Welcome to August!

We continue to be busy on the City Council with entertaining a whole host of policies and discussions related to the on-going impacts of COVID 19. The City was fortunate to receive millions of dollars in CARES Act funding, that we have distributed towards areas of need such as business support, non profits support, arts funding, Public safety, and additional testing locations and availability. The amount of need for assistance to businesses, residents who have lost their jobs and city departments that need to support the unanticipated response to COVID is unending. However, the CARES Act funding will help us tremendously and we are in the process of deploying the resources and disseminating the funds needed to address some of the critical needs.

August is the start of our official budget season. As I write this letter, the City Manager's proposed budget has yet to be released. Based on my recent conversation with the City Manager, I expect it will be released to the council on Sunday night, Aug. 2nd.

As you are aware, many people around the country are demanding that police budgets be cut in what is being rendered to as the "defund the police" movement. I have spent a lot of time over the past 6 weeks listening to and talking to people who want the police budgets de-funded (and many who don't) and I have to admit, I am still unclear on what exactly the rally cry of "defund the police" means exactly. Some have articulated, well I must say, that some of the current police functions, specifically those requiring social services, should be routed to other departments that are better equipped to handle such services. Generally speaking, I agree with that and I am sure the police department does as well. It's unclear, however, what those services might include because the advocates have not made any specific requests for re-deployment of such resources to another department. I can tell you from my own experience that one police function that involves social services is the Quality of Life team. I think the team, at least the one in the East Division which I am most familiar with, is fantastic. They change lives every day through their personal interactions, care, and follow through. I hope we never lose that team of officers because to me they are making a real difference. There may be other teams out there, however, unrelated to the quality of life efforts, who are better suited to work in another department with non-sworn personnel. We certainly should look at those options and consider whether they make sense for our city and if they do, we should make the necessary changes. I personally do not believe we should be "de-funding" any department as a punitive sanction because the reduction in services that comes as a result really ends up costing the residents. And that is not fair. Residents should be able to rely on swift response times from police and fire in times of need and any cuts which strains our system further, affecting response times and the ability of public safety teams to follow-through on crimes, should be carefully considered and rejected.

Many of you have written to me in the last few days regarding your support for LBPD and the budget concerns, specifically. I am listening. Know that budget cuts will me made this year, that is a reality of COVID. But, all of those who know me, know my professional background and my support of public safety efforts in Long Beach through my role as the Chair of the Public Safety Committee. Our Committee is looking very closely at reforms and I have laid out a systematic and phased approach to review our existing practices in training, hiring, post-event action, and use of force, and to improve all of those policies and practices. I don't believe punitive sanctions will make our police department better, I believe dialogue and collaboration will.

I want to encourage all of you to please be a part of the process throughout the month of August. The council meets (now virtually via WebEx) every Tuesday (except the last Tuesday of the month). My office generally sends an email about what is coming up on council with a link to the agenda the weekend before the Tuesday meeting.

A few things you can do, you can reach out to all of the council members through email. This lets them see where my residents are at on certain issues, which may be different from the concerns expressed in their own districts. I think that is very valuable information. I know I get emails from residents throughout the city every day. You can email any council office through this email convention:  District3@longbeach.gov.

Simply change the number on the above email address to reflect the district you are trying to reach. There are 9 council districts.

The mayor can be reached at:  mayor@longbeach.gov.

If you would like to speak at a council meeting, the City Clerk has set up the system, in light of COVID, for public speakers who sign up to speak live, telephonically. If there are under 10 speakers, they can each speak up to three minutes. After 10 speakers, the time will automatically set at 90 seconds to align with pre-existing council rules. The City Council will continue to adjust and expand public access in the weeks ahead and continue to follow the Governor's recommended public meeting guidelines.

Telephonic comments will also be allowed for the first 10 speakers, up to three minutes each, who sign up for non-agenda items. Please visit the City Clerk website by clicking here to learn more about the sign-up process and to sign up to speak telephonically for the June 16 meeting.

Members of the public will also continue to have the option to use eComment to provide comments on agenda items. Written comments may also be submitted by email to  cityclerk@longbeach.gov.

Also, the City Manager's Office sends out a budget survey every year. This is an effort that that I helped champion a number of years ago. If you have not already done so, please complete the budget survey online here.

Thank you in advance for being involved in this budget cycle. It will be the most difficult one the city has seen in decades and probably the worst we will see for decades to come. These are very difficult financial times due the impacts on our economy as a result of the COVID pandemic. We need to work together to keep our essential services in tact and to build the other programs and services back up when our economy is once again operating in a reasonably normal way. We are very far from that at this point.

Stay well everyone. Take care of each other. We've got this 3rd District!