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Orozco, Norma <br />From: <br />Barela, Waldo <br />Sent: <br />Friday, June 12, 2020 8:03 PM <br />To: <br />eComment <br />Subject: <br />FW: Defund the Santa Ana Police Department <br />Categories: Correspondence <br />-----Original Message ----- <br />From: Brenda Milan [mailto:mjsangell9@gmail.com] <br />Sent: Friday, June 12, 2020 7:44 PM <br />To: Pulido, Miguel <MPulido@santa-ana.org>; Sarmiento, Vicente <VSarmiento@santa-ana.org>; Penaloza, David <br /><DPenaloza@santa-ana.org>; Solorio, Jose <JSolorio@santa-ana.org>; Bacerra, Phil <pbacerra@santa-ana.org>; Villegas, <br />Juan <VVileegas@santa-ana.org>; Mendoza, Nelida <nmendoza@santa-ana.org>; Valentin, David <DValentin@santa- <br />ana.org> <br />Cc: BudgetOffice <BudgetOffice@santa-ana.org> <br />Subject: Defund the Santa Ana Police Department <br />To Mayor Pulido, the Santa Ana City Council, and Police Chief Valentin <br />My name is Brenda Milan and I am a resident of Santa Ana. I am writing to demand that the City Council adopts a <br />peoples budget that prioritizes community wellbeing and redirects funding away from the police department to much - <br />needed social services. <br />This past week, our nation has been gripped by protests calling for a rapid and meaningful reconsideration of the role of <br />policing in communities, in addition to an end to racism and anti -Blackness in America. It has come to my attention that <br />the city government, like many others across the country, is struggling to balance budgets in the midst of the <br />coronavirus pandemic. <br />Last year, the City Council approved a total of $25 million in raises for police salary and benefits for the next two and a <br />half years. The proposed $13.5 million increase in public safety spending is unacceptable, especially since the city has <br />less budget flexibility during this economic downturn. <br />While we have spent an astonishing amount of money on policing, we have not seen vast improvements to safety, <br />homelessness, mental health, or housing affordability in the city. I am joining the calls of those across the country to <br />defund the police. I demand a budget that adequately and effectively meets the needs of at -risk city residents during <br />this trying and uncertain time, when livelihoods are on the line. I call on you to halt annual SAPD raises and reallocate <br />funds towards social services, including education, public health, youth development, and improved public transit- not <br />increased policing. <br />I am in favor of enacting a civilian oversight commission with investigative powers, but I ultimately have no desire to see <br />our community become increasingly over -policed when basic social services, like coronavirus outreach and translation <br />