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SANTA ANA'S PEOPLE's BUDGET PLATFORM Right to Live, Right to Remain, Right to Thrive in Santa Ana Community Demands Residents thrive when they can take their families to parks and community gardens, when educational and recreational programs are available for young people, and when families are free from fears of eviction and or deportation. Unfortunately, 70% of every dollar the City of Santa Ana allocates in the General Fund is used to pay for public safety that includes police and fire; the remaining 30% is split among a handful of city departments that contributes to thriving communities. In essence, we believe, there is an imbalance in spending priorities. We are calling on Santa Ana City leaders to use a holistic approach in the financing of city services that promotes and prioritizes the rights of residents to live, remain, and thrive in their neighborhoods. They should start by shifting resources to demonstrate to residents where their values truly lie and begin by funding the following: Value & Protect Immigrant Families • Allocate $300,000 for Universal Representation, a fund that ensures anyone facing deportation has access to legal representation, in the form of an immigration legal defense fund. o The fund will uphold Santa Ana as a Constitutional City by honoring the constitutional right to an attorney for 64 - 72 Santa Ana residents. o The Universal Rep fund will also help keep families together and keep the economy stable. Value & Invest in Youth • The City spends $12,770 apiece on each youth it arrests, while only spending $152 per resident aged 10-24 on healthy youth development programs and services. We are calling for the City to redirect youth suppression spending into youth development. o Santa Ana residents are calling for a divestment from the police and for more investment in youth development. • Research has shown that communities of color were disproportionately criminalized during the enforcement of anti -marijuana policies. In order to repair this history we are calling for 70% of the adult -use cannabis revenue to be allocated towards healthy youth development supports and services. The remaining 30% of the revenue should fund preventative, re-entry and decriminalizing practices such as expungement clinics for people with criminal records. o In the current fiscal year, the City is expecting to generate between $1.7 and $4.7 million' in adult -use cannabis revenues. In addition, the City is proposing to split those revenues into equal thirds between enforcement, community services and administration. Value & Prioritize Worker Cooperatives • City policy can support workers and small businesses by providing incentives towards the formation of worker cooperatives. We call on the City to waive business license fees and permit fees related to construction and improvement for worker cooperatives, and create a Worker Cooperative Development Fund for grants to nonprofits or community organizations that provide incubation and conversion programs, training and technical assistance. o Worker cooperatives are a successful manner in which low-income communities of color can build wealth and thrive. According to the New York Times, "by placing workers' needs ahead of profits, they address the root cause of economic disparity." (3/23/14) More than half of worker cooperatives in the United States today were designed to improve low-wage jobs and build wealth in communities most directly affected by inequality, helping vulnerable workers build skills and earning potential, household income and assets. 1 https://voiceofoc.org/2018/01/recreational-weed-its-legal-to-buy-at-licensed-oc-stores-but-only-in-santa-ana/