From CeaseFirePA (http://www.ceasefirepa.org):
Over the weekend, thirteen Philadelphia councilmembers released a letter demanding Philadelphia invest $100 million in gun violence prevention for the FY22 budget. This veto-proof majority publicly releasing a letter like this is extremely unusual in Philadelphia, setting the stage for a showdown that could lead to a historic investment in violence prevention programs, with a heavy focus on community-based efforts.
This letter reflects the work of numerous allies including the Black Clergy, a coalition of more than 40 groups CeaseFirePA helped organize with partners like Dr. Dorothy Johnson Speight and Chantay Love, and a core group of Councilmembers (Johnson, Gauthier, Gilmore Richardson, Gym).
We are already hearing the Mayor is pushing back, so we need these 13 members to hold together to force an amendment. With a deadline looming there are a few actions if you have local Philly connections:
Here’s what you can do (materials here):
- EMAIL COUNCIL: Use this link to send an email to Council and Mayor Kenney.
- CALLS TO COUNCIL: You can deliver a message to each council person, prioritizing calls to the Council president and the letter signers to confirm they will hold strong to $100 million ask. As long as they do that, we can win–that means our priority targets are: Squilla, Jones, Henon, Bass, Brooks, Domb, Green, Thomas, and Oh.
After today’s council hearing and testimony, we’ll have more guidance but I wanted to share with national partners while it’s moving forward.
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