HomeMy WebLinkAbout6-22-2020 Public Comment - I. Shaida - BudgetFrom:Isabel Shaida
To:Agenda
Subject:Budget
Date:Monday, June 22, 2020 6:24:51 PM
To Whom it May Concern,
I am writing in brief to ask that the city commission consider reallocating funds into social
services such as affordable housing, healthcare, mental health, rehabilitation, and foodaccessibility. I believe our Bozeman police do an incredible job in supporting our community
and understand that relative to other cities we do not have a large budget for police at all!However, why do we have a BearCat? How much does this cost us? Could we not distribute
our funds better even within the police force? Focus more on training and mental healthsupport for our officers!
Across the country, and Bozeman is no exception, we ask our law enforcement to do far to
much. Why are they responsible for our homeless population? Why must they respond to drugabuse victims? Mentally ill folk? Child behavior? This is not what they are trained for.
We have an opportunity here in Bozeman to set an example of what community support can
truly look like. We can invest in our disenfranchised people. Make sure our Black andIndegenous communities have the same access and care as our white communities.
Our suffering populations do not need to be vilified and punished. They need to be uplifted
and offered compassion and avenues for rehabilitation. Let us invest in services that supportinstead of incarcerate.
I truly believe we can have this complex conversation here in bozeman. We do not want to
admonish the police. We want to uplift our entire community.
Thank you Isabel Shaida