“ADOPT A PEOPLE'S BUDGET” TOOLKIT
“After an energized campaign by our coalition, the Los Angeles City Council declined to vote to approve Mayor Eric Garcetti’s draconian budget at its meeting on Thursday, May 21. This budget featured furloughs and cuts to nearly all city departments with one notable exception: the LAPD. The Mayor’s budget included a market increase to police overtime, and the department was set to receive $3.15 billion, or 54% of general funds.
We view the budget’s return to committee as an initial victory, and are committed to continuing our fight to push for a People’s Budget that reflects the needs and will of the people. We were successful because you: our allies and advocates, who flooded social media and public comment in deafening objection to the amount of money reserved for LAPD at the expense of public services and resources.
City Council has until June 1 to return to Mayor Garcetti a budget that centers Angelenos.
After declining to vote on the Mayor’s budget proposal on Thursday, May 21, City Council returned it to the Budget and Finance Committee. Notable, if City Council fails to bring a budget (new, revised, or otherwise) up for a vote before June 1 (tomorrow), the Mayor’s budget proposal is accepted by default. (UPDATE: THE BUDGET IS A LIVING DOCUMENT AND CAN BE AMENDED ALL YEAR, THE MORE PEOPLE THAT CONTACT EXPRESSING CONCERNS ABOUT LAPD’S BUDGET THE BETTER)
To better represent what Angelenos want to see in a People’s Budget, we released a survey to crowdsource budget input to accurately capture the voice our community. The initial results are in, and definitively show that Angelenos want #CareNotCops. We are making our priorities known to our City Councilmembers, and especially those in the Budget and Finance Committee.
We are demanding that City Council adopt a People’s budget and DEFUND THE POLICE.”
ACTION ITEMS:
PHONE NUMBERS:
EMAILS:
His personal email: paul.krekorian@lacity.org
Her personal email:
nury.martinez@lacity.org
TWITTER HANDLES:
INSTAGRAM HANDLES:
SAMPLE DM/TWEET SCRIPT
Angelenos are demanding that City Council adopt a #People’s Budget. ,
SAMPLE CALL IN SCRIPT
Typically, a staff member will ask you for your name and for some address-related piece of information (such as your zip code) to confirm you are an Angeleno. They may ask for your mailing address. You are not obligated to share this if you are not comfortable doing so — tell them you’d prefer just to share your zip-code, or nothing at all.
They will ask what topic you are calling about — in this case, the Mayor’s budget proposal.
City Council Call Script: My name is (YOUR NAME) and I am calling in reference to the Mayor’s budget proposal. Last week, the public overwhelmingly expressed their opposition to this proposed budget, and in particular to it’s over-spending on police. Now, after declining to vote on the proposal, the BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE/ CITY COUNCIL is failing its constituents by not HOLDING MEETING TO CONSIDER/ VOTING ON/ SUPPORTING a People’s Budget. PAUL KREKORIAN/ NURY MARTINEZ/ YOUR COUNCIL MEMBER have an obligation to those they represent to consider an alternative that prioritizes the true needs of Angelenos: Care, not Cops. You need to defund the police. Please tell them that they must HOLD A BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING/ BRING THE PEOPLE'S BUDGET UP FOR A VOTE/ SUPPORT THE PEOPLE’S BUDGET.
Additional note: Say something that feels natural to you! The most important thing is that City Council members feel pressure to act, so however you can convey that heat is perfect.
Email is a bit more straightforward than calling, as you can copy and paste the following text into your message AND include graphics that illustrate the survey results — overwhelming support for disinvestment from Police and investment in community- and health-centered services. Make sure to attach the data visualization from our survey!
PAUL KREKORIAN EMAIL SCRIPT:
SUBJECT: Adopt a People’s Budget
Dear Paul Krekorian,
You need to adopt a People’s Budget and defund the police.
We are in the midst of a health pandemic with severe economic consequences. Over 50% of Angelenos are unemployed — and we can expect 42% lasting unemployment. Over 50% of this city is renters — and if folx are unemployed, they cannot pay rent. Prior to the pandemic, there were around 60k unhoused folx; after evictions and economic insecurity due to COVID-19 and its fall out, we can expect thousands more. In this context, the Mayor is proposing an increase to LAPD, despite the fact that crime has fallen considerably during the past few months. LAPD has seen a rise in overtime which, more often than not, is paid out to officers harassing unhoused folx, and Black, Indigenous, people of color.
After declining to vote on this draconian proposal last week, City Council referred it back to the Budget and Finance Committee. Now, the Committee has decided not to meet, thereby shirking its duty and upholding the racist and white-supremacist structures that underlie both the proposal and City Council as a governing body.
I am calling on you, Paul Krekorian, to schedule a Budget and Finance Committee meeting at which you and the other Committee members consider the People’s Budget which centers Care, not Cops. You need to Adopt a People’s Budget which defunds the police. Public opinion is with me.
Thank you for your time,
(YOUR NAME)
NURY MARTINEZ EMAIL SCRIPT:
SUBJECT: Adopt a People’s Budget
Dear Nury Martinez,
You need to adopt a People’s Budget and defund the police.
We are in the midst of a health pandemic with severe economic consequences. Over 50% of Angelenos are unemployed — and we can expect 42% lasting unemployment. Over 50% of this city is renters — and if folx are unemployed, they cannot pay rent. Prior to the pandemic, there were around 60k unhoused folx; after evictions and economic insecurity due to COVID-19 and its fall out, we can expect thousands more. In this context, the Mayor is proposing an increase to LAPD, despite the fact that crime has fallen considerably during the past few months. LAPD has seen a rise in overtime which, more often than not, is paid out to officers harassing unhoused folx, and Black, Indigenous, people of color.
After declining to vote on this draconian proposal last week, City Council referred it back to the Budget and Finance Committee. Now, the Committee has decided not to meet, thereby shirking its duty and upholding the racist and white-supremacist structures that underlie both the proposal and City Council as a governing body.
As the President of City Council, I am urging you to call a special Council Meeting to bring the People’s Budget up for a vote. The Mayor’s disastrous proposal MUST be updated with the priorities of Angelenos. You need to adopt a People’s Budget which defunds the police. We need disinvestment from the police, and investment in community- and health-centered services. Public opinion is with me.
Thank you for your time,
(YOUR NAME).
EMAIL SCRIPT FOR OTHER COUNCILMEMBERS:
SUBJECT: Adopt a People’s Budget
Dear (COUNCILMEMBER NAME HERE),
You need to adopt a People’s Budget and defund the police.
We are in the midst of a health pandemic with severe economic consequences. Over 50% of Angelenos are unemployed — and we can expect 42% lasting unemployment. Over 50% of this city is renters — and if folx are unemployed, they cannot pay rent. Prior to the pandemic, there were around 60k unhoused folx; after evictions and economic insecurity due to COVID-19 and its fall out, we can expect thousands more. In this context, the Mayor is proposing an increase to LAPD, despite the fact that crime has fallen considerably during the past few months. LAPD has seen a rise in overtime which, more often than not, is paid out to officers harassing unhoused folx, and Black, Indigenous, people of color.
After declining to vote on this draconian proposal last week, City Council referred it back to the Budget and Finance Committee. Now, the Committee has decided not to meet, thereby shirking its duty and upholding the racist and white-supremacist structures that underlie both the proposal and City Council as a governing body.
I am urging you to publicly support the People’s Budget. The Mayor’s disastrous proposal MUST be updated with the priorities of Angelenos. You need to Adopt a People’s Budget which defunds the police. We need disinvestment from the police, and investment in community- and health-centered services. Public opinion is with me.
Thank you for your time.
Your constituent,
(YOUR NAME)
Whole Toolkit Link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qbq7YfJs102qJbGwGO1-wFa0diG16LdGYqiOoQ-hRAI/edit#