Council amends law-enforcement block grant item to ensure council input on spending priorities
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Summary
Members pressed for clearer procedures so council input will inform how the law-enforcement block grant is spent in future fiscal cycles; amended language requires reporting with the mayor’s criminal-justice planning office before next year's budget consideration and the item was approved as amended.
Councilmembers debated how to ensure the council has meaningful input into priorities for the law-enforcement block grant after members said last year's allocations effectively precommitted funds before council review. Councilmember Hernandez and others said the block grant's fiscal-year reporting period differs from the council's budget cycle, creating the potential for pre-set allocations.
Members agreed to an amendment directing the mayor's Office of Criminal Justice Planning and city legislative analysts to report back to Community and Economic Development and Public Safety with new procedures prior to consideration of next year’s fiscal budget. Council approved the amended motion on a roll call that the clerk recorded as 13 ayes.
Councilmembers emphasized this change does not alter past spending but is designed to create a new process giving the council and an advisory committee a formal role in setting priorities for future block-grant cycles. The presiding officer indicated the measure was approved 'as amended.'
