Living Wage Policy Amendments

Represented After Aid to Educate, highlighting support services for unhoused youth.

Advocated for saving public library English language classes and community learning classrooms.

Criticized administrative bloat in the budget and urged the council to protect workers rather than cutting basic services.

Requested that the council avoid raising water utility rates and provide residents a financial break.

Praised early town halls and urged the council to hold the line on arts funding cuts.

Requested no further cuts to the Office of Arts and Culture to maintain the city's cultural vitality.

Urged the council to protect arts funding and cultural institutions during budget balancing.

Defended the living wage policy and argued against balancing the budget on the backs of low-wage workers.

Supported council member Bazaldua's living wage amendment, citing historical labor principles.

Proposed hosting a day or night of prayer on City Hall grounds to address community challenges.

Spoke in support of the living wage policy, linking poverty reduction to community crime prevention.

Thanked the council for reaffirming support for the Downtown Improvement District partnership.

Expressed concern over lack of budget transparency in Spanish-speaking communities and police spending.

Criticized budget choices prioritizing police expansion and surveillance over libraries, parks, and ADA updates.

Urged the council to maintain the current living wage policy to protect working families from inflation.

Thanked the city manager and council for supporting arts funding and local cultural jobs.

Requested no further cuts to arts funding to maintain community educational access.

Argued against divorcing the living wage policy from the MIT calculator, emphasizing family survival needs.

Urged the city council to keep the living wage policy intact and support working families.

Requested technical oversight and governance for enterprise GIS before funding automated data systems.

Advocated for preserving arts funding and maintaining living wage standards for municipal contractors.

Raised concerns regarding potential conflicts of interest in eviction advocacy funding allocations.

Thanked the council for suspending rules to hear speakers and discussed citizen-council relations.