Press Releases
Two years after the murder of George Floyd, Angelenos still want to Defund LAPD and Re-Imagine Public Safety
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 6, 2022
Two years after the murder of George Floyd,
Angelenos still want to Defund LAPD and Re-Imagine Public Safety
Los Angeles, CA - The People’s Budget LA Coalition, convened by Black Lives Matter - Los Angeles, will be sharing results from the 2022 People’s Budget survey on Monday, June 6, 2022, at 7 p.m. In summary, the results show that two years after the murder of George Floyd, Angelenos still want to #DefundThePolice and #ReimaginePublicSafety.
Two years ago, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and the issuance of #BlackLADemands, the People’s Budget survey was launched, which gained tremendous momentum following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police and the mass uprisings that followed. Angelenos overwhelmingly pushed to #DefundThePolice and #ReimaginePublicSafety, tens of thousands gathering in front of City Hall as Mayor Garcetti was forced to announce a $150 million cut to LAPD’s budget and pledged to invest an additional $100 million to resources for the Black community. Two years later, Garcetti proposed and City Council signed off on a $3.2 billion increase to the LAPD budget - making 2022-2023 the largest police budget in the City’s history.
The 2022 People’s Budget LA survey reached nearly 1500 Angelenos and found that Los Angeles residents continue to make policing their lowest budget priority and investment in community resources as the highest. City residents continue to want deeper investments in universal needs, such as housing, healthcare, good jobs, and community resources–namely, reimagined public safety– instead of overspending on police. The City’s 2022-23 budget blatantly disregards the priorities of Angelenos. Unlike 2020 and 2021, when People’s Budget LA was invited to present survey findings to the City Council, no official space was provided to take part in the budget process this year. Ahead of this Tuesday’s primary election, the People’s Budget LA Coalition will share survey results with the public via livestream on Monday, June 6th at 7 p.m. Media representatives and invitees join on zoom.
What: Virtual Presentation - 2022 People’s Budget Los Angeles Survey Results
When: Monday, June 6, 2022, at 7pm
Where: Press and Invitee Zoom: https://tinyurl.com/PeoplesBudget2022
Public Livestream via Facebook.com/BLMLA
Who: Black Lives Matter - Los Angeles, People’s Budget Coalition
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Black Lives Matter’s People’s Budget LA Coalition releases the 2022 survey report in honor of 2-year “angelversary” of George Floyd
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 24, 2022
Black Lives Matter’s People’s Budget LA Coalition releases the 2022 survey report in honor of 2-year “angelversary” of George Floyd
Los Angeles, CA - The People’s Budget LA Coalition, convened by Black Lives Matter - Los Angeles, is releasing the results of its 2022 People’s Budget survey, which, in summary, finds that two years after the murder of George Floyd, Angelenos still want to #DefundThePolice and #ReimaginePublicSafety.
Wednesday May 25, 2022 marks the two year “angelversary” of George Floyd, who was murdered by police in Minneapolis. Floyd’s death inspired historic protests in which hundreds of thousands of Angelenos flooded the streets chanting “defund the police.” In 2020, these uprisings, along with the presentation of the first People’s Budget LA report, compelled Mayor Garcetti to commit to cut the LAPD budget by $150 million and pledge another $100 million - for a total of $250 million - stated investment in Black community. Two years later, Garcetti has proposed and City Council has signed off on an increase to LAPD spending, resulting in a $3.2 billion budget - the largest police budget in the City’s history.
Led by researchers from UCLA, Stanford and Azusa Pacific University, the People’s Budget Los Angeles survey collected data from more than 1000 Angelenos in 2022 and found that Los Angeles residents still view policing as among their lowest budget priorities and providing community resources as their highest. City residents want to invest in housing, healthcare, good jobs, and community resources, instead of overspending on police. The City’s proposed 2022 budget is not in line with the priorities of Angelenos. Unlike 2020 and 2021, when People’s Budget LA was invited to present its findings to the City Council, no official space was provided to take part in the budget process this year. In honor of George Floyd, highlights from the survey will be presented publicly by lead researcher Dr. David Turner of UCLA on Wednesday, May 25th at a rally and action.
What: Press Conference and Rally
When: Wednesday, May 25, 2022 at 4pm
Where: 1313 W. 8th Street, Los Angeles, CA
Who: Black Lives Matter - Los Angeles,
People’s Budget L.A, Community Organizations, and Families of those impacted by police violence
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Black Lives Matter Los Angeles and the People’s Budget LA Coalition to host in-person candidate forum for Los Angeles City candidates on March 26 at Leimert Park Plaza
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 25, 2022
Black Lives Matter Los Angeles and the People’s Budget LA Coalition to host in-person candidate forum for Los Angeles City candidates on
March 26 at Leimert Park Plaza
Los Angeles, CA - Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles and the People’s Budget LA Coalition has been sounding the alarm about backwards budgeting for years, calling city leadership to divest from the racist system of policing and invest in resources that address the root causes of poverty and crime.
This Saturday, March 26 2022, 3-6pm, Black Lives Matter- Los Angeles and the People’s Budget LA Coalition will host an in-person candidate forum for Los Angeles City Candidates at Africa Town in Leimert Park Plaza to discuss critical issues facing Black people and Los Angeles at large.
What: Candidate Forum to discuss critical issues facing Black people and Los Angeles at large
Where: Africa Town (Leimert Park Plaza) 4395 Leimert Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008
When: Saturday, March 26 | 3:00- 6:00PM PST,
Who:
Moderator, Dominique DiPrima, Broadcaster, Activist and Producer
Participating Candidates:
Hydee Feldstein Soto, candidate for Los Angeles City Attorney
Faisal Gill, candidate for Los Angeles City Attorney
Sherri Onica Valle Cole, candidate for Los Angeles City Attorney
Stephanie Clements, candidate for Los Angeles City Controller
Kenneth Mejia, candidate for Los Angeles City Controller
Gina Viola, candidate for Los Angeles City Mayor
Mel Wilson, candidate for Los Angeles City Mayor
Alex Gruenenfelder Smith, candidate for Los Angeles City Mayor
Eunisses Hernandez, Candidate for Los Angeles City Council, District 1
Jimmy Biblarz, Candidate for Los Angeles City Council, District 5
Scott Epstein, Candidate for Los Angeles City Council, District 5
Dulce Vasquez, Candidate for Los Angeles City Council, District 9
Erin Darling, Candidate for Los Angeles City Council, District 11
Albert Corado, Candidate for Los Angeles City Council, District 13
Kate Pynoos, Candidate for Los Angeles City Council, District 13
Hugo Soto-Martinez, Candidate for Los Angeles City Council, District 13
Bryant Odega, Candidate for Los Angeles City Council, District 15
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The People’s Budget LA coalition denounces Mayor Garcetti’s and LA City Council’s 2021-22 budget.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 4, 2021
The world was cracked wide open when George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police on May 25, 2020. Brother George’s Spirit joined thousands whose lives have been stolen by state violence, including many right here in Los Angeles - like Wakiesha Wilson, Kenney Watkins, Jesse Romero, Grechario Mack, Albert Ramon Dorsey, Brendon Glenn and countless more. Hundreds-of-thousands of Angelenos took to the streets with a clear policy demand: #DefundThePolice and #ReimaginePublicSafety by investing in people and communities, not police.
This is not a “justice budget” as the mayor calls it. This is yet another police state budget.
Instead of honoring the will of the people, Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved Mayor Garcetti’s budget, which increases the LAPD budget by $39 million, giving police more money than ever before. This comes at a time when three “independent” reports, a lawsuit, and numerous media exposés point to LAPD as having abused power, brutalized community members, profiled Black people, and failed even at their stated mission. This is not a “justice budget” as the mayor calls it. This is yet another police state budget that diverts critical funds away from the community which could otherwise be used to imagine and build approaches that actually keep people safe: housing, jobs, youth programs, parks, community centers, food security, public health programs, and much more.
The People’s Budget LA coalition denounces Mayor Garcetti’s and LA City Council’s budget.
Deep racial inequities and economic inequalities have been further exposed by the pandemic. As Los Angeles emerges from lockdown, it is more important than ever before to invest in Black communities, and those who are most impacted by COVID-19 and its economic fallout. It is outrageous that Mayor Garcetti set forth the 2021-2022 budget while refusing to engage Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles (BLMLA), running from the People’s Budget LA Coalition (PBLA), and ignoring the Black LA Demands, while co-opting the language of the movement and blaspheming George Floyd’s name.
The People’s Budget LA coalition denounces Mayor Garcetti’s and LA City Council’s budget. There is still an opportunity to do the right thing: reject the mayor’s increase to LAPD, refuse to increase the size of the police force, and invest in Black communities through Black-led organizations. The budget can be amended at any time; the time is now. To strengthen our communities, uplift our most vulnerable community members, and fortify new systems of public safety, People’s Budget LA calls on city leaders to divest from the racist system of policing and investing in people and communities. The PBLA report should serve as a guide; prioritize spending for universal human needs, the built environment, and transformational approaches to justice - and defund the police.
The People’s Budget LA Coalition is led by Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles
Letter to Council President Nury Martinez
On February 28, 2021, the People's Budget LA Coalition sent the following letter to LA City Council President Nury Martinez:
February 28, 2021
The Honorable Nury Martinez
Los Angeles City Council President
councilmember.martinez@lacity.org
VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL ONLY
Dear Council President Martinez:
We are writing in response to the proposed Reinvestment of Funds from the Police Department to Impacted Communities (C.F. 20-0600-S83), Item 34 on the March 2, 2021 Council agenda. The directive given by Council in your February 22, 2021 letter makes explicit reference to the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, Black Lives Matter uprisings, and BLMLA’s People’s Budget presentation to Council. While your letter references “communities of color,” the “underserved,” and “marginalized,” the impetus for such a reallocation was the murder of Black people by police, and Black-specific uprising and advocacy. The recommended spending plan offered by the CLA and CAO, dated February 25, 2021, includes allocations to specific community-based partners, with very little funding directed to Black-led organizations. We are writing to request that remaining funds be designated to Black-led organizations and that resources prioritize Black Angelenos.
More specifically, we are encouraging the development of a City-wide program that:
1. Provides at least 1000 public sector jobs to Black people, as outlined by the Black Worker Center.
2. Offers support to Black-owned businesses – 41% of which have already shuttered as a result of the COVID-19 economic fallout.
3. A Universal Basic Income pilot program that prioritizes Black residents in Districts 8, 9, 10, 14, and the Watts area of 15.
We applaud the effort to support community-driven public safety and are requesting that all remaining funds to be used for this purpose and/or that a share of recommended allocations be provided to Black-led organizations, including:
1. 2nd Call (Skipp Townsend)
2. The Professional Community Intervention Training Institute (Aquil Basheer)
3. The Reverence Project (Aqeela Sherrills)
Additional Black-led intervention organizations include:
• Advocates for Peace and Urban Unity (Kevin Orange and Ben Owen)
• Affiliates and Offenders Recovery Program (Bernard Cooper)
• Community Reflections, Inc. (Winnetka Vaden)
• Developing Options (Big U and Bear Claw)
• Helper Foundation (Stan Muhammad)
• Reclaiming America’s Communities through Empowerment (Wiz and Moon)
• Rizilient (Baboo)
Similarly, remaining housing and supportive service resources should be granted to Los Angeles Community Action Network. Their highly celebrated EcoHoods pilot is the innovation needed to immediately house and support Black Angelenos crippled by state and structural violence.
Additional Black-led organizations that provide services and resources ranging from health services, to youth development, to support for battered women, can be found here.
While we recognize that this reinvestment is slated to be short-term, one-time money, we also know that it could be a model for the 2021-2022 Los Angeles budget. We look forward to working with Council to not just say Black Lives Matter, but make Black Lives Matter through these allocations, and to joining you for a presentation on the 2021-2022 People’s Budget proposal. Please feel free to reach out with any questions by replying to this email or calling me at [REDACTED]. We look forward to your prompt attention.
Sincerely,
Melina Abdullah, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles
Co-Director, Black Lives Matter-Grassroots
Convener, People’s Budget LA
Cc: Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson, District 8
Councilmember Curren Price, Jr., District 9
Councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas, District 10
Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell, District 13
Councilmember Kevin DeLeon, District 14
Letter to Garcetti
On December 31, 2020, the People's Budget LA Coalition sent the following letter to Mayor Garcetti:
Dear Mayor Garcetti:
We are writing to request a meeting with regard to the 2020-2021 budget and the $250
million pledged investment in Black and other marginalized communities.
Los Angeles and the nation are at a pivotal moment. The murders of #George Floyd, #BreonnaTaylor, #KevinCarr, #DanielHernandez, #FredWilliams, #DijonKizzee, and the hundreds killed in Los Angeles by law enforcement is too high a price for Black people to
pay to remind white America about institutional racism.
The world is suffering from the worst health pandemic in history, with Los Angeles at the epicenter, yet the response of the local government seems to prioritize upholding the status quo and protecting corporate interests. Despite the issuance of the Black LA Demands last April, no significant response from most City leaders was offered and Black people continue to struggle disproportionately to survive both COVID-19 and the devastating economic fallout. Amidst unprecedented uprisings, Mayor Garcetti committed a $250 million budget reallocation to invest in meaningful and innovative programs in Black and Brown communities. This has yet to occur.
Earlier this year, the People’s Budget LA coalition, led by Black Lives Matter-LA, collected
more than 25,000 surveys from respondents across the City of Los Angeles, and the
people overwhelmingly called for more funding for housing, workforce development,
mental health services, drug treatment, and resources that address the longstanding lack
of investment in Black and Brown communities. This is why millions of people in Los
Angeles and around the globe are calling to defund the police, and actually fund a
community system of care and support that does not further traumatize and victimize
Black people and other marginalized groups.
The surveys and calls to defund the police show a monumental shift in the budget
spending priorities of Angelenos. You proposed a significant increase to LAPD’s budget,
totaling nearly 54% of the City’s general fund. Your pledged reallocation of $150 million
(along with the additional $100 million from other sources) signaled a response to community demands. While $150 million is a relatively small percentage of the total police budget, these monies have the potential to positively and significantly impact lives and communities. It is highly concerning that a large percentage of the dollars earmarked towards community-based resources have been swallowed up by various entities such as furloughs and existing City programs.
The People’s Budget LA is calling for transparency and accountability. For too long the
budgeting decisions have been made opaque and confusing processes that left the
people’s input out and protected the status quo. We are calling for a participatory
budgeting process in the long term and an immediate allocation of the remaining $250
million to address the particular and urgent needs of Black and other marginalized
communities.
Your recent veto of City Council’s budget proposal offers an opportunity to reset and
make deliberate and intentional use of funds. As you stated, “This plan in too many
places elevates what should be routine over what could be revolutionary." Revolutionary
priority investments must begin with meeting universal aid and crisis management,
reimagined public safety, and the built environment -- the top three priorities of the
People’s Budget survey.
We know that when the people have a voice, they offer insightful ways to spend our city
budget. Here are some of the things we’ve heard in our People’s Budget town halls:
- “I and many others are sick and tired of living in and being a product of a police state. We’re done paying for an institution that produces racism, violence, and poverty. We are done talking. It’s time to put money where the people are at.” Carlos Cázares
- “Police show up and only hyper-escalate the situation, making matters worse. We need community interventionists that can pull up and deescalate the situation.” Joy Stalworth of Community Coalition
- “Would the city ever recognize the value of the lived experience of interventionists or pay more lip service to programs that shut them out?” Kevin ‘Twin’ Orange of Advocates for Peace and Urban Unity (APUU)
You can view a summary of one of our townhalls at
https://peoplesbudgetla.com/reimaginepublicsafety/ and you can watch video testimony
at https://peoplesbudgetla.com/videos
As we call for transparency and accountability, we are calling for the investment of all
remaining funds in community-driven and community-led solutions. The reset that your
veto offers provides opportunity for City officials to work in partnership with communities
in meaningful ways. We look forward to meeting with you in January to forge an ethical
plan. Please respond to this letter with three possible dates and times for a virtual
meeting.
Sincerely,
Melina Abdullah, Ph.D.
Co-founder, Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles
People’s Budget LA
CC: Los Angeles City Council
BLMLA-Led People’s Budget LA Coalition Endorses Yes on Measure J in the Upcoming Election
The Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles-led People’s Budget LA coalition is proud to join unions, faith leaders and organizations, civil rights advocates, and grassroots leaders in endorsing Measure J. County Measure J will fund community-focused alternatives to traditional incarceration — is closely aligned with People’s Budget LA’s goals of establishing community-based, community-focused, and collectively-reimagined public investment and public safety.
For years, LA County has used its budget to extract money from Black, Indigenous and Brown communities. The County has allocated money, specifically, to programs that have exacerbated their systematic marginalization and oppression.
Measure J is a true people-focused solution, authored by grassroots organizations from LA County’s most impacted communities. Its goal is to dismantle systemic racism by investing in jobs, housing and health care — not incarceration.
Passing Measure J would serve as an important shift in the LA County budgeting process by amending the County Charter. We look forward to the future that Measure J will help us create.
The People’s Budget LA coalition, which has been outspoken against the city’s excessive LAPD budget, recognizes that spending heavily on law enforcement and jails doesn't keep our communities safe. We are committed to reimagining public safety and investing in transformative approaches that uplift impacted communities.
The People’s Budget LA coalition urges all Los Angeles County voters to vote Yes on J in this upcoming election.
Defunding the Police Means Replacing Them with Non-Violent Responders
SUMMARY
People’s Budget LA, a coalition of activist groups led by Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles (BLM-LA), welcomes the actions of the Los Angeles City Council today in taking meaningful steps toward reimagining what public safety can look like in Los Angeles.
Today’s Council vote to approve the motion brought forward by Councilmembers Wesson, Martinez, Harris-Dawson, Price, Blumenfield, and O’Farrell to deploy unarmed, non-law enforcement response teams for non-violent calls for service is an encouraging step in the right direction. We look forward to continuing to work with elected officials brave enough to stand up to the narrow interests of the Los Angeles Police Protective League.
We also applaud Councilmembers Harris-Dawson, Bonin, Price, and Wesson for introducing an additional motion to end persecution of Angelenos for “Driving While Black.” Traffic stops by the LAPD are inherently racist, with Black drivers being 4 times more likely to be searched than white drivers, and these encounters with law enforcement often escalate with truly tragic consequences. Removing the LAPD from traffic enforcement has the potential, if done correctly, to truly transform the lives of millions of Angelenos.
Systematically diminishing the role of the police in our everyday lives is an effective mechanism for achieving our goal of defunding the police and reimagining public safety. We look forward to seeing more expansive motions introduced by elected officials in the coming fiscal year that build upon these first courageous steps.
LOS ANGELES -- A coalition of activists organizing under the name People’s Budget LA have recognized the steps taken by the Los Angeles City Council to listen to the demands of the people of Los Angeles and take steps toward creating a city with a dramatically diminished role for police and expanded appropriate services for its residents.
“Rolling back police functions has the potential to have a far greater impact on advancing the call to defund the police than approving a meager cut of $150 million from the $3.15 billion LAPD budget as proposed by Mayor Eric Garcetti,” said Melina Abdullah, co-founder of Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles. “Creating community driven solutions that reimagine public safety is how we build a safer world for our children and our communities. This is how we get free.”
Their Police Have No Place on Our Buses and Trains
SUMMARY
People’s Budget LA, a coalition of activist groups led by Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles (BLM-LA), is encouraged by the recent vote of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors, and specifically Directors Bonin, Garcetti, Hahn, Dupont-Walker, and Solis, for their their recent decision to shift resources away from armed law enforcement and towards a new vision of public safety at Metro facilities and on Metro vehicles. We have no doubt that the move is, in large part, a response to the calls of the people to #DefundThePolice and #ReimagePublicSafety that are permeating the public square.
Moving to place unarmed transit ambassadors in these spaces—staff who are trained in providing outreach and support instead of criminalizing poverty—is a step in the right direction. We look forward to working with elected leaders who are willing to boldly reimagine what our public transportation infrastructure, and all of our shared public spaces, can and should look like without the presence of armed officers.
People’s Budget LA will continue to fight for budgets that prioritize the needs of the community over continued criminalization and systemic oppression in both the City and County of Los Angeles, and across all of their constituent agencies and authorities.
LOS ANGELES — A coalition of activists organizing under the name People’s Budget LA have recognized the Metro Board’s near unanimous vote to begin shifting some of the nearly $160M in annual policing contracts away from armed responses into community-centered approaches to public safety in the nation’s third largest public transportation system.
“It is well past time for Mayor Garcetti and the Metro Directors to remove armed officers from our buses, trains, and Metro stations. Not being able to prove that you paid your fare should never cost a person their life, as was the Long Beach Police Department’s excuse in the horrific killing of César Rodríguez,” said Melina Abdullah, one of the leaders of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles. “Police officers on our trains and buses do not make us safer. They continually criminalize and intimidate Black and Brown folks for simply existing in these public spaces.”
City Council Motion: A Courageous Step Forward, Could Be One Of The Most Significant Reimaginings Of Public Safety In The Nation If Implementation Is Done Right
People’s Budget LA, a Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles-led coalition of activists working to defund the police and reinvest funds in human-centered services, applauds Los Angeles City Councilmembers Wesson, Martinez, Harris-Dawson, Price, Blumenfield, and O’Farrell for their recent motion to develop a crisis response system that diverts calls for services away from police and towards unarmed, skilled, and appropriate care workers.
This is a courageous step forward, and, if executed thoughtfully, Los Angeles could offer one of the most significant reimaginings of public safety in the nation. We look forward to working with elected leaders who are willing to stand on the side of people, instead of narrow police special interests, to implement this motion in a way that's truly transformational.
When we fight, we win. And we’re just getting started.
Grassroots Coalition to Present “People’s Budget LA” to City Council Members In Special Session
Join us for online events happening all day on June 15. Learn more in our toolkit.
LOS ANGELES -- A Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles-led coalition of activists organizing under the name People’s Budget LA will present the results of the People’s Budget LA survey to the heads of all relevant City Council committees — including the Budget and Finance Committee — at 10 am PST on Monday, June 15. The coalition will share the implications of the People’s Budget, elaborate on what it will mean to defund the police, review the survey results and discuss reimagined public safety.
The report was developed after extensive community engagement and suggests an ideal budget markedly different from that authored by Mayor Eric Garcetti. It suggests widespread support for investing in universal needs (e.g., housing security, public health/health care, mental health and wellness, etc.) and divesting from traditional forms of policing. The People’s Budget allocates just 5.72% of general funds to the police, compared to 54% from the Mayor’s budget.
The hour and a half special session will be broadcast to the public; for information on public involvement, please defer to BLM-LA social media. Updates will be shared over the coming days.
The coalition encourages all Angelenos to tune-in, and asks them to continue calling their council members in support of The People’s Budget in the lead up to Monday’s presentation. The BLMLA-led coalition invites all city council members to join the meeting to hear the demands and priorities of their constituents.
People’s Budget LA: $150 Million In Cuts Proposed To LAPD Is A Start, But City Council And Mayor Garcetti Need To Go Much Further
SUMMARY
People’s Budget LA, a coalition of activist groups led by Black Lives Matter Los Angeles (BLM-LA), is encouraged as City Council President Nury Martinez has introduced a motion calling for up to $150 million in cuts to LAPD to be redistributed to communities of color.
However, the group insists that much more extensive cuts to the LAPD are necessary, pointing out that even a cut of $150 million would still leave LAPD with 51% of the city’s unrestricted revenues. The People’s Budget, a document created by the group, allocates just 5.7% to traditional law enforcement, with much more money going to human-centered services such as housing, healthcare, transportation, and so on.
People’s Budget LA will continue to fight for City Council and the Mayor to make more significant changes to the budget.
LOS ANGELES -- A coalition of activists organizing under the name People’s Budget LA have declared victory after news broke of City Council President Nury Martinez introducing a motion to cut between $100 million and $150 million from the LAPD to be reinvested in disadvantaged communities and communities of color.
“We’re encouraged to see that our constant action has pushed Mayor Garcetti and City Council to back up their nice words with some actual action, however small, that directly confronts the racist police state that is the City of Los Angeles,” said Melina Abdullah, one of the leaders of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles. “And let’s be clear: this is the result of years of ongoing organizing by Black Lives Matter LA and our coalition partners that laid the ground for the ongoing waves of protests.”
“But they need to go much further. $150 million looks big, until you realize it still leaves the LAPD with 51% of the city’s unrestricted revenues. That’s not at all acceptable. Our People’s Budget allocates just 5.7% of funds to traditional law enforcement. City Council and Mayor Garcetti need to know that we’re fighting for truly transformative change here and won’t be bought off with just this minimal amount of money.”
The People's Budget Report is Out!
More than 10,000 Angelenos participated in #PeoplesBudgetLA. The People’s Budget is now live and stands in direct opposition to @MayorOfLA’s proposal. See the Press Release below.
Grassroots Coalition Releases “People’s Budget” Document, Based On 1,470 Survey Results, As Alternative To Mayor Garcetti’s Budget Proposal
SUMMARY
A coalition of activist groups led by Black Lives Matter Los Angeles (BLM-LA) has released a document they are calling The People’s Budget, based on extensive community engagement, showing vastly different priorities than Mayor Garcetti’s proposed budget.
The document reveals a clear referendum: invest in universal needs (e.g., housing security, public health/health care, mental health and wellness, etc.) and divest from traditional forms of policing. The People’s Budget allocates just 5.72% of general funds to the police, compared to 54% from the Mayor’s budget. People want care, not cops.
People’s Budget LA will continue to fight for City Council and the Mayor to make significant changes to the budget, particularly defunding the LAPD and investing in human-centered services.
LOS ANGELES -- A coalition of activists organizing under the name People’s Budget LA have released a document on Tuesday afternoon they’re calling “The People’s Budget.” This document was created based on a survey of 1,470 Angelenos, and is meant to serve as an alternative to the “police-state budget” being proposed for Mayor Eric Garcetti for the 2020-21 fiscal year. Over 10,000 people were engaged in the process of drafting the budget, including 3,300 participants who engaged in the participatory budgeting process in real time on May 24 (via Zoom and Facebook Live), and 10,000 viewers who have watched the session after-the-fact.
“Our document and data reveal a clear referendum: invest in universal needs (e.g., housing security, public health/health care, mental health and wellness, etc.) and divest from traditional forms of policing,” the report reads. The People’s Budget allocates just 5.7% of general funds to law enforcement and policing -- just about one-tenth of the 54% given to the LAPD in the Mayor’s proposed budget (for a total of $3.15 billion).
The People’s Budget allocates the largest amount of money to Universal Aid and Crisis Management (44.25%), which includes things like housing and public health; followed by Built Environment (25.80%); then Reimagined Community Safety (24.22%); and finally Law Enforcement and Police (5.72%).
Activists with People’s Budget LA have flooded three City Council public comment periods in a row demanding cuts to the police and increased spending on human-centered services. Now, they have an actual document to point to. People’s Budget LA is made up of members from groups including Black Lives Matter LA, Ktown For All, People’s City Council, Community Coalition, Students Deserve, Street Watch LA, Ground Game LA, and more.
“The People’s Budget shows very clearly that people want care, not cops. We want housing, not handcuffs,” said Dr. Melina Abdullah, a Professor of Pan-African Studies at Cal-State LA and an organizer with BLM-LA. “We engaged over 10,000 people in drafting this. We had 1,470 survey responses. Did Mayor Garcetti do anything close to this in drafting his budget? And we did this all as an urgent and rapid response to the Mayor’s police state budget.”
City Council plans to avoid an actual up-or-down vote on the Mayor’s budget, meaning it will automatically pass come June 1.
“We implore the Los Angeles City Council to take action and adopt a budget that aligns with the priorities of the people who they have been elected to represent,” the introduction to the People’s Budget reads.
People’s Budget LA Declares Victory As City Council Declines To Pass Mayor Garcetti’s “Police State” Budget
SUMMARY
A coalition of activist groups led by Black Lives Matter Los Angeles (BLM-LA) is celebrating after City Council referred the Mayor’s proposed budget to committee in its meeting on Thursday, May 21.
People’s Budget LA will now focus on pressuring the City Council to make significant changes to the budget, particularly defunding the LAPD and investing in human-centered services.
See the full statement at the bottom of this press advisory.
THURSDAY, MAY 21 -- A coalition of activists organizing under the name People’s Budget LA is declaring an interim victory as LA’s City Council declined to approve Mayor Eric Garcetti’s proposed budget at its meeting on Thursday morning.
Rumors coming out of City Hall over the past week suggested that City Council would approve the Mayor’s budget on May 21 without referring it to the Budget and Finance Committee for more discussion. Activists were demanding that City Council #BlockTheLABudget and give time for more public input -- a demand that has now been met. People’s Budget LA is made up of members from groups including Black Lives Matter LA, Ktown For All, People’s City Council, Community Coalition, Students Deserve, Street Watch LA, Ground Game LA, and more.
The group, in a statement, now insists they will move towards pressuring the City Council to pass a true #PeoplesBudgetLA, which defunds the LAPD and invests in human-centered services, demands that are widely popular in California and across the nation. Polling done by Data for Progress and the Justice Collaborative Institute in the months since the state of emergency was declared reveals that voters support funding housing, banning evictions and foreclosures, supporting the houseless, building a care economy, decarceration, and ending police sweeps of the homeless.
“City Council has until June 1 to give a budget back to Mayor Garcetti that actually centers the needs of the masses of people in this city. We need housing. We need health care. We need healthy food. We need good jobs. We need educational enrichment. We need small business resources. We need mental health care. We need free public transit. We need #CareNotCops. We don’t need more police,” the statement reads.
The coalition was particularly upset with the Mayor’s proposal increase to the LAPD’s budget as compared to the prior year, while nearly all other departments were being cut and 16,000 public employees were being furloughed. The LAPD is set to receive 54% of unrestricted funds, for a total of $3.15 billion (compared, for example, to just $163 million for Housing and Community Investment).
An opinion piece recently authored by four members of People’s Budget LA starts: “If a budget is a statement of priorities, then Mayor Eric Garcetti’s are clear: continue LA’s descent into a police state where huge numbers of poor people, especially Black people, are deprived of services even in a city with unimaginable wealth.”
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Statement By People’s Budget LA:
People in Los Angeles flooded social media and public comment periods in outcry over how much money Mayor Garcetti is proposing for LAPD at the expense of human-centered services, and now we have bought time for a true #PeoplesBudgetLA to be created, debated, and passed. Mayor Garcetti thought he could get City Council to pass his police state budget without much attention this week, but we were loud and consistent in our demand to #BlockTheLABudget.
City Council has until June 1 to give a budget back to Mayor Garcetti that actually centers the needs of the masses of people in this city. We need housing. We need health care. We need healthy food. We need good jobs. We need educational enrichment. We need small business resources. We need mental health care. We need free public transit. We need #CareNotCops.
We don’t need more police.
Over the next weeks we will be pushing hard for a #PeoplesBudgetLA. The people of LA are more unified than ever, and City Council and Mayor Garcetti can no longer ignore our demands.