We are cutting money from programs for kids, while inefficient systems are wasting our taxpayer dollars. As the State of Michigan faces a deepening economic crisis we have tough decisions to make about cutting budgets and whether to raise taxes to cover the shortfall. In the business community, I’ve been pushing the message that what our economic recovery needs most is a mindset change and I’m recruiting business and technology thought leaders to blog about this on MiBizTools. What we need most is, not so much venture capital, but rather, less backslapping about what a good job everyone is doing (under the circumstances of loosing manufacturing to China) and more of a willingness to learn new tools and approaches to becoming more efficient and productive. At the local government level, I am concerned about issues like the need for better cooperation between Washtenaw County and the City of Ann Arbor that would create efficiencies to save money in our budgets.
Last night City Council unanimously approved spending $57,200 for a system that will allow the District Courts (City) to access data that was previously accessed in a system shared with the Circuit Court system (County level). Better cooperation between sectors of government could have avoided this extra cost. And, maybe we still might be able to fix this.
On City Council we’ve had debates about funding for Court facilities and before I was on City Council I helped organize a Town Hall meeting around a Washtenaw County jail millage, which did not get voter approval. A perspective that I keep in mind when looking at issues like building more prisons or expanding our Court facilities is the fact that here in the US we imprison a greater percentage of our population than any other country on the planet. We used to be third after the former Soviet Union and the apartheid regime of South Africa. But, after those governments fell, we rose to number one.
Last night on City Council we got to hear pleas from folks concerned about loosing $8,500 over the next two years from the budget for Community Action Network (CAN). This is a program that works with kids to go directly to the root of the problem and help kids, when they’re little, so they don’t end up filling our prisons later in life. The juxtaposition of cutting funding to help keep kids out of jail, while spending money because those who judge whether we go to jail or not, cannot find a way to be more cooperative and efficient is a travesty of justice. I am in no way implying that we do not need courts and prisons. But, if we want to create a better future, we must balance the budgets we have and look to create efficiencies that enable us to have some better priorities.
I am attaching emails I have received as comments below. I hope to hear from other community members on this issue.
12 users commented in " Getting our priorities straight, funding kids and jails "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackEmail received:
Dear Mayor Hieftje and Esteemed City Council Members,
I am writing on behalf of the Community Action Network (CAN). I am asking the the City Council reinstate the funding level for CAN to $62,000. This organization provides critically necessary functions. A reduction in its funding level would severely impact its effect and success at performing these functions. I know this because I have been involved with CAN in two important ways. Before I mention those ways, I want to explain “the gap” that exists so that you can truly understand how important CAN is.
I am the current King School PTO President. I have served on the PTO Executive board for 2 years, and have been a very involved member for 3 years. My daughter is in 3rd grade at King school. She is very privileged, having all of the benefits of the upper class, such as: gymnastics classes, Kumon Math and Reading classes, ballet classes, swimming classes, tennis classes, private violin and piano music lessons, etc. She gets homemade, healthy lunches every day. I walk her to school and pick her up every day. Her dad and I help her with homework every day. Her dad and I teach her all of the life skills, ethics, morals, and values that we have learned from our upbringings. We both have Masters degrees from the University of Michigan: her dad’s is in History and mine is in Electrical Engineering. We have ranged from being academics to entrepreneurs in our careers. We live in a big house in a safe neighborhood. We travel nationally and internationally. In other words, there is nothing my daughter lacks in terms of experience and care.
Margo has classmates who live at Green Baxter Court (GBC). When I became involved in the PTO, I learned about the kids who attend King school and live there. I became aware of the huge gap between my daughter’s life experience and theirs. They cannot be compared. I have volunteered in Margo’s classroom every year. I have seen firsthand the difference in behavior and skill level of my child versus the GBC kids. In several circumstances, it was striking and sad. I knew I had to help in whatever way I could.
As the PTO president, I have supported the outreach from our school to the GBC community. I will continue to do that as long as Margo attends King school. CAN’s Executive Director, Ms. Joan Doughty, has documented those in her CAN literature. However, for me personally, that was not enough. I needed to do more to close the gap. I managed to get a piano donated to the Hikone Community Center so that the children would have an opportunity to learn to play the piano. I now provide free piano lessons for any child and adult at the Hikone center once a week. To see the children’s excitement and enthusiasm when I come to teach them would melt anyone’s heart. To also see how they struggle to do the simplest song motivates me immensely. Margo went to Kindermusik classes as a baby. She has music in her bones, so to speak, as a result of this exposure. These children have not had anything like that, to be sure, and it shows as they learn rudimentary playing skills.
Back to the funding … I would not be able to give to the GBC and Hikone communities as I do if it were not for CAN. The community centers and the CAN staff provide a way for me and the other organizations to target help and support. If not for CAN, I would be lost in my efforts to give back to these communities.
Furthermore, I see firsthand how the CAN staff help the children. The Hikone kids love the CAN staff. This is truly a community center by every definition. The children and staff have deep relationships that are demonstrated in love and respect. On my initial piano lesson day, I was astonished at how well the children behaved, concentrated, and learned. I never saw that kind of group behavior from the upper class children I have taught. The CAN staff makes a huge positive difference in these children’s lives. They are teaching them critical behavior and ethics that will help them tremendously, and they do it with a lot of care and love.
To pull this altogether, let me finish with this. Everyone knows that our American youth are under attack from bad cultural influences: sex, drugs, poor nutrition (resulting in obesity and diabetes), narcissism as an acceptable behavior, and more. CAN and its supporters like me are working with people, especially the children, who are most vulnerable to these bad influences. We cannot do enough to help them. Cutting funds to support for CAN will wear away this support and make the children more vulnerable. These children have enough challenges in their lives - they have to compete with children like Margo. How can they possible do that if our community doesn’t give back? It is almost impossible with the current funding, and would be even more so if the funding were cut.
Please find a different way to cut the budget, and do not cut the funding for CAN. The children and the communities it supports need every dollar we can give them.
Sincerely,
Lola Killey
Ann Arbor, MI
Email received:
Dear City Council Members,
I hope that you will re-consider funding for Community Action Network CAN and reinstate their $62,000 funding level for this year. As the current Chair for the Sierra Club – Inner City Outings program, I have been involved with CAN since 2001.
Our community cannot afford to pull the rug out from under our families living at risk. Many of these families struggle with illiteracy, unemployment, illness, family member incarceration, drug abuse and cultural barriers as new immigrants. CAN is responsible for a host of critical services which keep these families together and functioning in the community. CAN helps Ann Arbor families, living in public housing, succeed. They serve as a resource to assist with day to day problem resolution that these families are ill equipped to handle on their own. I have been in contact with many of the children for the past six years. I know the difference this program makes in their life and their chance for a successful future.
CAN provides academic support such as after school homework assistance & tutoring, summer employment for youth at risk and pre-school programs, free books and school supplies. They also oversee programs that ensure that the families have food, medical care, warm clothing and holiday presents for the youth. CAN sponsors programs & speakers that address topics such as planned-parenthood, domestic violence, substance abuse and safety. None of this would be possible without the support of CAN working on their behalf.
I urge you to reinstate their funding as an investment in the success of all members of the Ann Arbor community.
Sincerely,
Vera M Hernande
Chair, Sierra Club - Washtenaw Inner City Outings
Email received:
Dear City Council Members,
Please consider reinstating Community Action Network’s (CAN) $62,000 funding. I have been a volunteer for CAN for the past 2 years and have witnessed the good that they do.
CAN helps Ann Arbor families living in public housing, serving as a resource to assist with day to day problem resolution, providing academic support such as after school homework assistance & tutoring, summer employment for youth at risk, pre-school programs, free books and school supplies. Additionally, they help ensure that these families receive regular health care, food, and meals (5,000 meals provided per year). Their Community Gardening project is a great success.
Please reinstate the funding for CAN. Their work on behalf of the families they serve is invaluable to the Ann Arbor community.
Sincerely,
Francine Fein
Ann Arbor, MI
Email received:
Mayor Hieftje and Council Members:
About one year ago I spoke at a City Council meeting requesting reconsideration of a cut in community development funding to Community Action Network (CAN). You were able to ameliorate what was a very precarious position for this important local non-profit by reinstating funding at previous levels.
Times remain difficult and you are once more grappling with limited funding and a wide array of needy organizations that support the Ann Arbor community. And once again, I ask that you reconsider carefully the announced cut in funding to CAN. With the departure of Pfizer, a big supporter of Community Action Network, and the extreme shortfall in the Washtenaw United Way’s budget which has resulted in large cuts from that source, CAN is once again in deep difficulties.
How will we be able to provide after school homework and enrichment help - and dinner! - to the children at Hikone and Green Baxter Court, if you do not reinstate funding?
How will we be able to provide 6 weeks of summer camp, complete with daily reading activities designed to offset the usual summer loss of learning that exacerbates the disadvantages these kids already face, if you do not reinstate funding?
How will we be able to help parents fulfill the many requirements for getting their preschoolers enrolled in Head Start, if you do not reinstate funding?
How will we be able to help the adults in these communities, among the poorest of Ann Arbor’s poor, often struggling with physical, emotional or mental disabilities and limited education or English language skills (or those who struggle with illiteracy) to navigate the paperwork for Medicaid, local health care, immigration, school enrollments, utilities maintenance - and the myriad of other support activities the CAN staff provides — if you do not reinstate funding?
The answer is - we won’t be able to do these things (at least not on anywhere near the scale we do them now). We can’t do it without this important source of funding. The city’s community development grants represent CAN’s core funding. It’s what supports the professional staff who run the programs, and hire, train and supervise the UM School of Social Work interns and other temporary staff. They make the many collaborations and referrals to other area support groups thrive, bringing Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts to children who would otherwise never experience these important organizations; or bringing Food Gatherers to the community centers. The list is long and worthy of your support.
I recognize that you are faced with difficult choices and a limited budget. But what Community Action Network does is not a luxury for the Ann Arbor community. It is a necessity. CAN both participates in and provides access to a safety net of support for the most vulnerable of our fellow citizens. These families depend on Community Action Network, and CAN is depending on the City Council to do the right thing. Don’t cut CAN’s funding. Maintain - or increase - CAN’s funding. Together we CAN build strong, stable and safe communities at Hikone and Green Baxter Court.
Respectfully,
Tina Bissell
Board Past-President & Volunteer
Community Action Network
http://www.hvcn.org/info/can/
Tina Bissell
MUCI (Michigan Universities Commercialization Initiative)
Business Manager
Email received:
Dear Mayor and Members of the Ann Arbor City Council,
I have just learned from Joan Doughty, Executive Director of CAN, that
Council made a decision to cut funding for CAN by $6,000.00 for the next
two years. Since the United Way has also cut CAN’s funding 20% the
organization is facing a huge loss of money. I am writing to ask you to
reinstate CAN’s funding to its previous level of $62,000.00 for the next
two years.
CAN offers the families it serves a multitude of extremely important
services ranging from connecting them with First Steps and Head Start,
health services and insurance programs, offering nutritious evening meals
and a food pantry, tutoring for school aged children and help with
summer employment placement for teens, reading programs, facilitation of
communications between families and schools, help to avoid eviction and
cut off of utilities, and so much more. Cutting funding to CAN will
endanger its ability to continue offering these truly needed services for
the families at risk that it aids.
I urge you to reinstate CAN’s funding so it can continue to keep the
families At Green Baxter and Hikone safe from homelessness, hunger,
truancy, drug abuse, jail, crime and all that could happen to them
without the support of the knowledgeable and caring staff of CAN.
Betsy Soden
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Educator, Contractual Employee of
Spectrum Prevention Services,
Staff Member of the FAS Diagnosis and Intervention Clinic, Member of the
MPRI Advisory Council
Ann Arbor, MI
Email received:
Dear Mayor Hieftje and City Council,
I am a new board member for the Community Action Network (CAN). I have been involved in a variety of roles in my five months of involvement, including serving on the Communications and Fundraising committees, and helping to plan a 5K fitness walk for kids this fall.
I decided to join the Board after meeting Joan Doughty, CAN’s Executive Director, and seeing how dedicated she is to providing services for young people and their families in our community. CAN provides an extremely important service to our community, and positively influences many young people who are at high risk for a variety of poor outcomes. The recent partnerships with the YMCA to help show young people how important physical fitness is to incorporate into their lives, and the ongoing after school reading and literacy projects, as well as many other services, are in jeopardy if CAN’s funding is cut. Joan Doughty and her small, but mighty staff, are extremely dedicated to providing the best services feasible with current funding sources. A cut in funding will have a dire effect on CAN’s programs and staffing, and negatively impact many young people who have no other option for after school activities. I urge you to do everything possible to maintain the city’s funding commitments.
Thank you for your consideration.
Meredith Lovelace
–
Meredith Lovelace
Director of Project Management
Inner Circle Media
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
http://www.innercirclemedia.com
Email received:
Dear City Council Members,
Please reinstate your funding for Community Action Network (CAN) to the $62,000 level. I’ve always been impressed with their strong commitment to community-based services. CAN makes a difference in Ann Arbor!
Sincerely,
Bill Vanderwill
William L. Vanderwill, MSW, LMSW, ACSW, LMFT, BCD
Clinical and Macro Practice
Field Educator/Lecturer III
University of Michigan School of Social Work
Office of Field Instruction
Email received:
Dear Mayor Hieftje and City Council members,
I understand that the city has decreased funding to support a vulnerable group of individuals in our community, the funding for the Community Action Network (CAN). This gives the appearance of asking this group of people with limited resources to use whatever limited resources they have left to leave our community. I believe that the de-funding approach is wrong and is in conflict with what I thought was a diverse community. Please return the funding for CAN to at least the level of $62,000 of the prior year.
The CAN program is one of which the community should be proud, providing support to assist at-risk individuals with assistance to move on to a successful future. Why wouldn’t we all want that for each other? If marginal savings are needed, please look at cutting programs other than this one, that serves individuals who exist on the margin of success.
Please, vulnerable populations require additional help, not rejection. I ask that you represent all of the citizens of Ann Arbor and reinstate
the funding for the Community Action Network.
Sincerely,
Rita L. Mitchell
Ann Arbor, MI
Ron: I just checked your website today to see what is up. I did not realize that the City is considering cutting much needed funding to groups like the Community Action Network. A few thousand dollars goes a very long way supporting the efforts of these private non-profit agencies. They heavily leverage the funds by making good use of significant amounts of volunteer and donated resources. If anything, given the reduction in donations available from United Way and other private funders, the City should be INCREASING its commitment.
I urge you to lead the way on City Council to restore and even increase this funding. The City should NOT be reducing its commitment here at the same time it is setting aside hundreds of thousands of dollars in other parts of its budget for a questionably necessary new multi-million dollar City Hall.
Best,
Dave DeVarti
Publisher, Current Magazine
CAN is a very worthy organization. I sat on a panel that unfortunately had to recommend reductions in aid from the United Way to CAN, Peace Neighborhood Center and the Ann Arbor Community Center. These cutbacks were due to a shortfall in fundraising from the community (Pfizer’s abandonment of the community with no notice was especially harmful). So, these small but vital agencies are being cut back from the private sector as well as the city. The City needs to develop priorities which not only do not reduce social services funding in difficult economic times, but actually increase aid to make up for the private sector cuts. This is when we need to step up to help the most vulnerable members of our community. The percentage of the city budget targeted to social services funding is very small. We need council members and the Mayor to lead the effort to protect these agencies.
I agree that it is critical to restore CAN funding. Prevention is much cheaper than incarceration. Has anything been done to respond to Rose Martin’s plea for help in supporting prisoner re-entry back into our community? They need jobs. Has anyone looked at using city service contracts to provide some of these jobs? Is the jobs company Rose started even on the city’s bid notification list?
The contrast of cutting $10,000 from a program that might help avoid incarceration but allocating millions for courtrooms, police and jails may seem strange to many, but it is the norm for our city. The citizens must just accept that if we do not cut useful programs there will not be enough money to squander on the pet projects of the bureaucrats and Council.
Other programs that this administration proposes to cut include project grow, adaptive rec (recreation programs for citizens with special needs) and the recreation scholarship program for low income children. Programs that have been requested for many years, but not funded include dog parks and a greenway for alternate transportation.
But we are willing to spend $1,000,000 on renovations to the Farmers Market. Renovations that have been consistently opposed by citizens and vendors, One timid council member asked: what is the ROI of this investment? It is zero or negative.
Ron, you ask for governmental cooperation, but the first step of cooperation is honesty to develop trust. Our City government fails this test. In the arguments proposed to justify a $100,000 contract for the market modification construction drawings one council member alluded to data line lines for credit card transactions. I’m sorry but that is not in the RFP (Jeff Dehring, Parks department planner has stated the the communication system in City of Ann Arbor RFP #652 refers to an old style PA system).
In order to justify the very high cost of the renovations ($1,000,000) Jayne Miller, the City Services Administrator, stated the reason was the underground stormwater retention tanks. She stated that this was a very significant improvement for the Allen Creek watershed. But . . ..but the RFP for the drawings never specifies underground tanks. And the Market is only 0.03% of the Allen Creek watershed, how can this be very significant?
To get cooperation Council must restore confidence that they deal honestly. As a final argument of what is lacking, I present the Parks millage. When the increased millage was proposed Council passed several resolutions and amendments. But the message presented to voters before the election was clear, the parks allocation from the general operating millage would not be decreased if the millage passed. But this is not what is proposed in the 2008-2009 budget.
Ron, what will you do to see that the parks millage promise is kept? And what will you do to oppose squandering $1,000,000 on useless Market modifications so that there are funds for citizens services?
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