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AUSTIN (KXAN) – As Austinites vote this November, a local community organization is working to raise awareness of Proposal A and its potential impact on city funding.
Communities of Color United for Racial Justice will host a round table discussion this Saturday at 12 noon at the Texas Empowerment Gym. Panelists from No Way to Prop A, 10,000 Fearless and Black Women in Business will take part in the round table.
The early voting in Texas begins on Monday: Austin’s polarizing “Prop A” is on the ballot
The Save Austin Now political action committee collected more than 25,600 signatures in July to secure the proposal’s place in the November vote.
If the voters approve, Prop. A would increase the Austin police force to at least two officers per 1,000 residents. It would also mandate doubling the training required for civil servants, increasing the recruitment of minorities, and devoting 35% of the civil service shift to community policing.
Prop. A is estimated to cost Austin between $ 271.5 million and $ 598.8 million over the next five years, according to Austin’s chief financial officer.
A fixes this by telling the city to hire and retain more civil servants and to quickly catch up on the number of civil servants we lost or fired when the city council exempted the police in 2019. We are 320 civil servants fewer than we were back then and we are already seeing the effects, ”says SAN’s website.
Ashleigh Hamilton, CCU community organizer, said the event this Saturday will include a breakdown of the proposal and time for questions and community discussion. She added that she felt it was important to analyze conversations about Austin safety and criticize the impact Prop A had on color communities.
“The protests against police brutality and police violence against demonstrators in the summer of 2020 were followed by efforts at the state and local levels to recruit and increase police funding,” she said. “This actual round table came about simply from the simple fact – we’ll call it that – this is a direct backlash from all the efforts we are reimagining public safety and trying to reschedule and disappoint the police this summer.”
What is Austin’s Proposal A on the November ballot?
Hamilton said CCU had been working continuously with the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force to discuss the need for additional resources outside of the police force. Areas of improvement include mental health counseling and training, improved access to park and green spaces in non-white communities, and expanded community health resources.
Prop A proponents have argued that downsizing at the Austin Police Department coincides with a surge in crime across the city. SAN co-founders Matt Mackowiak and Cleo Petricek said in July that the city’s workforce continues to deteriorate without intervention.
From the CCU’s point of view, Hamilton said no intervention from more officials was needed.
“Don’t you want Austin to be safe again? Well Austin is safe. Austin is actually one of the safest cities in the world, ”she said. “So we have to break this tale up somehow. Isn’t it safe for blacks and browns, or do you want it to be safer for white communities? And it is very important to be clear in the message that we are sending. “
Several organizations support Prop A, including the Austin Police Association, Texas Police Association, and Texas Municipal Police Association, highlighting the need for additional police officers.
KXAN ‘Ballot Breakdown’ Town Hall: Austin Proposals, TX Constitutional Amendments
Meanwhile, both Austin’s EMS Association and the Austin Firefighters Association are among several organizations that have announced their opposition to Prop A and, if approved, have determined the potential impact on the city’s other public safety departments.
“That is no support for whether you are for or against the police. But it’s more about the services involved, isn’t it? ”She said. “There’s a bigger picture here and what it means to actually add an already extremely large and extensive budget to the police.”
In a statement, SAN co-founders Matt Mackowiak and Cleo Petricek described allegations of budget cuts in the departments as “intimidation tactics”.
“Prop A does not require any cuts in any programs. If programs are cut, it is because the council decided to cut them, ”they said, adding later,“ The city has had no problem with it, 179 million in the past three years, after just this week Proposed a $ 515 million homelessness plan for the next three years. These threatened ‘cuts’ are a scare tactic. “
Early voting runs until October 29th and election day is November 2nd. For more information on the November voting, visit KXAN City Hall “Ballot Breakdown”.
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