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CC 2020-06-23_10a Supplemental No 1MEMORANDUM TO: CITY COUNCIL FROM: JESSICA MATSON, DEPUTY CITY CLERK SUBJECT: SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION AGENDA ITEM 10a – JUNE 23, 2020 CITY COUNCIL MEETING CONSIDERATION OF ADOPTION OF FISCAL YEAR 2020-21 BUDGET D ATE: JUNE 22, 2020 Attached is correspondence received. cc: Acting City Manager Administrative Services Director City Attorney City Clerk City Website (or public review binder) From: Carly Conrad < Date: June 17, 2020 at 6:47:06 AM PDT To: Lan George <lgeorge@arroyogrande.org>, Keith Storton <kstorton@arroyogrande.org>, Jimmy Paulding <jpaulding@arroyogrande.org>, Kristen Barneich <kbarneich@arroyogrande.org>, Caren Ray Russom <crayrussom@arroyogrande.org> Subject: Policing budget Dear Mayor Caren Russom and Arroyo Grande City Council My name is Campbell and I am a resident of Arroyo Grande. I am writing to demand that the Arroyo Grande City Council adopt a city budget that prioritizes community well-being, and redirects funding away from the police. In 2019, the City of Arroyo Grande allocated $6,950,000 dollars to our police system, an inordinate 39% of our total budget. This is compared much higher than the amount of money allocated towards community development, with only no money towards affordable housing development. Next year, the city estimates that there will be deficits as a result of the pandemic. The city may recoup these funds by decreasing the police budget. I demand that the City Council begin meaningfully defunding the Arroyo Grande Police Department and re-allocate those funds to programs proven to more effectively promote a safe and equitable community. We need funding for community-based mental health services, substance abuse treatment services, affordable housing programs, not police. I demand a budget that reflects the actual needs of Arroyo Grande residents. History has shown that police “reform” is not enough. No more money, and more importantly, no more lives must be lost to police. We must take a hard look at the way the current system in place fails to serve-and in fact actively harms-our community, and come together to reimagine the role of police in our city. I am urging you to completely revise the budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year, and to invest in the people, not the police. Thank you for your time, Campbell Sent from my iPhone From: Saga Darnell < Date: June 17, 2020 at 8:03:20 PM PDT To: Lan George <lgeorge@arroyogrande.org>, Keith Storton <kstorton@arroyogrande.org>, Jimmy Paulding <jpaulding@arroyogrande.org>, Kristen Barneich <kbarneich@arroyogrande.org>, Caren Ray Russom <crayrussom@arroyogrande.org> Subject: Caring for Community Dear Mayor Caren Russom and Arroyo Grande City Council My name is Saga Darnell. I am writing to demand that the Arroyo Grande City Council adopt a city budget that prioritizes community well-being, and redirects funding away from the police. In 2019, the City of Arroyo Grande allocated $6,950,000 dollars to its police system, an inordinate 39% of the total budget. This is compared much higher than the amount of money allocated towards community development, with only no money towards affordable housing development. Next year, the city estimates that there will be deficits as a result of the pandemic. The city may recoup these funds by decreasing the police budget. I demand that the City Council begin meaningfully defunding the Arroyo Grande Police Department and re-allocate those funds to programs proven to more effectively promote a safe and equitable community. We need funding for community-based mental health services, substance abuse treatment services, affordable housing programs, not police. I demand a budget that reflects the actual needs of Arroyo Grande residents. History has shown that police “reform” is not enough. No more money, and more importantly, no more lives must be lost to police. You must take a hard look at the way the current system in place fails to serve-and in fact actively harms-your community, and come together to reimagine the role of police in your city. I am urging you to completely revise the budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year, and to invest in the people, not the police. Thank you for your time, Saga Darnell From: Ciara Kight < Date: June 17, 2020 at 1:59:18 PM PDT To: Lan George <lgeorge@arroyogrande.org>, Keith Storton <kstorton@arroyogrande.org>, Jimmy Paulding <jpaulding@arroyogrande.org>, Kristen Barneich <kbarneich@arroyogrande.org>, Caren Ray Russom <crayrussom@arroyogrande.org> Subject: Prioritizing community funding Dear Mayor Caren Russom and Arroyo Grande City Council My name is Ciara Kight and I am a resident of Arroyo Grande. I am writing to demand that the Arroyo Grande City Council adopt a city budget that prioritizes community well-being, and redirects funding away from the police. In 2019, the City of Arroyo Grande allocated $6,950,000 dollars to our police system, an inordinate 39% of our total budget. This is compared much higher than the amount of money allocated towards community development, with only no money towards affordable housing development. Next year, the city estimates that there will be deficits as a result of the pandemic. The city may recoup these funds by decreasing the police budget. I demand that the City Council begin meaningfully defunding the Arroyo Grande Police Department and re-allocate those funds to programs proven to more effectively promote a safe and equitable community. We need funding for community-based mental health services, substance abuse treatment services, affordable housing programs, not police. I demand a budget that reflects the actual needs of Arroyo Grande residents. History has shown that police “reform” is not enough. No more money, and more importantly, no more lives must be lost to police. We must take a hard look at the way the current system in place fails to serve-and in fact actively harms-our community, and come together to reimagine the role of police in our city. I am urging you to completely revise the budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year, and to invest in the people, not the police. Thank you for your time, Ciara Kight From: Olivia Russ < Date: June 17, 2020 at 9:47:37 AM PDT To: Lan George <lgeorge@arroyogrande.org>, Keith Storton <kstorton@arroyogrande.org>, Jimmy Paulding <jpaulding@arroyogrande.org>, Kristen Barneich <kbarneich@arroyogrande.org>, Caren Ray Russom <crayrussom@arroyogrande.org> Subject: I write not as a resident of your city, but as a concerned citizen of the US Dear Mayor Caren Russom and Arroyo Grande City Council My name is Olivia Russ, and I am a resident of Murrieta, CA. I am writing to demand that the Arroyo Grande City Council adopt a city budget that prioritizes community well-being, and redirects funding away from the police. In 2019, the City of Arroyo Grande allocated $6,950,000 dollars to our police system, an inordinate 39% of our total budget. This is compared much higher than the amount of money allocated towards community development, with only no money towards affordable housing development. Next year, the city estimates that there will be deficits as a result of the pandemic. The city may recoup these funds by decreasing the police budget. I demand that the City Council begin meaningfully defunding the Arroyo Grande Police Department and re-allocate those funds to programs proven to more effectively promote a safe and equitable community. We need funding for community-based mental health services, substance abuse treatment services, affordable housing programs, not police. I demand a budget that reflects the actual needs of Arroyo Grande residents. History has shown that police “reform” is not enough. No more money, and more importantly, no more lives must be lost to police. We must take a hard look at the way the current system in place fails to serve-and in fact actively harms-our community, and come together to reimagine the role of police in our city. I am urging you to completely revise the budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year, and to invest in the people, not the police. Thank you for your time, Olivia Russ From: Kaitlin Doolittle < Date: June 18, 2020 at 2:31:05 AM PDT To: Lan George <lgeorge@arroyogrande.org>, Keith Storton <kstorton@arroyogrande.org>, Jimmy Paulding <jpaulding@arroyogrande.org>, Kristen Barneich <kbarneich@arroyogrande.org>, Caren Ray Russom <crayrussom@arroyogrande.org> Subject: DEFUND ARROYO GRANDE PD NOW! Dear Mayor Caren Russom and Arroyo Grande City Council My name is Kaitlin and I am a resident of Arroyo Grande. I am writing to demand that the Arroyo Grande City Council adopt a city budget that prioritizes community well-being, and redirects funding away from the police. In 2019, the City of Arroyo Grande allocated $6,950,000 dollars to our police system, an inordinate 39% of our total budget. This is compared much higher than the amount of money allocated towards community development, with only no money towards affordable housing development. Next year, the city estimates that there will be deficits as a result of the pandemic. The city may recoup these funds by decreasing the police budget. I demand that the City Council begin meaningfully defunding the Arroyo Grande Police Department and re-allocate those funds to programs proven to more effectively promote a safe and equitable community. We need funding for community-based mental health services, substance abuse treatment services, affordable housing programs, not police. I demand a budget that reflects the actual needs of Arroyo Grande residents. History has shown that police “reform” is not enough. No more money, and more importantly, no more lives must be lost to police. We must take a hard look at the way the current system in place fails to serve-and in fact actively harms-our community, and come together to reimagine the role of police in our city. I am urging you to completely revise the budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year, and to invest in the people, not the police. Thank you for your time, Kaitlin D. From:Ryan Little To:public comment Subject:City Council Question: Budget Concern Date:Thursday, June 18, 2020 9:20:57 PM Dear City Council, My name is Ryan Little. I am 34 years old and have lived in Arroyo Grande almost my entire life. I love this town, but our current economic situation has me worried to say the least. It was already hard to make a living in this area, and that was before Covid made things worse financially for our city. Many businesses are struggling, many employees are taking pay cuts in some fashion, some employees are losing their jobs, etc. Even if you aren’t in one of those boats, the cost of living is going up for everybody: new regulations are raising the cost of doing business, new regulations are making child care costs go up, the price of food is clearly going up, etc. Unless one has been in a position to profit from this overall misfortune, things are getting more expensive due to this pandemic. In this difficult time, there has been talk about increasing sales taxes to help mitigate our city’s financial issues. If we have to raise taxes, I agree that it should be in the form of a sales tax increase. This way everybody pitches in and the “true cost” to people is straight forward. However, that's if we need to raise taxes. Regardless of whether more tax revenue is needed, I urge our city to look at “frivolous” expenses we can cut out. From my many conversations with locals, the overwhelming common sentiment is “Don’t ask me for more taxes till you cut back on needless spending”. Even if some city employees were fired or take pay cuts, that would only solve part of the city’s financial issues. I don’t want to see the city “sacrifice” a few employees to partially save the budget, especially when the city can cut spending in areas that don’t decimate a local family’s ability to make a living. What specific expenses are the city council considering to cut down on? Specifically, can we change course on the Brisco Road Interchange Project? Normally the answer might be no, but this is by no means a normal time in our City’s history. If I’m correct, the city council had multiple options about a year ago. The options were ESTIMATED to cost $0 (keeping it as is), $12 million, or $23 million. As we should all know, actual costs rarely come in under the estimates. I was not a fan of the choice back then, and our city definitely doesn’t have the money now. The traffic is an inconvenience; but what good is less traffic if the city and families can no longer afford to pay their bills? Simply put, that project is not a dire need that needs tax money and fixing; it is a luxury in a time we do not have excess money to spend. Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to hearing your ideas for cutting “frivolous” expenses to help balance the budget.