1 Stevenson, Garrett
Subject: FW: Publiic Health Department Budget
From: KristinOckershauser < >
Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2022 3:31 PM
To: Gordo, Victor <[email protected]>; Wilson, Andy <[email protected]>; Hampton, Tyron <[email protected]>; Kennedy, John J. <[email protected]>; Madison, Steve <[email protected]>; Masuda, Gene <[email protected]>; Rivas, Jessica <[email protected]>; Williams, Felicia <[email protected]> Cc: Stevenson, Garrett <[email protected]>; PublicComment-AutoResponse <[email protected]>
Subject: Publiic Health Department Budget
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May 18, 2022
Mayor Victor Gordo ([email protected])
Vice Mayor Andy Wilson ([email protected])
Councilmember Tyron Hampton ([email protected]) Councilmember John Kennedy ([email protected]) Councilmember Steve Madison ([email protected]) Councilmember Gene Masuda ([email protected])
Councilmember Jessica Rivas ([email protected]) Councilmember Felicia Williams ([email protected]) Members of the Public Safety Committee
[email protected],
[email protected]
Re: Public Health Department Funding, FY 2023 Recommended Operating Budget
Dear Mayor Gordo, Members of the City Council, and Members of the Public Safety Committee:
Fiscal Year 2023's Recommended Operating Budget again appropriates zero General Fund Dollars to our Public Health Department.
Pasadena can and must do better.
2 I call upon the Public Safety Committee and City Council, at large, to modify the Recommended Operating Budget to increase General Fund Dollars to cover the cost of Public Health approaches to Violence Prevention and Homelessness.
1) Appropriate General Fund Dollars to Public Health Approaches to Violence Prevention.
Violence is a Public Health Crisis.
Despite 85 million General Fund Dollars appropriated to the Pasadena Police Department last year, many Pasadena residents continued to be traumatized by violent crimes.
Meanwhile, zero dollars from our General Fund were invested in our Public Health Department, according to the Fiscal Year 2022 Operating Budget, and we had no Public-Health-Model Violence Prevention Program because of an expired grant.
Studies show that Public Health models for violence prevention work. They are safe, affordable and effective. They save lives and save cities millions of dollars.
Councilmembers, when will your actions align with your statements about striving for a safer Pasadena?
I urge you to appropriate General Fund Dollars to our Public Health Department for the creation of a long term, evidence-based, non-police-affiliated Violence Prevention Program that will actually help create the Safer Pasadena that we all desire to see. I also implore you to use American Rescue Plan Act funds to provide monetary support for our non-police-affiliated, Public Health approach to violence prevention.
Please stop putting our community’s safety in the hands of grants that come and go.
2) Fund Public Health Department Outreach and Facilitation of Support Services for Victims/Witnesses of Public Acts of Violence.
As a City, we must do a better job of supporting those impacted by violence. Please fund improved outreach and facilitation of support services for Pasadenans who have witnessed or experienced public acts of violence.
Our community members are hurting. This is especially true of our children who have witnessed shootings and those who have lost loved ones to violence.
A simple phone call or visit from a Public Health Department representative providing information on supportive services available could go a long way toward promoting the healing process, and could help deter some of the chronic physical and mental health conditions associated with violence.
3) Appropriate General Fund Dollars to Public Health Department Programs and Services for Unsheltered Residents.
3 I am calling upon the Public Safety Committee and City Council, at large, to appropriate General Fund Dollars to cover the cost of programs and services for our unsheltered residents.
Fully fund the GEM-Link and TAY-Link programs and increase staffing for these programs and the PORT Program.
Fund more case managers and support staff to enable these programs to provide more effective services and follow-up for our hundreds of unsheltered residents.
Currently, GEM and TAY-Link are not even accepting new unsheltered residents due to funding issues.
It is unacceptable to require crucial Public Health Department programs to solely depend on grants.
4) Make Plans to Fund a Non-Police-Affiliated, Mental-Health-Crisis-First-Response Program.
I urge the City Council to make plans to fund a non-police-affiliated, Mental-Health-Crisis-First-Response Program through our Public Health Department that includes Mental Health Professionals who are available 24/7 to all age groups.
Such a program could have diverted many, if not most, of the 1,994 police department calls for service related to mental health issues in Fiscal Year 2021.
Please agendize this matter immediately, have staff conduct and present research, and seek community input on this highly relevant Public Health matter.
Pasadenans deserve adequate and reliable investment in Public Health Department programs and services that create a healthier, safer community in which we can all thrive.
Councilmembers, we are counting on you to modify the Recommended Operating Budget’s General Fund appropriations to the Public Health Department to cover the cost of these community needs before adopting the Fiscal Year 2023 Operating Budget.
Sincerely,
Kris Ockerhauser
District 6