Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/santa-ana-city-council/)
Santa Ana City Council members in a near-unanimous vote of the majority Democrat panel approved a budget Tuesday that increases police spending by nearly $3 million.
Santa Ana officials are on track to give final approval to a new city budget that increases police spending by millions.
Santa Ana City Council members late Thursday night approved a $9 million police spending increase for the next fiscal year along with the rest of the city budget in an initial vote.
Public speakers were unanimous in their calls to move money away from police and reinvest in youth, park and community programs.
The protests struck a raw chord in communities like Santa Ana, where organizers localized the problems through systemic issues around youth environments and police relations.
During the curfew, all persons must not travel on any public street or public place, according to the City Manager’s order, issued under emergency authority.
Santa Ana’s looking at millions of dollars in financial losses from Coronavirus, as officials are preparing a new budget that proposes to increase public safety spending by $13.5 million.
Santa Ana City Council members could vote to rescind or affirm the rent hike restriction — enacted last month by City Manager Kristine Ridge through an executive order that’s currently in effect until May 31 — at their Tuesday meeting.
On the same night, Santa Ana council members will revisit a much-contested apartments project at 2525 N. Main St. and a tower that’s been in development for more than a decade at One Broadway Plaza.
Council members Vicente Sarmiento and David Penaloza have flipped on the project, forming a clear majority against the controversial apartments as a decision makes its way to council members’ desks on whether or not to turn the project over to voters – or rescind their original vote entirely.