Laserfiche WebLink
From:Clara Jaeckel <br />To:publiccomment; GRP-City Council <br />Subject:public comment for 5/19/2025 city council meeting, agenda item 9B <br />Date:Monday, May 19, 2025 7:54:16 AM <br />This comment is for agenda item 9B. <br />As a disclaimer, I’m a member of the Police Advisory Committee, but I’m making this <br />comment as an individual resident. <br />Recommendation #31 mentions needs stemming from population growth. I urge you, when <br />planning the budget to serve these additional residents, to prioritize headcount for direct <br />human services. Start by making sure we have enough staff working on housing, civilian <br />outreach to unhoused residents, job development, libraries, and neighborhood <br />infrastructure maintenance, as well as the youth programming mentioned in the staff report. <br />These are the solutions that go to the root of preventing crimes and building sustainable <br />public safety. <br />Within the Police Department, when the agreement to freeze two officer positions was <br />announced last year, it was described as replacing those positions with five civilian <br />positions, in keeping with recommendation #19. That was encouraging news since it <br />allowed for more coverage without increasing funding, and because shifting as many <br />services as possible to unarmed employees reduces the risk of use of force. I am <br />concerned now to see the request to undo that freeze just one year later. That would mean <br />losing the benefit of the agreed-upon shift toward civilian services, so I urge you to keep the <br />freeze on those officer positions in place. <br />Our community will be best served by focusing our budget on human services so that <br />everyone’s basic needs are met and people feel engaged in the community they belong to. <br />Thank you. <br />Clara Jaeckel