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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCorrespondence - #26Chispa July 20th, 2021 Mayor Sarmiento and the City Council Members City of Santa Ana 22 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, CA 92701 RE: Agenda Item #26 Consideration of Ordinance Amending the Cannabis Public Benefit Fund Restricted Uses for Additional Youth Services Dear Mayor Sarmiento and City Councilmembers, I write on behalf of Chispa to express our support for Item 26, amending the cannabis public benefit fund restricted uses for additional youth services. As an organization by and for young Latinxs, this proposal is deeply personal to us and our members due to the positive economic impact this would have on young Latinxs in Santa Ana, who make up a significant portion of this City. Santa Ana was the first city in Orange County to approve the legal sale of cannabis, which has raised more than $55 million in the last 4 years. While law enforcement continues to eat up a significant portion of this revenue, there remains concern over the lack of transparency for how this money is used. According to the Orange County Grand Jury's report on Santa Ana's Monopoly of Cannabis, "it's been difficult to secure specific information over how this money has been used " The absence of transparency over the investment of these funds raise serious concerns, and further widens the gap of trust between community and police. Economic equity is at the heart of this proposal. The City of Santa Ana has one of the youngest populations in the country, but yet our youth programs and services still remain under-resourced. We as a city can do more to invest in the young people in the city. We urge you to pass this change in the Cannabis Public Benefit Fund and transfer funding from enforcement activities to youth services. Lastly, we ask for ongoing community input in the process of creating new and expanding existing, effective programs that best fit community priorities with these funds. Sincerely, Boomer Vicente Policy Director Chispa Orozco, Norma From: Sent: To: Cc: Subject: Good Afternoon Santa Ana Council, priscilla mancilla<priscillajanelmancilla@gmaii.com> Tuesday, July 20, 2021 1:46 PM eComment eComment Fund Communities, Not Cops. Item#26 My name is Priscilla Mancilla & I am writing to request that the city's Cannabis Public Benefit Fund gets amended to shift funding from enforcement to youth services—item#26. Thank you, Priscilla Mancimma Sent from my iPhone Orozco, Norma From: Greg Camphire <gcamphire@gmail.com> Sent: Monday, July 19, 2021 5:33 PM To: eComment Subject: Item 26: Amend Santa Ana's Cannabis Public Benefit Fund Hello, I am writing to advocate for the responsible distribution of funds from the City of Santa Ana's Cannabis Public Benefit Fund. As a relatively new source of income for the city, which comes from sales of an adult recreational substance, the city has a great opportunity to use these funds for much -needed services for the communities who live here. Unfortunately there has been little transparency in the distribution of these funds, and that needs to change. Residents have made it clear that there is a great need for significant investments in youth services, education, job training, after -school programs, public parks, renewable technologies, mental health services, healthy food access, and affordable housing. At the same time, the SAPD has been grossly over -funded historically and already receives the largest portion of city revenues. Our police department is also one of the deadliest in the country, with 27 shootings per 324,568 residents and additional officer misconduct records hidden from the public. It's time to shift funding from police enforcement to other community services. Santa Ana needs to reorient the Cannabis Public Benefit Fund back towards a model that truly puts residents first. We are calling on Santa Ana City leaders to break from the ineffective and unequal prioritization of policing in city budgets, and invest in Santa Ana's people. The safest communities are not the ones with the most police, but the ones with the most resources. Please utilize the Cannabis Public Benefit Fund to make that statement true for Santa Ana. Thank you, Greg Camphire 92701 Orozco, Norma From: Aransazu <curielaransazu@gmail.com> Sent: Monday, July 19, 2021 1:11 PM To: eComment Subject: Fund Communities NOT COPS Categories: Correspondence Hi I am a resident in Santa Ana and I want you to amend the City's Cannabis Public Benefit Fund and to shift funding from enforcement to youth services! Law enforcement does NOT need more funding, focus on the youth at risk and resources for them! Orozco, Norma From: Monica Castro <castro.monica0212@yahoo.com> Sent: Monday, July 19, 2021 1:00 PM To: eComment Subject: Police Funding Categories: Correspondence Hello city council, As a lifelong member of Santa Ana, I am writing to you to request the defunding of police and to alter the funds to our youth programs. The profits from cannabis sales needs to be given to youth services and not to the police department that already pays for so much. They recently also had a major raise with a whopping D- rating. More money will NOT resolve the issues our community faces. Flores, Dora From: Tim Johnson <tjohnson@jlkrllp.com> Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2021 9:06 AM To: eComment, Sarmiento, Vicente; Mendoza, Nelida; Bacerra, Phil; Penaloza, David; Lopez, Jessie; Hernandez, Johnathan; Phan, Thai Cc: Ridge, Kristine; Mendoza, Steven Subject: Agenda Item #26- Cannabis Public Benefit Fund Council... Tonight you will be considering changes to the city's Cannabis Public Benefit Fund (CPBF) to essentially allow a re -distribution from the Enforcement (ENF) portion of the CPBF to the Youth Services (YS) portion ... each of the ENF and YS currently are allocated one third of the cannabis related tax revenue from commercial and retail activities. I ask that before approving this reallocation that you consider what activities the ENF portion of the CPBF can be utilized for. There is no doubt that providing youth services are of vital importance. However, I believe that many in our community believe that the ENF portion is essentially only allowing for SAPID funding and do not understand what is currently allowed to be funded from the ENF fund. It is a balancing act of providing for the many needs of our community, but ENF funds are NOT reserved for policing... there are many allowed uses for the ENF fund that would fall outside of police funding. I believe that funds currently in ENF and those that will continue to come in the future can be utilized for the following vital needs of our community because they fall under the very broad definition (likely purposefully broad IMO) of enforcement services as outlined in the original ordinance: • Code Enforcement: Prior to the pandemic, the city was slated to hire additional code enforcement officers which never happened. Our city appears to be still under staffed in this area especially when compared to staffing before the great recession. We have still not hit those expanded levels of service despite possibly having even greater needs. I believe that utilizing the ENF fund for additional hiring here may be a good utilization of these funds and allowed under the ordinance since they are enforcing city code. • Graffiti Removal: Our graffiti removal team does a great job when they are told of an area on the city's app. However, they are reactionary. I am told that there first responsibility is to respond to report on the app. There are areas that I know do not get reported and the graffiti will stay for days. It is very possible that by expanding this service to allow for one or two more trucks to remove graffiti, they can be more proactive and make our city look better and get ahead of graffiti before it is seen by many. Since it is illegal to graffiti our city, it seems that expanding this program would be an allowable use of the ENF funds. • Trash Pickup: There is trash in our city. On sidewalks, on bike trails, on walking trails, in parking lots, along streets, next to garbage cans. Our city workers/contractors do a good job of responding when an item is brought to their attention via the city's app, but like the graffiti removal, they appear to be reactionary and are absorbed with responding instead of seeking out hotspots in the city. I find that hotspots are often not reported b/c residents may start to become blind to the problem because it simply keeps happening over and over again and they essentially just give up. Since it is illegal to litter in our city, this would appear to be an allowed use of these ENF funds. • Parking Solutions: No doubt parking is an issue in our city. Parking often rolls into violations of city ordinances and code. I believe that development of some parking solutions would also be an allowed use of ENF funds if it is to help in bringing areas into compliance or relieve parking problems in certain neighborhoods. • Abandoned or Dilapidated Buildings/Parking Lots: We have certain buildings and vacant lots that need some love from the owners. The city needs resources to encourage the owners to take care of their property to come in compliance with city code and also to simply make corrections to some parcels. The city can develop a program funded by ENF funds to help bring areas of disrepair up to city standards which will help our community. I believe that if one were to fully fund the above priorities that we likely would exhaust the ENF portion of the CPBF on an annual basis. I am not advocating that there is no room to transfer funds from ENF to YS on an as needed basis, but hesitate to change the ordinance from its intended and approved plan. I would suggest that prior to any change, that the city provide needs of the community that can be alleviated by the funds in the ENF portion of CPBF before any such movement. At the same time, possibly have a plan drawn for what programming would happen if additional funding were to be provided for YS. Then, you can consider which needs are most desired in our community. Many, if not all, of the above referenced ENF uses of the CPBF will benefit the youth indirectly in providing a safer and more desirable community for them and their families. also understand that you are not voting to actually move the funds from ENF to YS, but this is the first step ... one that requires a super majority I believe. I would also ask that any future transfers from ENF to YS also require a super majority. Further, even if this action tonight is not passed, I urge you to look at the approx. $78.5M expected balance at 6/30/22 and come up with a plan to deploy those funds into our community. The above 5 bullet points is just a quick brainstorm but I am sure that there are many needs that fall under an allowed use of the ENF funds which if department heads are asked for their "wants" and "needs" that they will be able to find good use for those funds. Further, if the community does not want the ENF set aside to fund SAPID activities, you can have that discussion and choose to exclude SAPID funding as an allowed use of the ENF set aside. This would allow the one-third ENF set aside to be used for non -policing enforcement activities. I would suggest that any such change be made in the context of not allowing any further or expanded PD funding beyond what is in the current ENF spending plan (i.e. if for example $1M of the $3.66M spending in ENF is for PD in the current FY21/22 year, they should still be allowed to utilize that $1M in the future but just not expand on it). Essentially, prior to voting on this big change, I believe that we need to fully understand the needs of our community and allocate resources where they are needed ... it is a balance and then determination of priorities. Our city has needs which should be met which the funds in the CPBF can help in those needs. This is a good discussion to have but this amendment needs to be better and information more available prior to a vote on amendment. Thank you for your service to our community. Prauay part of ft Pff giobel fwiry frin Tim Johnson, CPA Partner O (949)860-9892 (714)743-1065 tjohnson@jlkrllp.com 2601 Main Street, Suite 580, Irvine, CA 92614 B See our latest business news and insights by clicking here This message (including any attachments) contains confidential information intended for a specific individual and purpose, and is protected by law. If you are not the intended recipient, you should delete this message. Any disclosure, copying, or distribution of this message, or the taking of any action based on it, is strictly prohibited. JLK Rosenberger is a California Limited Liability Partnership and a member firm of PKF International Limited, a family of legally independent member firms and does not accept any responsibility or liability for the actions or inactions on the part of any other individual member or correspondent firm or firms. Flores, Dora From: Ivette <ivetteeb@gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2021 8:43 AM To: eComment Subject: shift cannabis industry funds to YOUTH not police enforcement first off, you're not even being transparent about where this money is being spent you just tell us its for our police. why would we continue to fund the police? we can all choose to boycott Santa Ana cannabis industry and take our hard earned money to different cities. 7 million for police enforcement is a literal SIN when they get so much money from other sources. GIVE THE MONEY TO THE YOUTH. Flores, Dora From: Ivette <ivetteeb@gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2021 8:40 AM To: eComment Subject: Amend city's public benefit fund The cannabis industry in Santa Ana brings in so much revenue for our city and it is all WASTED on police enforcement. You people gave S412k for youth services but 7 MILLION to the police. What do they need it for? They're all driving the newest Fords Explorers and blast their air conditioning all day. On top of that, I am still getting shined in the face when the city said THEY ARE NO LONGER ALLOWED TO DO THAT. FIX YOUR OFFICERS. *GIVE THE MONEY TO THE YOUTH NOT THE POLICE OR WE WILL BOYCOTT THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY*. Fund our community as they are our FUTURE, not police enforcement. SAPD do nothing but sit in parking lots all day. 92707 resident Flores, Dora From: Karla Navarro <karma_karla@icloud.com> Sent: Monday, July 19, 2021 9:24 PM To: eComment Subject: Item #26 As a Santa Ana resident I am urging the council to amend the city's cannabis public benefit fund, our youth services need to be funded. Our city needs to divest funds from police enforcement, We have little evidence, if any, to show that more police surveillance results in fewer crimes and greater public safety. Indeed, funneling police into communities of color and pushing officers to make arrests just perpetuates harm and trauma. Community services such as housing, education, and violence prevention programs. Those are the institutions that help build stable, safe, and healthy communities. Fund community, not cops Thank you for your time, Karla Navarro Ward 4 resident Flores, Dora From: Michael Solorio <msolorio312@gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2021 11:09 AM To: eComment Subject: Comment on Item 26 Dear council, Thank you for discussing the cannabis fund. I am very proud that our city took the lead in creating a dispensary certification process, but 1 have some qualms with the fund. I request that you stop the fund from contributing to the police. One of the main reasons cannabis was legalized is because when it was illegal, black and brown people suffered the most at the hands of our justice system. When this fund gives money to the police, it is empowering the justice system to continue targeting black and brown people. The money would benefit Santa Ana much better if it went into services for youth, or wellness services. I wish to see Santa Ana invest in preventative practices rather than the police. That way we address the causes of our issues. The police do not prevent issues, they only respond to them and oftentimes make the situation worse for black and brown people. Thank you for reading my comment, Michael Solorio Ward 1 Flores, Dora From: Todd Cottle <Todd@c-cdev.com> Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2021 11:45 AM To: eComment Cc: Barry Cottle Subject: City Council Meeting- 7/20/21- ITEM 26- Consideration of Ordinance Amending the Cannabis Public Benefit Fund Restricted Uses for Additional Youth Services Mayor Sarmiento and City Council, We are writing to register our support and to encourage you to approve the proposed amendment to the Cannabis Public Benefit Fund to allocate a greater share to youth services. The allocation of funds to additional youth services will provide necessary resources to engage and benefit the youth of Santa Ana. If this amendment is approved, we would encourage the City to allocate a portion of the funds towards a second Police Athletic & Activity Location (PAAL) in the City. We have been working closely with the Santa Ana Police Department on a site in close proximity to the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center. With approximately 8,000 sf of indoor space and an adjacent outdoor area, we believe this location would be excellent for youth programming. It is situated within an existing affordable housing community, along the OC Streetcar, and within immediate walking distance to the neighborhoods of Garfield, Lacy, Logan and French Park. Thank you. Barry Cottle and Todd Cottle C & C Development 714-288-7600 Flores, Dora From: Audrey Kirwin <kirwinaudrey@gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2021 12:40 PM To: eComment Subject: Invest in the Future of Our Society!r Please consider amending the City's Cannabis Public Benefit Fund and to shift funding from enforcement to youth services aka Item #26. By shifting the funds to youth services, this will give them more opportunities to utilize all their potential and realize their greatness!!! Please please consider giving the money to them instead of enforcement, our youth are the leaders of our future and we need to invest in them like we believe it. Sent from my iPhone