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From: Emily Kohn <br />To: PublicComment <br />Subject: Public Comment for Tonight"s City Council Meeting <br />Date: Monday, June 22, 2020 5:00:48 PM <br />Dear Mayor Howard, Vice Mayor Masur, and City Council Members, <br />I would like to first thank you for your rapid response to the outpouring of concern around <br />policing and budget priorities in Redwood City. Your commitment to the first steps towards <br />reform and community engagement outlined in your blog post are much appreciated. <br />However, I hope you will not consider those first steps the end of the road, but rather the <br />beginning. I urge you to make the organization of a subcommittee to discuss police reform, <br />development of a community oversight committee, and release of police complaint files top <br />priorities for the council in the coming months. <br />I also ask that you allow the subcommittee to consider potential alternative crime reduction <br />tactics to which we could divert some police funding, such as trained mental health first <br />responders or greater investment in social services. Redwood City has increased its <br />funds for police by 79% since 2010. Moreover, Redwood City allocates a higher <br />portion of its general fund to police than most of its peers - including Mountain View, <br />Milpitas, Santa Clara, South San Francisco, and Palo Alto. I urge you to reverse <br />these trends and instead fund social services or alternative first responders to <br />improve the safety of our residents. <br />Thank you for your time. <br />Best, <br />Emily Kohn <br />