Good evening, I have communicated with my neighbor and inquired if I may re-post her thoughts and suggestion regarding potential cuts to programs that directly effect many of our programs in the communities of Menlo Park. I strongly support her concerns and suggestions: 1. What inputs were taken from the city's residents about what goes and what stays in this time of cost-cutting? Were the residents included in these critical budget decisions, similar to the neighboring city of PA? Why are we seeing this information in a situation of panic when decisions have to be made ASAP. Why wasn't a more measured and timely approach taken? Please refer to the community survey done by the city of Palo Alto to get community feedback and inputs https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeXq1rSp0iAtADdmQEHC0OXDhQjASkQDd8DbU-7Ut6O2fnMIA/viewform > as an example of how to engage the city's residents 2. The community services being cut disproportionately impact Belle Haven. Four out of the 13 items in Tier 1 are unique Belle Haven Programs! See pages C1-10, 11, 12. This isn't even counting other items in Tier 1 which would also impact Belle Haven residents as they are citywide. It's ironic that we are proposing cutting programs and services in parts of the city where residents need them the most and which have been historically overlooked for decades. The report mentions that the plan is based on using an equity lens. On that note, what community programs and services are being cut in other parts of Menlo Park (besides Belle Haven)? For example, in the Burgess Park community Center what programs and services are being cut besides gymnastics and the library hours? 3. Childcare services should not be cut--they are essential services from a humane viewpoint. It is painful that in this time of crisis, we would even consider cutting childcare services at MCC and BHCDC. Even more troubling is why BHCDC is included in the first place given that the center receives a State preschool contract of over 1 million dollars and a grant from San Mateo county through the Silicon Valley Foundation, and another grant from the SM County Office of Education. Please see Carmen Lo's letter to the City dated May 12 which states that the program receives 1.2 million dollars in external funding to keep it going. So we're saving from programs we haven't spent on? 4. In unprecedented times, we need to take unprecedented steps. Can we not use more than 4 million in one-time use money? All bets are off. Making the cuts in services and programs in the near term will have long and deep lasting negative impact on our community and city's well-being. At this time, we need to strengthen the city, not hack its legs off and cripple it by cutting crucial services and amenities. Unless there is a legal precedent to not use more of the one-time use funds, I would recommend taking more of that to avoid cutting community services/programs 5. Besides suspending staff raises and bonuses, has the city considered taking pay cuts across the board in solidarity as a step to prevent job cuts of their peers on the city staff? For example, how about 10-20% cut across the board (on a siding scale) for all city staff. These are strategies that even customer-centric companies and corporations are taking so that they don't have to layoff people 6. What about a moratorium on all Capital Improvement Projects, with funds being used to tide us over this time? Many thanks and stay safe. Received on Tue May 19 2020 - 16:45:04 PDT
