Multiple grassroots organizations gathered at the Long Beach Civic Center on Tuesday, Aug. 2 to discuss the People’s Budget, a breakdown of how they want the City to spend its funding in the next fiscal year.
“I want to remind folks that we are here to make community demands about our money,” said Sheila Bates of the Black Lives Matter Long Beach chapter. “This budget comes from our tax dollars and it’s supposed to serve our needs.”
Each year for the past five years, the coalition has come to the steps of City Hall to make its demands. This year’s proposal echoes those of the past: less police, more support for renters and immigrants, and more funding for services that assist Long Beach’s underserved residents.
Investing in Black lives and defunding police
The People’s Budget calls for the creation of a Long Beach Black Reparations Fund that would provide monetary compensation to individuals and institutions in the Black community.
The coalition also wants to allocate 50% of the Long Beach Police Department’s to create a Black-led community agency that will work with the Black community to “pave the way for full reparations,” according to Bates. The combined cost of both is a proposed $197 million.
The People’s Budget also calls for the City to fund youth programs and re-entry programs for those in the Black community that have been incarcerated.
Housing and renters’ rights
Grassroots organizations called for the City to fully fund a Tenants Right to Counsel program (proposed $3 million), which will provide free legal representation and resources to renters, regardless of their immigration status.
It calls for the city to invest in and acquire the first community land trust in Long Beach (proposed $5 million) to “create permanently affordable homes and give many low-income families their first real chance to become a homeowner,” said Long Beach resident Sharon Buckley.
The People’s Budget also calls for a fully staffed Rental Housing Division (proposed $3.6 million) that tenants can turn to if their landlords aren’t making necessary improvements to their units.
The people’s budget also calls for the creation of a program that will provide rental assistance to tenants in need (proposed $10 million).
HUD Certified housing navigators
The people’s budget also calls for $1 million to be allocated to hire United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Certified Housing Navigators at five senior centers throughout Long Beach to help seniors find housing and prevent homelessness.
“Seniors help build this community and they deserve to end their lives with dignity and live it the way they want to,” said Karen Reside, president of the Long Beach Gray Panthers.
Satellite Multi-Service Centers
Multiple organizers mentioned that the Multi-Service Center, which connects people suffering from homelessness with resources, can be inaccessible to some people.
“The Multi-Service Center, which is where people are supposed to go for housing, is located off the same street where the trucks enter the port to line up to pick up their loads,” Reside said. “There is no sidewalk and people that are in wheelchairs and in walkers, it is not safe for them to go there.”
Because of this, the People’s Budget calls for the creation of satellite Multi-Service Centers throughout the city.
Antonio Gallardo, a member of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, said that he receives at least two calls each week from people experiencing homelessness and looking for additional help.
He also recalled his experience meeting a woman whose wheelchair was stolen, leaving her unable to make the trip to the Multi-Service Center. St. Luke’s Episcopal Church was identified by Gallardo as a possible location for a satellite Multi-Service Center due to its years of experience providing meals and showers to people experiencing homelessness.
More funding for language access, translation
The People’s Budget calls for the city to hire adequate staff to implement its language access policy and provide proper translation services for Spanish and Khmer speakers in courts, all city meetings and medical settings (proposed $2.8 million).
“I believe every human has a right to communicate in their main language,” said Maria Garcia, of the Language Access Coalition, in Spanish.
Legal support for immigrants
The People’s Budget calls for funding to the Long Beach Justice Fund, which provides legal representation to immigrants facing deportation, to be increased by $1 million.
Long Beach resident and refugee Sithy Bin spoke to the crowd about the impact of the Long Beach Justice Fund. While Bin has received a deportation notice and is at risk of being removed from the country, he has been able to obtain an immigration lawyer to help him with his case through the Long Beach Justice Fund.
Funding climate justice solutions
The people’s budget calls for the City to fund the abandonment of oil fields, and increase the funding for the Long Beach Bike Share and Long Beach Transit in order to make public transportation free for the public. It also demands that the city transition away from using fossil fuels. The coalition proposes spending $88.3 million on climate justice actions.
Formed in 2018, the People’s Budget Coalition is made up of a wide range of grassroots advocacy groups in Long Beach: Black Lives Matter Long Beach, Black Agency, the Housing Justice Coalition, Long Beach Residents Empowered (LiBRE), the Language Justice Coalition, the Invest in Youth Coalition, the Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition (LBIRC), Long Beach Forward, the Long Beach Gray Panthers, LA Voice, Long Beach Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE), Democratic Socialists of America – Long Beach, Sunrise Movement Long Beach and Showing Up for Racial Justice – Long Beach.
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