'Defund police:' 100+ weigh in on Milwaukee's $672M proposed budget
MILWAUKEE - The public on Tuesday evening, Oct. 6 got the opportunity to weigh in on Milwaukee's 2021 budget with the city facing tough challenges made harder by the coronavirus pandemic.
More than 100 people waited to share their thoughts on Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett's $672 million budget proposal during Tuesday's virtual meeting. Key takeaways included calls for reallocating money from the city's police department to other areas, like housing, community-based violence prevention and the health department.
Council members, the mayor and city treasurer joined the virtual meeting via video, with Common Council President Chevy Johnson laying out the ground rules for speakers making audio-only remarks.
"Your comments are to be directed to me," said Johnson.
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"We need to defund the police, and we need to put the money where we want it to be," said Cass Bowers, Milwaukee resident.
"It concerns me that we are investing in things that are not preventing the kinds of issues that are happening in our community," said Lisa Jones, Milwaukee Inner-City Congregations Allied for Hope (MICAH) organizer.
The crux of the comments made were directed at the proposed budget for the Milwaukee Police Department -- more than $315 million -- which makes up nearly half of the mayor's $672 million budget proposal.
Calls have been made throughout the summer for the "defunding" or reallocating of police funding as marches and demonstrations for social justice continue.
"We need to make this document moral, and we need this document to be moral, and we need to be innovative and take a step towards progress," said Vaun Mayes, community activist.
Those speaking suggested to aldermen and women to reallocate $75 million from the department and put it into other areas to address the city's ongoing lead crisis, reckless driving, more health department funding and new approaches to public safety.
"I think we need to try different approaches and keep adjusting as we go," said Andre Walton.
The Finance and Personnel Committee will amend the budget later in October and the final budget will be adopted in early November.
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