PREPARED BY: Katy Nomura
Assistant Town Manager
Reviewed by: Town Manager, Town Attorney, and Finance Director 110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● (408) 354-6832 www.losgatosca.gov
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
MEETING DATE: 03/18/2025
ITEM NO: 12
DESK ITEM
DATE: March 18, 2025
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: Chris Constantin, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Discuss the Impacts of Recent Executive Orders on the Town’s Federal Funding and Grants
REMARKS:
Attachment 3 contains public comments received before 11:01 a.m. on Tuesday, March 18, 2025.
Attachment received with the Staff report:
1. Town Federal Funding
Attachment received with the Addendum:
2. Town Federal Funding – Revised
Attachment received with this Desk Item:
3. Public Comments
From: Pat Blair
To: Council
Subject: Fight at the local level...
Date: Monday, March 17, 2025 5:47:10 PM
[EXTERNAL SENDER]
Dear Council Members,
It is a sad fact that we are under attack from the very top of our government. Everything I read says that we need to stay with eyes wide open at the local level. Since so many terrible things are happening that can directly affect Los Gatons, I feel we need to be as proactive locally as possible. Social Security is threatened and 401ks are being decimated. The opening up public lands to the highest bidder, demolition of our Post Office so as to privatize. Getting rid of our Department of Education, terrorizing immigrants and US citizens, all can impact us here in our beautiful town. Please keep eyes on D.C. and ways we can shield and protect ourselves locally as best we can! Keep the conversations going.
In gratitude for your service,
Pat Blair
Lorain Place
Los Gatos
From: Sue Ann Lorig
To: Council
Subject: Impacts of Executive Orders on LG budget, DEI, immigrants, climate change, and more Date: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 12:53:14 AM
[EXTERNAL SENDER]
Hello Mayor Hudes, Vice Mayor Moore, and Council Members Badame, Rennie, and Ristow:
Thank you for holding a discussion on the impacts of President Trump’s recent executive orders on the Town’s federal funding and grants.
It is far beyond unfortunate that we need to have discussions on what will happen if federal monies are withheld, but we find ourselves in unprecedented times and must plan accordingly.
Questions that come up for me regarding an increasingly possible loss of federal funding include:
- How much of the Town’s budget is covered by federal funding? - What budget items will be impacted if federal funding is reduced or completely withheld?
- Is there a ranking to prioritize expenditures should there be a shortfall in funding? What will be funded and what will be cut?
- Do we have reserves to cover expenditures if there is a material loss in funding? Will we use them?
- Importantly: What is the plan if we have a material loss in federal funding? Impacts from the executive orders affect the Town in other ways than funding, as well, and these impacts need to be addressed.
Noncitizens, even those with legal status, are being arrested, harassed, and are suffering other abuses.
ICE has been active in Santa Clara County.
Medicare and Medicaid are threatened.
Environmental regulations have been thrown out the window.
This land of diversity is outlawing DEI!
Women and nonwhite people are being erased from historical records.
LGBTQ+ people are under attack, fearing for their lives.
How are we going to confront these challenges? How are we going to help impacted community members?
Is there money in the budget to help affected community members? Will the Town join other cities and counties in passing a resolution to support immigrants?
This is not life as usual. These challenges are not covered in our emergency preparedness kits.
We are facing economic devastation, rapid escalation of climate change, human rights abuses, and loss of fundamental freedoms.
As the federal administration alienates and antagonizes other countries, including our allies in North America and abroad, we must consider how they might retaliate, as well. Tariffs are destructive. Could there even be war? I am overwhelmed by it all and know you must be, too. But we can’t let the enormity of it all stop us from doing what we can. We can’t act like this is the pandemic shutdown and hide in our homes until the worst of it has passed. This is worse than Covid. Much worse.
If we are to get through this, we have to change as a society. We have to listen to each other — really listen. We have to work together with compassion and empathy.
We need to keep reminding ourselves to be kind; for most of us, extreme stress like we’re under makes that harder. We need to care for each other, all living things, and Earth. We need to somehow find joy while doing this. We need to set the example of being good humans.
You are our leaders. The people of Los Gatos need to hear from you. It’s ok, and, frankly, expected if you’re struggling with all that we’re confronting. We need to hear that you’re paying attention to what’s going on and you’re doing all that you can. Let us know what you’re doing. Include us in the conversation. We want to help. We’re all in this together.
Thank you for your time, your consideration, and all that you do for Los Gatos.
Sincerely,
Sue Ann Lorig
Los Gatos resident
From: Lisa Wade
To: Council
Subject: Financial impacts of the actions of the new federal administration.
Date: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 9:45:32 AM
[EXTERNAL SENDER]
Dear Town Council,
I'm pleased to see that you will be discussing the financial impacts of the actions of the new federal administration. So many in our community and beyond are feeling the finacial and social consequences of the administration's actions. I'd like to see the town support residents and keep this discussion on the agenda in the future.
Sincerely,
Lisa Wade
From: Kathleen Willey
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 10:32 AM
To: Council <[email protected]>
Subject: Agenda item for tonight's Council meeting -exposing wasteful taxpayer dollar spending [EXTERNAL SENDER]
Hello Los Gatos Town Council members. I understand there is a meeting tonight to discuss “the financial impacts of the heinous actions of the new federal administration." I unfortunately cannot attend so I would like to submit a written comment. I have lived in lovely Los Gatos for 14 years now and have never really paid much attention to politics to be honest. That is until Covid happened and I witnessed our last administration become more like a dictatorship, stripping away civil liberties and censoring people who didn’t go along with the mainstream narrative.
I am disappointed to see our Town holding a meeting to challenge an administration that more than half of our country voted for, including many people that live here. I personally am happy we are finally getting some reckoning from years of corruption and wasteful spending from our taxpayer dollars. Yes, mistakes will be made during the cuts - the administration has admitted this, but this needs to be exposed and it is a huge undertaking.
As an ethical vegan, it is horrifying to learn about cruel and useless animal testing. Testing on animals is cruel and a waste of taxpayer dollars because over 90% of the tests fail once applied to humans.
"In 2004, the FDA estimated that 92 percent of drugs that pass preclinical tests, including “pivotal” animal tests, fail to proceed to the market.38 More recent analysis suggests that, despite efforts to improve the predictability of animal testing, the failure rate has actually increased and is now closer to 96 percent.39 The main causes of failure are lack of effectiveness and safety problems that were not predicted by animal tests.” https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4594046/
Just think of w hat w e could do w ith aprox 20 billion of our tax dollars! “Ma ny people don’t rea lize t ha t t he U.S. governm ent is t he single la rgest funder of a nim a l t est ing in t he count ry, a nd, in fa ct , t he world. Ba sed on governm ent docum ent s, we est im a t e t ha t over $20 billion a yea r of t a xpa yers’ m oney is wa sted on ineffective a nd inhuma ne test s on tens of millions of puppies, kittens a nd ot her a nim a ls in t he U.S. a nd in hundreds of foreign la bora t ories. As we will discuss t oda y, Congre ss a nd t he public don’t ha ve exa ct figures beca use oversight of ta xpa yer-funded a nimal testing is woefully
inadequate.”https://oversight.house.gov/release/hearing-wrap-up-the-federal- government-wastes-millions-of-taxpayer-dollars-on-inapplicable-unnecessarytesting-that-is-cruel-to-animals%EF%BF%BC/ There is much, much more fraud that luckily is being exposed.
Here are only a few examples of the WASTE and ABUSE:
• $1.5 million to “advance diversity equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities”
• $70,000 for production of a “DEI musical” in Ireland
• $2.5 million for electric vehicles for Vietnam
• $47,000 for a “transgender opera” in Colombia
• $32,000 for a “transgender comic book” in Peru
• $2 million for sex changes and “LGBT activism” in Guatemala • $6 million to fund tourism in Egypt
• Hundreds of thousands of dollars for a non-profit linked to designated terrorist organizations — even AFTER an inspector general launched an investigation • Millions to EcoHealth Alliance — which was involved in research at the Wuhan lab
• “Hundreds of thousands of meals that went to al Qaeda-affiliated fighters in Syria”
• Funding to print “personalized” contraceptives birth control devices in developing countries
• Hundreds of millions of dollars to fund “irrigation canals, farming equipment, and even fertilizer used to support the unprecedented poppy cultivation and heroin production in Afghanistan,” benefiting the Taliban The list literally goes on and on — and it has all been happening for decades. https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/02/at-usaid-waste-and-abuse-runs-deep/ I thank you kindly for your service and reading my email of concern.
Sincerely,
Kathleen Willey
Los Gatos, CA. 95032