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WOW over 400 people signed up to comment on the Somerville Budget livestream if you haven't registered to speak https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=1157879137907409&ref=watch_permalink
Wille & Vignesh get us off to a strong start, imagining a future without police.
Ameera - one of the 4,000+ residents who signed the petition to defund the police at 60% and reject any budget that doesn't do it by 10%. Defunding the police is not radical; cutting housing budgets is radical (as proposed in FY21 Somerville budget). LA is doing this.
Ameera - we need to reimagine public safety, where every problem is not for police to solve.
Jenna W - our community would be safer if we reduced the budget by 60%. I want to live in a community that is actively anti-racist and affordable, and welcoming.
Next up a psychologist who echoes the need for more youth support & emphasis on preventative programs and reparations.
Grace Y - We need to address institutional racism
Julie D - here with @Defund_SPD - 3.3% is a "political theater" - reduce it by 60%, reject any budget that doesn't cut by 10%. Reforms don't work, and police murders are linked to the practice of policing. SPD is NOT an exception. Money wasted on police should be reinvested.
David C - wants to specifically call out weapons like tear gas and pepper spray- cut these.
How do we measure success in the budget process? When we cut housing, is it because fewer people are homeless?
Dolly A - with @Defund_SPD her partner was arrested wrongly when someone accused him falsely of a bike theft, and was arrested by 7 police, and was charged with a felony! Unacceptable. there was no police report. the cops follow him and stole his bikes. HOLY SHIT
Vivian A - concerned that proposed reforms involve spending MORE money. We need to dismantle the piece to its component job. There is no job that they do that cannot be done BETTER by other groups. It matters where the budget cuts come from. We need to Lead on this.
