AgdaPkt 2020-08-10 Special Joint SA PFA

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From: Ray Fowler To: Council -Diane Howard Cc: GRP -City Council Subject: Public comments... Date: Tuesday, August 11, 2020 11:40:54 AM Mayor Howard I have not "attended" a City Council meeting for quite some time, but after last night, I think I will check in more often. I want to thank the Council for coming together and staying the course during last night's discussion re: the Council's racial equity resolution. I also want to extend a "well done" to the Communications Subcommittee for crafting resolution language that captures the essence of where Redwood City should be going on the issue of justice for all. The Black Lives Matter advocates who spoke up for police reforms are not wrong when they do so. However, they are wrong to call for defunding the Redwood City Police Department. Unlike some of those speakers, I had no prepared script, and my only regret is that I forgot to mention what the public really thinks about defunding the police. They don't support it. Only a month ago, NPR published the results of a Pew Research Center poll which gathered data, from June 16 through June 22 during nationwide protests following the death of George Floyd, about defunding the police. NPR reported, "Seventy-three percent said they thought funding for the police should stay the same (42%), be increased a little (20%) or a lot (11%)." Those percentages are likely higher in cities, like Chicago, where we have seen an increase in homicides and other serious crimes. The Black Lives Matter advocates who spoke up and defended the anger and emotion expressed during protests are not wrong when they do so. They are passionate, and that's a good thing. However, they are wrong to impugn the integrity of the Council, and wrong to characterize their remarks as justified because they are angry. That is passion misdirected, and it is not far removed from squelching any point of view that does not conform with their position. I'll wrap things up with some wise words from Robert. F. Kennedy when he said, "What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents." Defunding the police is an extreme measure, and it is no surprise that its advocates bring offensive rhetoric to that discussion. One more quotation from Robert Kennedy, "Every society gets the kind of criminal it deserves. What is equally true is that every community gets the kind of law enforcement it insists on." If last night's advocates are successful in defunding the police department, what kind of criminal would Redwood City then deserve? And if the department is defunded, what kind of law enforcement can we insist on? Thanks, Ray Fowler 650-465-5654