Correspondence from May 11th 2022
Public Safety Committee Meeting
1 Iraheta, Alba
Subject: FW: 5-11-22 Agenda Item #1 Comments re Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Budget and Police Budget
From: Allison Henry < >
Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2022 5:16 PM
To: Stevenson, Garrett <[email protected]>
Cc: PublicComment-AutoResponse <[email protected]>; Hampton, Tyron <[email protected]>; Kennedy, John J. <[email protected]>; Gordo, Victor <[email protected]>; Madison, Steve <[email protected]>; Kurtz, Cynthia <[email protected]>
Subject: 5-11-22 Agenda Item #1 Comments re Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Budget and Police Budget
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May 11, 2022
Comments re Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Budget and Police Budget
Dear Public Safety Committee;
Thank you for your workshop on the FY2023 budget and for hearing my comments.
A 5.6% increase in the Pasadena Police Department budget should be re-evaluated—it seems high and other uses of the general fund should be considered for overall health and vibrancy of our community.
Work with our unsheltered neighbors should not be done out of the Pasadena Police Department. This work should be funded by the Health department. Such work and outreach done by law enforcement does not necessarily align with a care-first approach that recognizes the trauma of people living on the streets. Again, violence prevention, mental health support, and providing services to the unhoused are all public health issues. The functions and funding of the Neighborhood Action Teams (NATs) and HOPE Teams need to be shifted to the Health Department.
It’s great that you recognize the need for Park Safety. This year’s Recommended budget appropriates $262,000 for the hiring of two- non sworn PPD officers to patrol the parks during the day. Instead of hiring more PPD officers, $262,000 could hire six violence intervention specialists, who are non-police affiliated members of the community, live locally, and could help keep the community safe.
The City needs to provide more rental assistance, as evidenced by food need. Community needs are illustrated by food insecurity that could be addressed by housing (the rent eats first). In Fiscal Year 2022, 27,000 Pasadenans were provided food resources by one-time COVID-19 relief funds. This is in addition to the 150,000 PUSD grab and go lunches. Food insecurity and housing cost burden are connected, demonstrating the need for even more tenant-based rental assistance than what is currently provided by the City, especially as the pandemic is not over and its effects will continue for the foreseeable future.
The City should increase Community Services outreach and staff to provide a dedicated residential code enforcement and local protections officer in the Community Services Division for housing issues such as code violation and landlord compliance with local protections.
2 In Fiscal Year 2022, Community Services helped over 4,132 Pasadena residents with housing advocacy like anti-harassment, habitability/code violation issues, and eviction prevention. Included in that number were also residents helped with immigration forms, unemployment insurance applications, and Social Security and Medicare applications.
How many of these 4,132 Pasadena residents were helped with housing advocacy like anti-harassment, habitability issues, and eviction prevention? I have asked at other city meetings. Additional housing issues experienced by tenants in our city such as illegal rent increases or landlords trying to opt out of paying the required relocation and moving costs under the Tenant Protection Ordinance are handled by Community Services.
Currently, there are 16 Community Services Outreach and Staff. The City should hire two more staff members in order to provide residential code enforcement. Pasadena’s Tenant Protection Ordinance protects tenants by providing that a landlord will pay relocation and assistance funds in the event of a renovation.
The City must enforce all tenant protections and provide a specialized position to do so, like the Minimum Wage Enforcement Officer, who is based out of the City Manager’s Office. Community Services has direct contact with tenants and also helps them prepare paperwork for court, and file complaints with code enforcement. Currently, code enforcement is reactive and not strict enough with cases Community Services handles.
The City needs to prioritize funding more employment programs and summer camps for youth.
In Fiscal Year 2022, the ROSE Intern program placed 55 youths last year–a good start but we can do more! The demand for these programs is greater than the spaces we currently have. Summer camps and internships provide local youth with support and guidance that acts as its own violence prevention; and more of these programs create further opportunities for youth to learn and grow outside of the school environment.
Thank you for considering my comments.
Sincerely,
Allison Henry
D3 resident
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May 11, 2022
RE: Pasadena Police Department Operating Budget FY 2023 Dear Mayor Gordo, Pasadena City Council Members, and Public Safety Committee Members, As a collective ofPasadenans striving for justice and equality in our City, we write to urge you to modify the Pasadena Police Department's Operating Budget before adopting it due to crucial issues that can no longer be ignored.
1) Move the Function and Funding of the Homeless Outreach Psychological Evaluation Team (HOPE) and Neighborhood Action Team (NAT) from the Police Department to the Public Health Department.
Addressing quality of life issues and providing direct links to housing, mental health, and substance use services are Public Health issues, nof policing issues.
In Fiscal Year 2021, PPD responded to 5,766 calls for service related to unhoused people and 1,994 calls for service related to mental health.' Unarmed, fully trained, experienced mental health responders and social workers, no/police officers, are needed for these calls.
Shifting the function and funding of these programs to the Public Health Department creates the opportunity to employ evidence-based Public Health practices to better serve community members and decrease the potential for bad outcomes. Further, it frees up police officers to focus on responding to actual crimes.
Evidence supports the fact that trained, unarmed, mental health professionals are capable of safely handling the many calls for service related to mental health. A 2019 report showed that out of 24,000 crisis assistance calls for service, police back-up was only requested 150 times or 0.6% of the time.2 The cost savings for such programs compared to police officer involvement are substantial, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. Furthermore, considering the 2016 study which showed that 20-50% of fatal encounters with law enforcement involved an individual with a mental illness, having trained mental health professionals, instead of police officers, respond to mental-health-related calls for service can prove to be life-saving.3
2) Fund a Third-Party, Independent Audit of The Pasadena Police Department Budgets.
During the May 2021 budget hearings for Fiscal Year 2022, PPD publicly reported that it had $2.3 million in Operating Budget "savings." The Council subsequently approved PPD's request to use this reported excess of General Fund appropriations to remodel the Police Department building and to replace PPD's mobile command center, despite pushback from community members.
In January of 2022, The City of Pasadena Fiscal Year 2021 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report noted over $4.5 million of savings in PPD's General Fund expenditures as compared to the budget.
However, on March 14th, 2022, Staff noted that die Fiscal Year 2021 PPD Operating Budget savings "were never realized." The Council then "unappropriated" $1 million in General Fund appropriations for PPD's building remodel.
Why are we funding PPD so much that they are reporting savings while other departments are lacking critical resources? What happened to these reported savings? Is it in our community's best interest to increase funding to the Police Department without addressing these issues? Councilmembers, much like the Rose Bowl Operating Company and the Rose Bowl debt, you cannot continue to turn a blind eye to such discrepancies.
General Funds could be utilized in ways that directly improve Pasadenans' quality of life and safety by our Public Health, Housing and Parks, Recreation & Community Services Departments.
Please do not give PPD carte blanche again this Fiscal Year despite glaring concerns regarding their stewardship over the nearly 100 million dollars in operating funds we invest into this department annually.
Fund a thorough. Third Party, tmly independent, financial audit of the Police Department's budgets. At best, you will find that the lofty monetary investments made are fulfilling their stated purpose. At worst, you will find that funds are being mishandled, and be able to correct such mishandling and re-appropriate funds for much-needed community programs and services.
Thank you for your careful consideration of this letter.
Respectfully Submitted,
The B.R.E.A.T.H.E. Justice 365 Team
A Pasadena-based collective of physicians, attorneys, clergy, educators and everyday people striving for equality.
References
1. Pasadena Police Department Response to Public Records Act Request #16336. (August 4, 2021).
2. What is CAHOOTS? (2020). https://whitebirdclmic.org/what-is-cahoots/
3. DeGue, S., Fowler, K., Calkins, C. (2016). Deaths Due to Use of Lethal Force by Law Enforcement Findings from the National Violent Death Reporting System, 17 U.S. States, 2009-2012. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. httDS://doi.ore/10.1016/i.ameDre.2016.08.027 Stevenson, Garrett
Subject:FW: Written Comment for Public Safety Committee Meeting, Wednesday, May 11 at 4 PM
From:ZaneZeidler
Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2022 3:25 PM
To: Stevenson, Garrett<[email protected]>; City_Council <[email protected]> Subject: Written Comment for Public Safety Committee Meeting, Wednesday, May 11 at 4 PM CAUTION: This email was delivered from the Internet. Do not click links or open attachments unless you frnowthe content is safe. Report phish using the Phish Alert Button. Learn more....
Dear Members of the City Council and Public Safety Committee, My name is Zane Zeidler-Ordaz and I have been a resident of Pasadena District 3 for the past 7 years. I am writing regarding FY 2023 Recommended Operating Budget.
In the last two years, PPD has received more General Fund dollars than any other Department during the pandemic. Some ofPPD's funds should be reallocated to other City Departments that have critical programs that need financial support. The Parks & Rec Department needs more funding to provide additional community & outreach staff to provide residential and code enforcement, which keeps people housed; a dedicated liaison between the Housing Department and Community Services office; and more funding for youth summer employment programs and summer camps.
Thank you,
Zane Zeidler-Ordaz
1 Stevenson, Garrett
From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
JL KristinOckershauser
Wednesday, May 11, 2022 2:51 PM
Stevenson, Garrett
Comment submitted for the Pasadena Police Dept. Budget discussion 5.1 122 You don't often get email from i.-,:Learn why this is important CAUTION: This email was delivered from the Internet. Do not click links or open attachments unless you know the content is safe. Report phish using the Phish Alert Button. Learn more....
Public Safety Committee
City of Pasadena
May 11,2022
Dear Public Safety Committee Members:
The Police Department is recommended to receive 92% of its funds from the City's General Fund (tax payer funded) at the expense of other city services which are badly underfunded (e.g. the public health department which has not been funded by the City during most of the pandemic.) PPD is left to decide how they wish to spend these valuable dollars, without rigorous accountability for their effectiveness and need.
The public needs to know how PPD spends these generous tax payers' monies and what we get for it. Is crime being reduced? Are inevitably rising personnel costs enabling a safer city for all residents? As Pasadena's Police Department rises to nearly $100 M projected for 2023, with a 5.6% budget increase, it's wise to recall journalist Joe Matthew's cautionary tale, How California Police Unions Are Looting City hlalls. https://www.ocrecjister.com/.../stop-californias-cops.../ With the arrival of a new Chief of Police and a new City Manager, and with a new 3 year Memo of Understanding (and requests for increased 1 benefits) between the City and the police union (curiously unavailable yet, although nearly a year overdue) now is the opportune time to have an independent audit of the Police Department done.
I do not recall PPD having an audit in the 19 years I've lived in Pasadena. General Fund monies are precious for all sorts of City services. Now is the time for serious accountability and transparency.
Thank you,
Kris Ockershauser
District 6
2