The City's $1B Budget passed last night, but not without intense public grievances

Inside: a brief recap and my public comment

09/22/2022

Last night, our City Commission voted 3-2 to approve the $1B budget, where a mere $300,000 was allocated for Housing & Community Resilience. Commissioners Porter and Matlow were in dissent.

There were several community members in attendance, myself included, expressing their dissatisfaction with the budget and Police Chief Lawrence Revell.

Below is my comment arguing for the City to reinstate Neighborhood REACH, an energy efficiency and weatherization program that became inactive after the pandemic:

“What happened to civic duty? What happened to moral obligation? What happened to our democracy? It's really upsetting for us to time and time and time again, to come here and to be met with blank faces … All I'm advocating for is that American Rescue Plan Dollars, 46 million that the City received, to be given to the people. Stop hoarding our money.”

If you’d like to watch the Budget Hearing, click here. The budget starts around the 3 hour mark.

Best,

Shelby