From: Transform Alameda
To: City Clerk; Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft; Malia Vella; Lara Weisiger; Tony Daysog; Trish Spencer; Tracy Jensen Cc: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: [EXTERNAL] Correspondence regarding Item 7-B on 5/2/24 Agenda Date: Tuesday, May 2, 2023 12:50:51 PM
Attachments: Alameda Community Budget 2023_publish.pdf
TA FY23-24 Budget Letter.pdf
Dear City Clerk, Honorable Mayor, and City Council Members, Attached please find a letter from Transform Alameda on Item 7-B on tonight's City Council Meeting agenda -
Workshop to Provide Direction on Fiscal Years 2023-24 and 2024-25 Operating Budget to Be Incorporated into Budget Adoption Hearing Materials for City Council Consideration in June 2023.
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Jackie Zipkin
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
Re: May 2, 2023 City Council Meeting, Item 7-B
Dear City Council Members,
Transform Alameda is a collective of Alamedans working together to pursue racial justice in Alameda through education, policy, and action. We found one another online in 2020, and since then we have taken up a variety of projects and campaigns to focus Alameda on racial justice and community care.
Over the past several months, Transform Alameda has focused on bringing participatory budgeting to Alameda. Participatory budgeting, or peoples’ budgets, frame municipal budgets as not only policy documents, but moral documents that express a community’s values. In support of this framework, we conducted the Alameda Community Budget Survey at the end of 2022. The attached report provides insights into the values and priorities of Alameda residents that we think will be useful to the Council as you develop the City’s FY 23-25 Budget.
When asked what makes up their ideal community, survey takers identified these five components as most important:
● Infrastructure (maintaining roads, bike lanes, beaches, sidewalks; climate resiliency; public landscaping)
● Parks and recreation (community events and spaces)
● Alternatives to police response (programs like C.A.R.E. Team or non-police traffic enforcement)
● Housing security and affordability
● Health Services (mental healthcare, access to healthcare, and support for vulnerable individuals)
While many of these priorities align with the proposed budget, one key distinction is that when residents think of community safety, they don’t universally think of police. In more than 400 qualitative, open-ended answers, respondents to the Alameda Community Budget survey expressed interest in directing public money towards meeting the community’s basic needs rather than funding expanded police presence and tools. Respondents identified safety as a priority but did not necessarily equate a sense of safety with the police.
As staff notes in the presentation for this item, the upcoming two-year budget is “tight” due in part to uncertain macro economic and development market conditions. In these uncertain times, it is increasingly important to spend our community’s money wisely, where it will make the greatest impact. Transform Alameda commends staff for putting forward a budget that invests in housing, sustainability and climate resiliency, transportation, and infrastructure. We support the
establishment of a Housing and Human Services Division, as well as continued funding of the CARE Team. However, we believe that even more investments are needed in these areas. The 2023 Community Needs Assessment from the Social Service Human Relations Board, also being presented at this Council Meeting, highlighted the fact that Alamedans are struggling with housing security and meeting other basic needs such as food, gas, utilities, and childcare. Until these needs are met, it is irresponsible for the City to spend $34 million on police.
We respectfully urge the Council to take a step back and think about this two-year budget as a reflection of the City’s values. If we want Alameda to be a City that values compassion and care, that supports residents in ways that promote community health and safety, we need to allocate our residents’ tax dollars accordingly. Please consider looking critically at the police budget and reallocating to services that prevent crimes rather than respond to them.
Sincerely,
Transform Alameda
20 23
alameda
community
budget
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Introduction and Background
01 Results and Learnings
03 Survey Design and Outreach
02 Next Steps
04 05
Thank You
06 Appendices: Survey Questions and Demographics
Transform Alameda — Alameda Community Budget 2023
At A Glance
The Alameda Community Budget (ACB) is a participatory budgeting project organized by Transform Alameda with support from many people and organizations around Alameda. We, like other community organizers all around the country, believe that city budgets are not just policy documents, but also moral documents. Public money should be spent on and for the public and should reflect community values.
In the Fall of 2022, we set out to ask Alamedans what things would exist in their ideal community? We offered an anonymous, online survey where community members could share their thoughts and priorities in three categories: Basic Needs, Community, and Public Safety. Through qualitative and quantitative answers, respondents told meaningful stories and shared thoughtful insights. We hope that this project will illuminate some common, community values around which City staff and City Council can build a budget.
Infrastructure (maintaining roads, bike lanes, beaches, sidewalks; climate resiliency; public landscaping)
Parks and recreation (community events and spaces)
Alternatives to police response (programs like C.A.R.E. Team or non-police traffic enforcement)
Housing security and affordability
Health Services (mental healthcare, access to healthcare, and support for vulnerable individuals)
When asked what makes up their ideal community,
survey takers identified these five components as most
important:
provide for everyone's universal needs
prioritize community care and caregivers
address community safety concerns without increasing policing The survey results make clear that the City of Alameda’s Budget should:
Learn more about how this looks in other places
Los Angeles
Sacramento
Vallejo
Madison
Birmingham
Nashville
What is participatory budgeting?
Participatory budgeting, or peoples’ budgets, frame municipal budgets as not only policy documents, but moral documents that express a community’s values. Transform Alameda believes, as many others do, that public money should be spent on and for the public. In cities across the country, in California, and in the Bay Area, community organizers have developed participatory budget processes that engage their communities in conversations about spending priorities and the ways public monies can meet the needs of all people. The Alameda Community Budget (ACB) is a project with this very goal. Our 2023 Alameda Community Budget survey was based on our past efforts and inspired by organizers in other cities who have led this work.
INTRODUCTION AND
BACKGROUND
Transform Alameda — Alameda Community Budget 2023
Add a little bit of body text
How does City budgeting work in Alameda?
In Alameda, the City’s budget is developed and adopted every two years. The entire budget is composed of budgets from each City department. Once compiled, City staff present a budget to the City Council for feedback and eventual adoption. While City staff has taken an important first step in modernizing the budget process with an online OpenGov budget book, the next step in the process is building an engaged budget informed by the community.
01 Also, while the budget is presented as an agendized item at an open, regularly scheduled City Council meeting, to our knowledge, there is no coordinated City outreach to the community ahead of this process.
We hope that Alameda Community Budget becomes a regular community practice here in Alameda as a way to start a conversation about the City’s spending and provide that necessary community input.
What is ACB and who put this together?
The Alameda Community Budget Survey was an anonymous, online survey asking about people’s priorities for public dollars. We focused on the largest and most impactful part of the budget—the General Fund. Alameda’s 2020-21 General Fund expenditures were
$125,042,961. We developed survey questions and the survey’s design over the summer of 2022 and officially published the survey online in September 2022. It stayed open until December 19, 2022. In this report, we’ll share more details about the survey design and outreach efforts, results, learnings, and what’s next.
Transform Alameda is a collective of Alamedans working together to pursue racial justice in Alameda through education, policy, and action.
We found one another online in 2020, and since then we have taken up a variety of projects and campaigns to focus Alameda on racial justice and community care. We have continually advocated for accountability from City Council around commitments to changing the framework of public safety in Alameda. For example: we objected to excessive police spending in late 2020 and beyond, supported Mario Gonzalez’s family after the Alameda Police Department killed him in 2021, advocated for the formation of a pilot program on alternative response to mental health crisis team called C.A.R.E. Team, supported City Staff as they developed a pilot GI (guaranteed income) program, and more. One of our important projects has been this participatory, community budget initiative: Alameda Community Budget.
Transform Alameda — Alameda Community Budget 2023
Took stock of who we are as a group, and who we are connected to locally.
Asked community members with specific data-gathering expertise to support our work and integrated their feedback into the creation of the survey.
Got feedback from friends and family members about their experience of taking the survey and made appropriate changes.
Carefully considered our language choices. With inclusivity in mind, we asked: who might be left out? Whose lived experiences do we want to make sure to include?
Mapped questions onto the current city budget, considering the relationship between current city spending and our survey questions.
One of our primary goals with this project is to start a community conversation. Our intention for the use of the survey results is to inspire a broad, community-based approach to building a public budget rather than craft specific policy points. We see this as the beginning of Alameda's long-term transition to a care-first budget rather than an endpoint for a single two-year budget. As such, it was important to design a survey that balanced quantitative results with qualitative results.
As we embarked on the design of the Alameda Community Budget Survey, we:
SURVEY DESIGN
AND OUTREACH
Transform Alameda — Alameda Community Budget 2023
02 Transform Alameda — Alameda Community Budget 2023
Basic Needs
This section included questions about housing security, health services, maintaining infrastructure, and city planning.
Community
The community section included child and youth development, elder and disabled support, rectifying past racial injustices, housing affordability, parks and recreation, arts and culture, and libraries.
Public Safety
In the public safety section, community members responded to questions about alternatives to police response, the police department, emergency and disaster preparedness, and the fire department.
Ultimately, the survey comprised twenty-six questions. Six were demographics questions. Four questions were open-ended, giving the community an opportunity to articulate their priorities in their own words and provide us with qualitative responses. The remaining questions were quantitative and asked community members to express how important particular items were for their ideal community, measured on a scale from one to five (one being, “not at all important,” and five being “extremely important”). These quantitative questions were broken into three sections:
After designing the survey, we spread the word! In order to share the survey throughout Alameda, members of our collective tabled at several community events in the Fall and Winter of 2022. We handed out and posted fliers at dozens of local businesses and public spaces.
We felt inspired by the support we received. We had fruitful conversations with neighbors and engaged with people we did and didn’t know, discussing the importance of including everyone’s voice in the process. The next few pages provide more details on the survey design and show a closer look into our outreach efforts and community engagement.
Transform Alameda — Alameda Community Budget 2023
SURVEY INTRO
In order to provide context and orient the survey participant, we included these two pages at the opening of the survey. To see the whole survey, reference Appendix 1.
Language Access
We wanted to be sure that multiple language
communities could access the survey. The survey
was available in Spanish, Chinese (simplified), and
Arabic. We promoted it on social media in these
languages.
Transform Alameda — Alameda Community Budget 2023
OUTREACH EFFORTS
Transform Alameda — Alameda Community Budget 2023
Places where ACB fliers
were posted or handed out,
tabling locations, and
community events.
West End Business District
Park Street Businesses
South Shore Center
Harbor Bay Landing
Pride in the ParkHistoric Japantown Unveiling
...and more!
Movies in the Park
Farmer's Market
Farm2Market Fall Fest
ACB AROUND THE
ISLAND
Transform Alameda — Alameda Community Budget 2023
In December, we held two community workshops with partner organizations. These were opportunities to come together in community to learn more about and explore public budgets and topic areas within our survey. Available online!
The first workshop was hosted in partnership with CASA
(Climate Action for a Sustainable Alameda) and featured speakers from Alameda City staff for "Budget 101" and a Q&A.
The second workshop was held with Budget2SaveLives and
focused on statewide efforts around care-first budgets.
COMMUNITY
WORKSHOPS
Transform Alameda — Alameda Community Budget 2023
RESULTS AND
LEARNINGS
Transform Alameda — Alameda Community Budget 2023
The survey results, both through answers to quantitative questions and trends in the qualitative, open-ended comments, show that respondents value the fulfillment of universal needs, community care, and community building. In looking at the results of the survey, community members' top and lowest priorities for what is important in their ideal community emerged.
The graph on this page shows the responses to all the quantitative questions asked in the survey. The following pages will expand each section of the survey (Basic Needs, Community, and Public Safety) and show the results in more detail.
03 Transform Alameda — Alameda Community Budget 2023
BASIC NEEDS
QUESTIONS
156
people provided responses to the
open-ended question in this section
Infrastructure (road safety, traffic, public transportation, bike lanes, sewers and public landscaping) was identified by survey respondents as the most important item in their ideal community in the Basic Needs section.
Housing affordability (42 responses)
Parks, recreation, community health (33 responses)
Infrastructure (32 responses)
Three top categories emerged from the responses:
Transform Alameda — Alameda Community Budget 2023
94 people provided responses to the
open-ended question in this section
Parks and Recreation was identified by survey respondents as the most important item in their ideal community in the Community section. This was closely followed by Libraries.
Community events and community building (31 responses)
Support for families, caregivers, youth, teachers, and elders (30 responses)
Parks and recreation (17 responses)
Three top categories emerged from the responses:
COMMUNITY
QUESTIONS
Alternatives to Police Response were identified by survey respondents as most important in their ideal community in the Public Safety section.
Notably, the Police Department received the lowest composite "extremely" and "very important" response of any question on the survey.
Transform Alameda — Alameda Community Budget 2023
107
people provided responses to the
open-ended question in this section
Alternatives to policing, reallocating police funding, defunding police, or otherwise reducing policing (25 responses)
Reforming policing, additional training, changing department priorities (23 responses)
Road and traffic safety (19 responses)
Three top categories emerged from the responses:
PUBLIC SAFETY
QUESTIONS
Priorities identified
by survey takers
of respondents said alternatives to police
response are “extremely" or “very
important” to their ideal community
69% responded "extremely," 20% "very"
89%
of respondents said Parks and Recreation is
“extremely” or “very important” to their
ideal community
48% responded "extremely," 41% "very"
89%
of respondents said maintaining
infrastructure is “extremely” or “very
important" to their ideal community
51% responded "extremely," 38% "very"
89%
Overall, we found the results reflected a general community concern for the fulfillment of Alamedans' universal needs. While safety consistently came up in respondents' open-ended answers, very few respondents identified policing as important to their ideal community.
Transform Alameda — Alameda Community Budget 2023
Public Safety
268 responses
Community Services
186 responses
Homelessness and Housing
89 responses
Survey Narratives
Transform Alameda — Alameda Community Budget 2023
Qualitative answers were an important part of the ACB process. Overall, we received 403 answers across four different open-ended answer boxes in the survey. We categorized all answers by topic. This graph represents the top three topics addressed.
Following are some of the thoughtful and imaginative voices we heard in the survey. "The city should be seriously
considering establishing a public
bank and maintaining control
over public lands. The bank would
allow the city to save money on
fees for financing its operations
and allow it to finance building
projects in the public interest as
well as give local loans..."
"I would love to see funding for community-led programs and projects. I believe the city can support community members and leaders with trusting in their ability to say what they need. My hope is that City Council invests more trust in the community itself to determine their basic needs and how to meet them." "Invest in basic needs - food,
shelter, healthcare - to
reduce dependency on
policing which is an
ineffective response to
problems that often relate to
basic needs not being met."
Survey Narratives
Transform Alameda — Alameda Community Budget 2023
"Community programs are the true
safety-net of a community, not the
police. Supporting the community
means shifting the focus from
punishment and fear to connection
and mutual relationship."
"I have been subject to
multiple property (car and
computer) thefts in the
last few years, and it does
suck and is a violation. I do
wish we had an actu
al plan
to try and curb this kind of
crime, which would start
with an understanding of
who is doing it and why and
what alternatives could
exist. But all roads for
these conversations seem
to lead back to cops, who
to be clear are not
preventing or resolving
them now. I would love to
see an honest, imaginative
community conversation
about safety and
opportunities to improve
all of our standard of
living..."
"I think that Alameda can,
and should, be on the
forefront of protecting
public health and the
unhoused, as well as quality
of life for all...we should be
setting the standard for
caring communities across
the country."
"I love living in Alameda
and want it to be a safe,
equitable, and welcoming
space for all."
"More Community Garden space and Co-housing options, a city-funded peace, justice, sustainability center...tree protection on private land, a water tower, grey water programs, water catchment, more funding for schools, honoring teachers, giving land back to the Ohlone people." Transform Alameda — Alameda Community Budget 2023
Who took the survey?
West End and Alameda Point
30.8%
East End
23.1%
Central Alameda
22.3%
Bay Farm
12.6%
Work in or care about Alameda
4.9%
Near Crown Beach
4.1%
Near Estuary
2.2%
This is a snapshot of some of the answers to demographic questions. For the complete data, please reference Appendix 2.
364
people
across
Alameda
When asked about their caregiver
status, 7 out of 10 respondents
identified as a caregiver
of respondents
answered 35 - 54
when asked their
age
20%
of respondents
identified speaking
a non-English
language at home
63%
NEXT STEPS
Transform Alameda — Alameda Community Budget 2023
Where we go from here
The City of Alameda's next two-year budget should be an expression of community priorities. The Alameda Community Budget can be a useful tool in a couple ways. First, it is an inclusive, people-driven budgeting process for our community, while simultaneously serving as a community needs assessment. Second, it can be a detailed, creative guide for how public money should be spent in order to meet those needs.
Two big themes emerged from survey responses: ways to address safety in our community, and meeting universal needs. The two were often linked in respondents' survey answers through strong support of police-alternatives, questions about the effectiveness of what is in place currently, encouragement of community building, and ideas for innovative services or programs that meet universal needs. It's clear that significant investment should be made into Community Development programming, Infrastructure, and Parks and Recreation.
Together we can nurture a caring, vibrant, and whole island community.
04 What you can do
Participate in the City's budget
development process in April and May by
engaging with City Council meetings
Share your story with us! We want to
highlight community experiences and
connect them to budget areas
Connect with Transform Alameda on
social media (links below) to learn more
and receive action alerts
[email protected]
Make your voice heard! Express your
community priorities by contacting your
elected City leaders
THANK YOU
Our workshop partners, CASA (Community Action for a
Sustainable Alameda) and Budget2SaveLives.
Everyone that provided initial feedback, from our partners at Alameda Justice Alliance to our friends, families, and
neighbors.
Those who supported increased language access through
translation of the survey.
Everyone who shared the survey on and offline.
Groups and organizations who spread the word within their communities:
We appreciate all who made this project a true community effort:
Transform Alameda — Alameda Community Budget 2023
05 Most of all thank you to all the community members who expressed support for the Alameda Community Budget and engaged in this meaningful community conversation. This is work we can all do together, for one another.
Friends of the West End
Alameda All Faiths
West End Arts District
Alameda Family Collective
Alameda Progressives
Alameda Renter's Coalition
Mosaic
AAPI Roundtable
Alameda Point Collaborative
CASA
APPENDICES
Transform Alameda — Alameda Community Budget 2023
06 Appendix 1: Survey Questions
Appendix 2: Demographic Data
Transform Alameda — Alameda Community Budget 2023
Appendix 1
2022 Alameda Community Budget Survey
您可以用中文回复阿拉米达社区预算。它很快就会上市。
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Before we start...
2022 Alameda Community Budget Survey
Basic Needs
2022 Alameda Community Budget Survey
Community
2022 Alameda Community Budget Survey
Public Safety
2022 Alameda Community Budget Survey
Demographics
2022 Alameda Community Budget Survey
Thank you!
Appendix 2
Q.1 First, do you live in Alameda?
Location Response % Responses
West End 29.12% 106
East End 23.08% 84
Central Alameda 22.25% 81
Bay Farm 12.64% 46
Alameda Point 1.65% 6
Near the Estuary 2.20% 8
Near Crown Beach 4.12% 15
Different part of
Alameda 0.55% 2
Work in Alameda 2.20% 8
I care about Alameda
for other reason 2.20% 8
Answered 364
Q21. Select a category below that best describes
your age.
Answer Choices Response % Responses
21 or younger 2.57% 8
22-34 13.18% 41
35-54 62.06% 193
55 or older 20.26% 63
Prefer not to say 1.93% 6
Total responses 311
DEMOGRAPHIC DATA
Q22. Race/ethnicity. Select all that apply.
Answer Choices Response % Responses
Prefer not to say 6.75% 21
Asian or Asian
American 11.90% 37
Black or African
American 5.79% 18
Indigenous 2.57% 8
Latinx or Hispanic 7.07% 22
Native Hawaiian or
Pacific Islander 1.93% 6
White/Caucasian 71.70% 223
Self-described 2.89% 9
Total responses 311
Self-described answers included: mixed race, bi-racial, Middle Eastern, and Sicilian.
Q23. What best describes your living situation?
Select all that apply.
Answer Choices Response % Responses
Prefer not to say 2.58% 8
Currently own my
home 61.29% 190
Currently renting 30.32% 94
Experiencing housing
insecurity 2.26% 7
Self-described 4.19% 13
Total responses 310
Self-described answers included: living with family
members, and living with roommates.
Q24. Are you currently a caregiver? Note: even if
you're a caregiver as part of paid work, please
select all that apply.
Answer Choices Response % Responses
Prefer not to say 2.89% 9
Take care of children 55.63% 173
Take care of aging
adults 9.32% 29
Take care of adults
with special needs 2.89% 9
Not currently a
caregiver 33.76% 105
Self-described 5.47% 17
Total responses 311
Self-described answers included: aging parents,
disabled partner(s), and pets.
Q25. What languages are spoken in your home?
Select all that apply.
Answer Choices Response
Percent Responses
Prefer not to say 3.28% 10
Arabic 0.00% 0
Cantonese 1.97% 6
English 95.08% 290
Mandarin 0.66% 2
Spanish 8.52% 26
Tagalog 0.66% 2
Vietnamese 1.97% 6
Self-described 6.23% 19
Total responses 305
Self-described answers included: Shanghainese,
French, Malay, Italian, Russian, Korean, Hebrew,
Dutch, and Polish.
From: Cyndy Johnsen
To: CityCouncil-List
Cc: City Clerk; Jennifer Ott; BWA Board
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Comments for Items 7-B, 7-C, 5-E
Date: Tuesday, May 2, 2023 8:43:12 AM
Attachments: 5_2_23 CC Comments Budget and Estuary Park.pdf Dear Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft, Vice Mayor Daysog, and Members of the City Council, We hope you will consider our comments regarding items on tonight's City Council agenda, attached.
Thank you,
Bike Walk Alameda
(510) 516-0497
P .O. BOX 2732
ALAMEDA, CA 94501
www.bikewalkalameda.org
Board of
Directors
Denyse Trepanier
President
Brian Fowler
Treasurer
Tim Beloney
Secretary
Cyndy Johnsen
Board Member
Maria Piper
Board Member
Lucy Gigli
Founder,
non-voting
May 2, 2023
RE: Agenda Items 7-B, 7-C, and 5-E
Dear Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft, Vice Mayor Daysog, and Members of the City Council,
We hope you will consider our thoughts on the following agenda items.
Items 7-B and 7-C
We’re keenly aware of how very important street safety projects frequently get delayed, and the number of complex and important projects ahead of us, so we urge you to take this opportunity to commit additional budget to bolster our resources and keep projects on track.
Traffic violence is our biggest public safety issue, and the climate emergency is an existential threat that won’t wait. Please budget for them as such.
Item 5-E
It’s exciting to see Estuary Park expand. We noted the plans propose a new parking lot with EV charging stations, and in the spirit of incentivizing climate-friendly transportation, we wanted to call out an oversight with the current park: it lacks easily-accessible bike parking.
The only bike racks here are behind a locked gate accessible only to field permit holders.
There are an increasing number of families biking around town for everyday transportation and recreation. This site can be reached from the north by safe, mostly off-street facilities and the Bay Trail, and makes a great destination for biking families. Please direct staff and consultants to include plenty of easily-accessible bike parking in the plans for the next phase, and expedite the installation of more easily-accessible bike parking for the existing park.
More generally, we wanted to convey concern about building new parking lots in Alameda. We’re learning more and more about their many negative impacts, from the obvious (they consume a lot of valuable
space that in this case could mean more green space; they induce more driving, particularly if they’re free), to the abstract (urban heat island effect; drainage and water and air pollution issues; expense). Much of Alameda is already paved over, so we hope our city will carefully weigh impacts and evaluate all of our options before paving any new parking lots, and when we do, to carefully design them to minimize negative impacts. Our General Plan offers some guidance in LU-34:
It might be good to consider alternative, greener, and more permeable surfaces, like pavers or gravel, instead of asphalt. Perhaps these ideas are already being considered, but we wanted to surface them to be sure. .
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Bike Walk Alameda
From: Linda Asbury
To: Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft; Tony Daysog; Trish Spencer; Malia Vella; Tracy Jensen; City Clerk Subject: [EXTERNAL] WABA Funding Request
Date: Sunday, April 30, 2023 5:16:39 PM
Attachments: CityFundingRequest2 (4).docx
Mayor Ashcraft, Vice Mayor Daysog,
City Council Members: Jensen, Vella, Herrera Spence
Please consider WABA's request for funding from the City of Alameda, document
attached.
Thank you.
Linda
Linda Asbury
Executive Director
West Alameda Business Association
[email protected]
510.523.5955
April 30, 2023
Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft, Vice Mayor Daysog, Council Members Jensen, Vella, Herrera Spencer
Re: WABA Funding Request
On behalf of the Board of Directors of the West Alameda Business Association, I am asking for City of Alameda funding to continue and enhance our efforts for our Business District. This is a two year ask, $100,000 annually, 2023-24, then to be reviewed for the City’s 2024-25 Budget. Please see Page two break down of our request. Perhaps the funds could come from the recent increase of the Hotel’s (TOT) tax or our 10.75% Sales Tax.
For many years WABA was sufficiently funded through Redevelopment Funds allocated to cities by the State of California. When the RDA was eliminated, WABA’s budget was cut in half. The Board of Directors, working with the City, was able to incorporate Alameda Landing into the BIA, which brought Some additional resources to WABA.
Currently the WABA income from BIA fees is approximately $80,000 annually. We have $40,000 in sponsorship income, making our total annual budget $120,000. Our financial needs to adequately fulfill our mission has been a challenge. We have many dedicated, scrappy, passionate merchants to make this happen, but not entirely sustainable.
It’s our belief that the Alameda Business Districts are very important to the overall economic health of Alameda for businesses and residents. Our districts provide employment, retail, shopping, entertainment and business opportunities, sales tax revenue and business license fees for the City’s budget. Collectively both business districts represent over 600 businesses.
Again, thank you in advance for your consideration. I am available at any time for comments and clarification.
Regards,
Linda
Linda Asbury
Executive Director
West Alameda Business Association
[email protected]
1509-1/2 Webster Street, Alameda, CA 94501 | (510) 523-5955 | ExploreWestAlameda.com | [email protected]
Category Description Estimates
Healing Garden re-vamp Banners, Lighting, Tables-chairs, $25,000
maintenance, porta potties, power
Staffing Resources Operations Management, Events $30,000
Placemaking
Art, street lights, street
music/activation $25,000
streetscape improvements
Marketing Seasonal marketing campaigns $20,000
Total
$100,000
##
From: Kathy Weber
To: Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft; Tony Daysog; Tracy Jensen; Trish Spencer; Malia Vella; Jennifer Ott; City Clerk Subject: [EXTERNAL] 7-B 2023-3014 Workshop to Provide Direction on Fiscal Years 2023-24 and 2024-25 Operating Budget
Date: Friday, April 28, 2023 5:15:24 PM
Attachments: Downtown Alameda - City of Alameda Funding Request_ 2023_24 & 2024_25 Letter to Council (2).pdf Honorable Mayor and Councilmembers, City Manager and City Staff, We respectfully
submit the attached letter for your consideration in
the
Fiscal Years
2023-24 and 2024-25 Operating Budget.
Thank you for your time and thoughtful consideration of our request.
Respectfully,
Kathy
--
Kathy Weber
Executive Director
2447 Santa Clara Avenue, #302
Alameda, CA
94501
Direct: 510-319-3543
Main:
510-523-1392
[email protected]
www.downtownalameda.com
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2447SantaClaraAve,Suite#302
Alameda,CA94501
Phone:(510)523-1392
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April 28, 2023
Honorable Mayor, City Councilmembers, City Manager and City Staff, Downtown Alameda and West Alameda Business Associations proudly represent over 650 small businesses that are crucial economic drivers for the City of Alameda.
Downtown Alameda respectfully requests $100,000 annually for two years (FY 2023-24 and 2024-25) to create, amplify, and enhance our fundraising, marketing, streetscape and promotional efforts. With no fundraising events in 2020/2021 and very limited events in 2021/2022, this investment will infuse our district with resources to aid in our rebuilding to 2019 levels of service. As we relaunch fundraising events and begin to regenerate income streams, the investment the City makes now will pay far-reaching dividends to our community.
Downtown Alameda has identified three primary areas we would earmark this funding that will support our unique offerings and encourage Alameda-wide engagement:
● Alameda Avenue $65,000
○ The activation of Alameda Avenue has provided a welcome area for residents to gather and has served as a backdrop for several well-received events. By expanding and enhancing this area we will increase revenue generating experiences while continuing to provide a well maintained area for visitors and locals.
● Cross Alameda Interactive History Tour $35,000
○ Working with key stakeholders, we envision a technology-enhanced, cross-Alameda experience that combines education and exploration.
The use of this technology tool will provide additional opportunities to engage in new and meaningful ways across our community. ● Creating New & Reestablishing Previous Fundraising Events $100,000 ○ Since 2020 no large-scale, street-closure fundraising events have been hosted in Downtown Alameda. As we return to producing these familiar family-favorite events and explore new opportunities, support is vital as we engage new marketing strategies, upgrade technology and offset new expenses in these efforts.
Your support for our request will serve our members and the entire community. The investment will bolster visibility and revenue opportunities for local businesses, employers & employees, and align with the budget goals of the City of Alameda.
We are grateful for your thoughtful consideration of our request and welcome your comments and questions.
Respectfully,
Kathy Weber
Executive Director
Courtney Cerefice
Mental Health Services Manager
Community Learning Center Schools
1900 3rd Street
Alameda, Ca 94501
March 15, 2023
To Whom it May Concern,
This letter is being written in support of the grant funded mental health services that Alameda Family Services (AFS) has been providing to our school community during the 2022-2023 school year.
My name is Courtney Cere fice and I am the Mental Health Services Manager for Community Learning Center Schools, which includes both NEA and ACLC in Alameda. We were contacted by Alameda Family Services earlier this year to explore establishing a relationship with them under the grant in which The City of Alameda provided funds for mental health services to be served in Alameda Schools. We were able to begin this partnership in early January and it has been a positive experience from the beginning!
I joined CLCS at the start of this school year, and as is pretty typical in smaller schools of choice, I became aware of the lack of mental health services that these two schools had, but the great need for mental health support that our student population carries. There were many students that came to us with moderate to more intense mental health needs, but had little to no access, or experienced great difficulty in gaining access to those supports through their health insurance or private pay. Many of our families were placed on waitlists for services, and had been there for months to over a year. This created a direct impact on our school population. We were looking into a variety of supports, but quickly became aware of the overwhelming needs that our city has and the limited resources available.
When we partnered with AFS we were connected with Zoe Anderson, who has been our service provider. She was able to jump in and begin connecting with our families immediately. She has been an excellent thought partner and highly communicative with both myself and our larger sta
ff. She has made working connections with some of our school families with greatest mental health needs and we are seeing positive shifts in our learners because of these supports. Zoe does Community Learning Center Schools, Inc. (CLCS)
1900 3rd Street, Alameda, CA 94501 (510) 217-8823 PHONE (510) 995-8910 FAX
Community Learning Center Schools, Inc. (CLCS)
California Public Charter Schools
210 Central Ave., Alameda, CA 94501
(510) 521-7543 x101 (510) 521-7350 FAX
the work with our learners and families in such a caring and authentic way that families who have historically been reluctant to engage in services outside of school, are connecting with her and are finding pathways to connection all while supporting their leaner(s).
I can easily say that this service is invaluable to our learners and families. Like so many smaller schools, the resources to provide mental health services are very limited, if they exist at all. We have been extremely fortunate to partner with AFS to provide both individual and family services to our learners and families that need it most. It has been incredibly easy to work with AFS as the referral system is incredibly easy to use and communication has been quick and concise. I have found both Zoe and the supervisory team at AFS to be incredibly kind and supportive of the needs we have on our campus. We are deeply hoping to continue this partnership for many years to come, in service of our school community.
We are grateful for the partnerships that we have built with AFS. The communication, thought partnership and services have been incredibly supportive of our school community. We hope that we will be able to continue this partnership through the city grant for many years to come. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions or would like to further discuss this letter of support or our experiences with AFS.
My very best,
Courtney Cerefice
Mental Health Services Manager
courtney.cerefi[email protected]
(510) 306-4682
Community Learning Center Schools (CLCS)
1900 3rd Street
Alameda, CA 94501