add a 5th police academy and related policy directive. I support the policy directives advanced by Council President. Council needs to get real follow-through on action already authorized including to remove special events from OPD. Council also needs to find a real way to regulate the police overtime issue. The MOU explicitly provides the City with management rights over scheduling employees (which leads to overtime) so there are already some tools to control the city's own department accruing overtime. See MOU Art. II Sec. A and B. See also exemplar language in other cities like National City, CA where the MOU includes a provision that: "At the request of either party to this agreement, a committee composed of representative of the National City Police Officers' Association and the City will meet and discuss overtime and leave issues with the intent to reduce unnecessary overtime and maximize the opportunity to reduce furlough and comp time balances."
My name is Katy Morsony, I am the president of the Glenview Neighborhood Association but I provide these comments as an individual resident of District 5. All proposed budgets insufficiently fund the implementation of traffic safety measures throughout Oakland. During the pandemic reckless driving has increased across the city resulting in additional injuries and deaths, including of a pedestrian waiting for the bus on my street, Park Blvd. Consistent with removing police from non-violent crimes, the city will entrust the Department of Transportation with the role of traffic enforcement, but the Department remains under resourced to ensure that it can implement the design changes needed to increase pedestrian safety. If Oakland is to meet its goal of Vision Zero for traffic injuries and deaths it must invest in the infrastructure required to slow traffic and ease reckless driving. I support the Reid/Thao/Taylor amendments that would provide additional dollars for traffic calming throughout east Oakland (districts 4, 5. 6 and 7) but this additional funding is insufficient for the gravity of the problem. Funds need to be made available not just for interim measures to address the problem but investment in permanent solutions is required as well.
More policing is not the answer to addressing the roots of violence or unlivable conditions, in many cases, results in more harm. Bas & Fife's proposal will focus on getting to the root of what breeds healthy & safe communities such as affordable housing & homelessness solutions; public safety and violence prevention; investing in small businesses; and staffing at our parks and other communal places. This proposal invests the funds into the people of Oakland and into programs what will generate more sustainability for Oakland residents. Oakland youth and residents deserve to be held and taken care of by their city. I urge City Council to invest in the longevity, safety, and vibrancy of Oakland by voting YES to these proposed budget amendments.
Dear honorable members of Oakland City Council:
My name is Denishia Clark, and I am a public health advocate and a higher education professional working at Stanford University. I also serve on the board of directors for MISSSEY, Inc., a non-profit in Oakland that provides services to commercially sexually exploited youth and aims for systemic change with the youth served. As an Oakland native myself, I call on you to support resources being directed to violence prevention efforts in the city of Oakland. Gender-based violence response services and prevention efforts at this time are not adequately funded. And our community needs healing and a promising future. Therefore, I wholeheartedly encourage you to support Council President Bas' budget proposal of $17 million for the Department of Violence Prevention. The allocation of these resources would be a step in the right direction to support gender-expansive youth in Oakland. Please approve the proposed funding and work on culturally responsive, community-based, and human-centered approaches to prevention services. We can do this together! Thank you for your time and consideration and the support of the Department of Violence and Prevention by way of sustaining and expanding support services for our vulnerable youth.
In solidarity,
Denishia L. Clark, MPH, EdD
I enthusiastically support council president Bas’s proposed amendments to the budget proposed for the city of Oakland fiscal year 21-23. The presidents budget reflects a moral commitment to the people of Oakland. This budget accepts that what has been the standard approach to public safety, community well being, healthy neighborhoods, and equitable opportunity for sustainability and thriving for all who make their home in Oakland has failed us all. The moment we are in and The Town deserve a new approach that has the intention of serving us all humanely, and engage the roots of systemic issues that feed inequity, speed displacement, and create uncertainty for families struggling to make life in Oakland. we desperately need a budget that invest in people. that’s what council president passes amended budget does. I strongly urge the council to pass president Bas’s amendments to the proposed budget; send a clear signal to the people of Oakland that our voices and needs matter to those elected to serve both.
Good morning. I am a District 5 voter and a member of Neighbors for Racial Justice. I strongly support Council President Bas's Budget Amendments. In particular I want to advocate for full funding of the MACRO project, using funds from OPD to make this possible. Police agree that they are not the trained experts for responding to mental health crises. Thank you.
I support Council President Fortunato Bas and her budget team's amendments. I want to see less funding for OPD, no new funding for BIDs, and much more funding for humane homelessness solutions, affordable housing, parks (including San Antonio Park in my district), libraries, and City staff raises. I support IAD being shifted to CPRA.
My name is Nichola Torbett. I am a member of First Congregational Church of Oakland. I live and work in District 4, and I join with the 140 faith leaders and 28 faith institutions calling for a moral budget that invests in people and not police in the service of public safety. I fully support the Bas budget recommendations.
Police do not deter crime; they simply respond to it. Short of having armed officers at every corner in Oakland, which I would hope no one wants, it is not possible to prevent crimes through policing strategies. It is time that we invest in solutions to the root causes of crime by investing in the community.
Further, I reject the Taylor amendments. We need that ARP funding for housing and direct relief for Oaklanders, not for extra police academies.