1 PUBLIC COMMENT: COMMENTS ON ALL ITEMS EXCEPT PUBLIC HEARINGS WILL BE TAKEN AT THIS TIME. COMMENTS FOR ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA WILL BE TAKEN DURING OPEN FORUM
Steven Lavoie comments:
I am a 22-year employee of the City of Oakland - a Senior Librarian at the Oakland Public Library.
Please make the open labor contracts the top budget priority, keeping in mind the severe inflation which is impacting us workers particularly hard. Please also recognize and keep in mind the great risks we've endured serving the public during this pandemic and the sacrifices we've made over and over again to help the city keep its finances stable during the recession periods that we workers had shortened work weeks and have had to settle for cost-of-living increases that keep us nowhere near the CPI. We also need to deal with the serious problem of unfilled positions that is negatively impacting public service and the workload at our jobs. Thank you for the interest.
I am in strong opposition to increasing OPD funding or allocating any COVID relief dollars to them. We have seen that continuing to fund OPD at such high levels while ignoring and underfunding alternatives like MACRO does not decrease crime and is a complete waste of money. Instead of increasing the budget for OPD or using COVID relief money to fund police, you should allocate that funding to:
- The Preservation Affordability Fund and fund “transitional age” youth housing
- Address homelessness
- Increase funding for eviction defense and legal protections for renters and long-term residents
- Public services that serve Black & Brown communities in the flatlands including ongoing funding and support for the Head Start Program
- Arts and culture
You also should be prioritizing protections for frontline workers by enforcing worker protections and supporting a fair contract for city employees. We are still very much in a pandemic and now is not the time to be focusing on increasing police and police budgets, it's the time to invest in our communities and programs that actually help lower crime and create opportunities for our neighbors and communities to thrive. We've seen repeatedly that increasing funding for police does not decrease crime, so please stop pretending like they're the best option. Communities know what we need and it's education, housing, fair employment, mental health services, creative outlets, and opportunities for growth. Not police.
For the budget, please do not increase spending on OPD or allocate covid dollars toward the police. Please prioritize alternatives to public safety like maintaining and expanding MACRO. Please fund “transitional age” youth housing, address homelessness, and increase funding for eviction defense and legal protections for renters and long-term residents. Please prioritize public services that serve Black & Brown communities in the flatlands including ongoing funding and support for the Head Start Program.
Steven Lavoie comments:
I am a 22-year employee of the City of Oakland - a Senior Librarian at the Oakland Public Library.
Please make the open labor contracts the top budget priority, keeping in mind the severe inflation which is impacting us workers particularly hard. Please also recognize and keep in mind the great risks we've endured serving the public during this pandemic and the sacrifices we've made over and over again to help the city keep its finances stable during the recession periods that we workers had shortened work weeks and have had to settle for cost-of-living increases that keep us nowhere near the CPI. We also need to deal with the serious problem of unfilled positions that is negatively impacting public service and the workload at our jobs. Thank you for the interest.
I am in strong opposition to increasing OPD funding or allocating any COVID relief dollars to them. We have seen that continuing to fund OPD at such high levels while ignoring and underfunding alternatives like MACRO does not decrease crime and is a complete waste of money. Instead of increasing the budget for OPD or using COVID relief money to fund police, you should allocate that funding to:
- The Preservation Affordability Fund and fund “transitional age” youth housing
- Address homelessness
- Increase funding for eviction defense and legal protections for renters and long-term residents
- Public services that serve Black & Brown communities in the flatlands including ongoing funding and support for the Head Start Program
- Arts and culture
You also should be prioritizing protections for frontline workers by enforcing worker protections and supporting a fair contract for city employees. We are still very much in a pandemic and now is not the time to be focusing on increasing police and police budgets, it's the time to invest in our communities and programs that actually help lower crime and create opportunities for our neighbors and communities to thrive. We've seen repeatedly that increasing funding for police does not decrease crime, so please stop pretending like they're the best option. Communities know what we need and it's education, housing, fair employment, mental health services, creative outlets, and opportunities for growth. Not police.
For the budget, please do not increase spending on OPD or allocate covid dollars toward the police. Please prioritize alternatives to public safety like maintaining and expanding MACRO. Please fund “transitional age” youth housing, address homelessness, and increase funding for eviction defense and legal protections for renters and long-term residents. Please prioritize public services that serve Black & Brown communities in the flatlands including ongoing funding and support for the Head Start Program.