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Public speakers accuse city of misusing ARPA and raise civil-rights, contracting and transparency concerns
Summary
Two public commenters alleged misuse of ARPA funds, nepotism in contracting, civil-rights violations and restrictions on virtual public comment; they called for audits and federal intervention. Council and staff did not adopt those allegations but recorded them during oral communications and a public hearing on the CDBG action plan.
Several members of the public used the oral-communications period and the CDBG public hearing to air strong allegations about city finances, contracting and civil-rights practices.
What was said: Paul Flores, speaking during oral communications, alleged the city misused American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and provided specific figures for categories and programs he criticized (he attributed those figures to "budgets, meeting minutes" and other sources). Flores also claimed the city's proposed charter changes and a voter ID measure would disenfranchise Latino residents and criticized vending restrictions as harmful to immigrant vendors. Another commenter during the CDBG…
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