Dear Mayor and City Council,
My name is [YOUR NAME], I am a resident of [YOUR WARD/NEIGHBORHOOD]. We demand reallocation of funding from BPD to social and public programming that takes place in our communities. It is an outrage that nearly a quarter of the city funding for 2021 is planned towards the Police Department, including Police Chief Terry’s exorbitant salary.
We demand that the City Council defund the BPD by joining similar calls across the country. We demand a budget that adequately and effectively meets the needs of at-risk Bakersfield residents during this trying and uncertain time, when livelihoods are on the line. We demand a budget that supports community wellbeing, rather than empowers the police forces that tear them apart.
It is your duty to represent your constituents. I am urging you to completely revise the Bakersfield city budget for 2020-2021 fiscal year, and to fund Care Not Cops. Public opinion is with me.
Thank you for your time,
[YOUR NAME][YOUR ADDRESS]
[YOUR EMAIL][YOUR PHONE NUMBER]