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Home My WebLink AboutCORRESPONDENCE - WS-1Ws -1 City Council Meeting Correspondence 5/15/2018 WORK STUDY SESSION: FISCAL YEAR 2018.19 PROPOSED BUDGET - FINANCE AND MANAGEMENT SERVICES Date of Name Representative of In Favor In Opposition Correspondence of RA*. of RA.* 1 5/15/2018 Alexis Teodoro Santa Ana Building Healthy Communities 1 TOTAL: 1 'IRA - Recommended Action Tuesday, May 15, 2018 Page 1. of 1 Orozco, !Norma From: Alexis Teodoro (SABHC) < Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2018 2:01 PM To: eComment Subject: Re: Comment and Document for City regarding Work Study Session #1 on the City's Budget Attachments: Santa Ana's Communities Budget Platform_v2.docx Please ignore the last attachment and instead use this attachment to give to staff and city council. Thank you: Alexis Nava Teodoro Campaign Strategist Santa Ana Building Healthy Communities ( From: Alexis Teodoro (SABHC) Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2018 1:04:42 PM To: eComment@santa-ana.org Subject: Comment and Document for City regarding Work Study Session #1 on the City's Budget Dear City Council and City Staff, The document attached on this email and pasted below, are specific principles and asks the community in Santa Ana are presenting. The Santa Ana People's Budget Platform, as we are calling it, represents a short list of 5 points that we want to be reflected with funding during this budget cycle. Even under the current budget deficit, we feel our asks are realistic because the "pie" is big enough to be sliced equitably. We hope our platform starts a fair and constructive conversation with city staff and the city council. The budget needs to be approved within the next two months, so time to meet to discuss our platform is of essence. I can be reached via email at to discuss this. Thank you for reading and let's make the city a better place for the working-class immigrant families that live here and want to remain and thrive. 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/ Value & Protect Tenants • In the past, the City has used federal dollars to enforce tenant rights and protect families from eviction. The City should consider reinvesting in eviction defense by holding Know -Your -Rights trainings or more direct legal defense assistance for tenants in eviction proceedings. Value Community Lands in Community Hands • Over 90 city -owned lots sit empty and without use. Instead of selling -off this once-in-a-lifetime asset, the City should engage local residents in the decision and development process to produce public benefits for future generations. Current f=iscal Climate Unfortunately, there is a looming $17 million' budget -deficit sparking discussions on behalf of city leaders of scaling back services. It is our assessment that these deficits were not caused by outside economic forces, rather, because of questionable spending practices that include favoring salary increases for city staff, operating the jail at deficit levels and questionable subsidies to private companies. Ultimately, we believe their actions betray their statements of limited resources and demonstrate where there priorities have been. We firmly believe deficit-reduction efforts should not come at the expense of vital community services and moreover that future investments can be made by using current resources and new cannabis revenues. To learn more about the Santa Ana's People's Budget Platform please contact Alexis Teodoro at 2 https://voiceofoc.org/2018/02/santa-ana-proiects-17-million-budget-hole-as-labor-costs-skyrocket/