Note: Sometimes the phone rings without an answer. In this case, please try calling 617-635-3040 (the front desk of City Council) and ask to be transferred to Councilor Santana. Thanks for your persistence!
Note: Staff may ask you to email instead. Please let them know you want to finish leaving your phone message.
[Boston residents:] Hi, my name is [Your Name], and I’m a resident of [Your Neighborhood].
[People outside Boston:] Hi, my name is [Your Name]. [Explain your connection to boston.]
I would like to leave a message for Councilor Santana.
I'm calling to urge Councilor Henry Santana 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.
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 Santana, when you ran for office, you said that youth jobs and affordable and public housing are two of your top three priorities. You committed to reallocate money from BPD to reinvest in communities. Will you stand by the pledge you took to serve us? Councilor Santana, 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.
Additional Points You Can Share:
Police associations are pressuring you not to move money from BPD, but in a Progressive Mass questionnaire you answered that you would advocate to reallocate money from BPD to reinvest in communities. You wrote, “YES. I believe that over time, we can invest in violence prevention upstream to reduce the need for police-based violence response downstream.”
You said that youth jobs are your #1 priority and you will do what it takes to fight for them. Affordable and public housing are important to you too. Voting against putting $3 million back to police and voting for reasonable reallocations from underspent items in other departments is not a hard choice. Do the right thing.
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.
We will have your back if you have the community’s back. Don’t be afraid of pressure from the police or Mayor, be brave and do the right thing.
Extra money for contracts means extra money for surveillance and a broken promotional exam that even officers of color are calling to postpone.
Even if you have heard some youth or residents ask for more police in schools, you know that there have been massive calls from many youth and residents to invest in real safety not police, and you need to lead. In a Progressive Mass questionnaire you said supported creating "a nurturing and empowering educational environment" in schools that would support students "without the need for police presence in schools." Stick to your values and what’s right and don’t compromise them.