Hi, my name is [Your Name], and I live at [Your Address]. Will you take a message for Councilor Pepén?
I'm calling to urge Councilor Pepén to support the City Council budget amendments and override the Mayor’s $9 million cut to resources from communities who are struggling to stay afloat. You must protect investments for affordable housing, youth jobs, and families of homicide victims, and vote to take $3 million of the Mayor’s $69 million police increase.
As you know, the City Council has the power to be a check and balance on the Mayor’s budget. You must work with Councilors to use the power and side with the community, not side with the Mayor’s cuts.
Affordable housing, youth jobs, and supporting families of homicide victims keeps us safe and make communities thrive because ____________________________.
Putting money into inflated equipment, supplies, and contracts for police is irresponsible and harmful because ____________________________.
Our community elected you to represent our needs and fight for real, systemic change. Councilor Pepén, when you ran for office, you said that as a progressive your top priorities included housing and community-led solutions to public safety. You committed to reallocate money from BPD to reinvest in communities. Will you stand by the pledge you took to serve us? Councilor Pepén, we are counting on you to do what’s right. Vote for the budget amendments that prioritize the voices and needs of the people most marginalized.
Your leadership could make a positive difference or further hardship in the lives of many. Please, stand with us and show that you are committed to the well-being of the people of our city and District 5.
Additional Points You Can Share:
In a Progressive Mass questionnaire, you answered that you would advocate to reallocate money from BPD to reinvest in communities.
In a Progressive Mass questionnaire, you answered that affordable housing, keeping rents low, and home ownership are top priorities for you. The City Council budget invests in rental subsidies and home ownership.
I know that you are pushing for money for community land trusts, but you need to protect all the housing investments, youth jobs, and violence prevention as well.
When you ran for office, you stated that "public safety requires holistic solutions" including "community-led after school programming" and supporting "nonprofits and violence intervention groups that are engaging with at-risk populations." You need to override the veto of youth jobs and community programs.
You know the importance of addressing trauma, and you need to override the veto of $1 million that supports families of homicide victims.
You know that the line items the City Council moved are line items the BPD does not need and will be better spent elsewhere. There is no need to add or keep money to the BPD budgets for equipment and supplies that they haven’t even spent in past years.
Extra money for contracts means extra money for surveillance and a broken promotional exam that even officers of color are calling to postpone.