Oakland City Council: Now is your chance to take a stand - or else get voted out in November, especially by progressive challengers. The people are demanding a real commitment to defund OPD by 50% and redirect these funds to community needs. Bas's proposal is a good start, while the so-called "equity" caucus proposal is barely a drop in the bucket. Listen to your constituents and the Black people who are leading this movement. Defund, disarm OPD. Fund affordable housing, house our unhoused neighbors instead of policing them and sweeping away encampments. Get police out of schools and give teachers a raise, while lowering class sizes. These are not difficult changes to comprehend.

I echo others demands that Oakland City Council must DEFUND OPD and REINVEST in community by:

Defunding the Oakland Police Department by at least 50%
Investing the money from defunding OPD into passing the full Black New Deal
Stopping the use of violence of any kind against protestors
Cutting the contract with the California Highway Patrol — who brutally murdered Erik Salgado in East Oakland two weeks ago — and removing them from Oakland

We can best keep our community safe by funding living wage jobs, housing for all, youth programs, health care, restorative justice and other essential community services. OPD does not keep us safe.

My name is Jennie Inouye and I am a resident of District 3. I am writing to urge you to Defund OPD by at least 50%. Please listen to the thousands of Oakland residents that have demanded the same. We are watching, we will take note, and we will vote accordingly. Be on the right side of history.

The investment in policing has NOT made us safer. OPD remains an embarrassment to the city and a lethal threat to Oakland’s Black and Brown communities. We can best keep our community safe by providing living-wage jobs, housing for all, youth programs, health care, restorative justice and other essential community services. NOT POLICE.

I DEMAND that Oakland City Council DEFUND OPD and REINVEST in community by:
-Defunding the Oakland Police Department by at least 50%
-Investing the money from defunding OPD into passing the full Black New Deal
-Stopping the use of violence of any kind against protestors
-Cutting the contract with the California Highway Patrol and removing them from Oakland

My name is Christy Spees and I am an Oakland District 1 resident writing to urge you to defund OPD.

Thousands of Oakland residents have shown up -- during a pandemic -- to show you that police are NOT serving our communities. It's time to listen to your constituents. This antiquated system continues the shameful legacy of slavery in our country and has no place in our city. I support the spirit of the proposal by Nikki Fortunato Bas: "to reallocate (from the police budget) at least $25 million towards improving safety and providing the services our residents really need," but this proposal does NOT go far enough!

As Oakland residents, we continue to demand that you take immediate action to ensure the following:

1. DEFUND OPD by 50%
2. INVEST that $150 million IN COMMUNITIES, not against them. The Black New Deal outlines many ways to do this.
3. STOP the use of violence against protesters
4. CANCEL CHP's contract & remove them from Oakland

Hello, I am an Oakland resident writing to urge you to defund OPD.

I support the spirit of the proposal by Nikki Fortunato Bas: "to reallocate (from the police budget) at least $25 million towards improving safety and providing the services our residents really need," but this proposal does NOT go far enough!

Over 700 people e-commented on last week’s meeting. Over 150 spoke at the meeting itself. Over 95% of both sets of comments were in favor of defunding the police. Listen to your constituents.

As Oakland residents, we continue to demand that you take immediate action to ensure the following:

1. DEFUND OPD by 50%
2. INVEST that $150 million in the Black New Deal
3. STOP the use of violence against protesters
4. CANCEL CHP's contract & remove them from Oakland

We are paying attention, and we will vote accordingly in November. Thank you.

2-year district 1 resident here to voice support for Anti Police-Terror Project's demands. We implore you to:
- Defund OPD's general fund budget by at least 50% ($150 million)
- Disallow unauthorized overtime by OPD
- Invest in housing, jobs, youth programs, restorative justice, and mental health workers to keep the community safe.

"OPD takes an enormous share of the city’s general fund, and that percentage has risen exponentially for the last two decades, taking away desperately needed resources from essential city programs and services. OPD has overspent its authorized overtime budget by 100% -- tens of millions of dollars -- in recent years, as individual cops bring home annual compensation upwards of $400k. The investment in policing has not made us safer -- OPD remains an embarrassment to the city and a lethal threat to Oakland’s Black and Brown communities, while increased police spending shows no correlation to decreasing crime levels over the past 20 years."

I am an Oakland resident in District 1, and I support council member Bas' proposal regarding the OPD budget. This is the only response that I've seen that addresses the demand expressed by thousands of Oaklanders for deep cuts to policing in order to fund programs that actually work. Moving funds around between our already under-funded social programs services will not provide the increased stability and well-being that our communities so desperately need. Please make a commitment to move funds from our bloated, lawless police department and into investment in real people.

Funds should be used not on weaponizing and using force but instead social services most in need at the time. Violence begets violence, and these resources should be used to fund much needed education, housing and healthcare for under-served communities in Oakland

I'm a D1 resident writing to reiterate, for the fourth time, that you must:
- defund the OPD (cut their funding by at least 150M) and redirect funds to community programs and emergency services that do NOT use police dispatch
- Support the proposition to the school board to entirely remove police from OPD schools and redirect funding towards councilors and resources for students

I grew up in District 4, where my parents are still residents, and I urge the city council to cut the budget for the OPD. Listen to the voices of the community and do not settle for half measures: defund the OPD at least 50%, and instead invest in housing, restorative justice practices, and other community resources that actually do the work of keeping our communities safe.

Police exist primarily to protect private property. With a local monopoly on violence, they accomplish this through the suppression and abuse of the most vulnerable in our society: poor and working people, people of color, the homeless. We demand that you defund OPD now and divert those funds to programs with half a chance to improve the lives of Oakland residents.

OPD takes almost HALF of Oakland's general fund each year — money which should instead go to desperately needed resources like housing, parks, libraries and other vital services that will actually make us safer. The city council must defund OPD’s massive budget by at least 50% AND reinvest in our community. Interim Police Chief Susan Manheimer has even provided supporting evidence that nearly half the 911 calls in Oakland are related to social services. So it’s obvious what will keep Oakland safe is less policing and more using our money to provide living wage jobs, housing for all, youth programs, health care, restorative justice and other essential community services.

District 2 resident. I'm here to echo APTP's demands to defund OPD by at least 50% and reinvest in our community. I support the direction of the proposal of Councilmember Bas, but it still does not go far enough. So many of us have commented and spoken at these meetings to defund OPD. Listen to us.

I support some aspects of the amended budget. But I oppose any measures that continue funding OPD at the same level. I am a 31 year resident of Oakland, currently in district 1. I want an Oakland for all people with a commitment to anti-racist policies. The budget is a statement of our values: (1) reduce OPD budget by 50%; (2) Invest our funds in the Black New Deal and to serve the Latinx community, (3) create anti-racist programs to stop the violence against communities of color including, but not limited to, jobs development program, housing, youth programs, and nonviolent community-based restorative justice programs with mental health workers, (4) defend the city jobs of people of color and continue to place people of color into leadership positions throughout city operations, and (5) no support for the legal settlements of OPD based on their misdeeds and illegal actions. Also continue health services for folks who have been most hit by COVID.

My name is Haynes Winkler and I am an Oakland resident in District 1 writing to urge you to defund OPD.

Over 700 people e-commented on last week’s meeting. Over 150 spoke at the meeting itself. Over 95% of both sets of comments were in favor of defunding the police.

Please listen to your constituents.

I stand by the demands of the APTP and urge you to take immediate action to ensure the following:

1. DEFUND OPD by 50% and divert those resources to other programs supporting underserved communities
2. INVEST that $150 million in the Black New Deal
3. STOP the use of violence against protesters
4. CANCEL CHP's contract & remove them from Oakland

We are paying attention, and we will vote accordingly in November.

I am a Bay Area resident voicing strong opposition for this budget and calling for a significant defunding of OPD and reinvestment in Oakland's community. This budget is shamefully out of sync with the needs and demands of your constituents - especially following the weeks of civil disobedience and protest and months of economic struggle and illness caused by an ongoing pandemic that disproportionately impacts Black people. This budget cuts vital funding for housing, health care, parks, maintenance, and more while rewarding a police department that makes Oakland residents feel unsafe and unfairly surveilled. Residents want and deserve a budget that acknowledges the pain of Black communities long brutalized by the police. I demand this budget be reworked to help Oakland flourish and to defund the Oakland Police Department by at least $150 million.

My name is Erica Hruby and I live in District 6. I am writing to reflect my personally held belief that the Oakland Police Department is not effective at preventing or reducing crime and in fact perpetuates criminality.

You must significantly reduce funding for the Oakland Police Department during this month's budget adjustments.

Reform is not enough. OPD is so entrenched in scandal and illegal activity and yet they consume nearly half of Oakland's General Fund. I understand that this is more than any city in the nation. 

The city council must: - Defund the police, at least by 50% ($150 million)- Demilitarize the police- Protect children by removing OPD from schools- Invest in community, restorative justice, mental health services, housing and education with the funds taken from the police budget- Implement an independent civilian police commission- Donate all campaign contributions to the Oakland Police Officers Association to community nonprofits.

Black Lives Matter.

My name is Jonathan Kemal and I am an Oakland resident writing to urge you to defund OPD.

I support the spirit of the proposal by Nikki Fortunato Bas: "to reallocate (from the police budget) at least $25 million towards improving safety and providing the services our residents really need," but this proposal does NOT go far enough!

Over 700 people e-commented on last week’s meeting. Over 150 spoke at the meeting itself. Over 95% of both sets of comments were in favor of defunding the police. Listen to your constituents.

As Oakland residents, we continue to demand that you take immediate action to ensure the following:

1. DEFUND OPD by 50%
2. INVEST that $150 million in the Black New Deal
3. STOP the use of violence against protesters
4. CANCEL CHP's contract & remove them from Oakland

Thank you for being on the right side of history. We will remember in November.

I am an Oakland resident writing to urge you to defund OPD.

Over 700 people e-commented on last week’s meeting. Over 150 spoke at the meeting itself. Over 95% of both sets of comments were in favor of defunding the police. Listen to your constituents.

As Oakland residents, we continue to demand that you take immediate action to ensure the following:

1. DEFUND OPD by 50%
2. INVEST that $150 million in the Black New Deal
3. STOP the use of violence against protesters
4. CANCEL CHP's contract & remove them from Oakland

Thank you for being on the right side of history. We will remember in November.

My name is Erin Olson, and I am an Oakland resident of district 2 writing to urge you to defund the OPD by 50%. While I agree with the spirit of the initiative that my council member, Nikki Fortunato Bas, has put forward to reallocate at least $25 million from the OPD towards our community, I believe we can do better. We have not seen nearly enough funding for essential services, such as education, housing, and overall health for the Black community, and we can no longer wait for these to receive the support they deserve.

As an Oakland resident, I am adding my voice to demand that you take immediate action to ensure the following:

1. DEFUND OPD by 50%
2. INVEST that $150 million in the Black New Deal
3. STOP the use of violence against protesters
4. CANCEL CHP's contract & remove them from Oakland

Thank you.