ARP Committee 12/8 — Sandra Sepulveda For Council

We had several items we took up yesterday. It is my hope that from this point forward we move cautiously. It is important to me that the community have input on our priorities. We have a draft guide that I have shared previously. We have not officially adopted the guide in order to await community input. My votes yesterday approached items just that way. At our council meeting several of my colleagues expressed the need for priority spending which I agree with. I suspect several of the items approved by the committee yesterday will have a tough time at council.

1) MNPD $6,089,100 (2021 Summer School $209,100, Taser 7 Project $5,880,000)

This was deferred in part. The $209,100 was deferred and the tasers were approved. I did not vote for the tasers. I had several questions. We were told that MNPS asked for additional SRO officers for the summer but did not cover the cost. I have asked for clarification regarding this. I have also asked for additional information regarding how many SRO officers are in our public and charter schools. The committee also requested information on other sources of funding. Particularly regarding the charter schools.

Regarding the tasers, we were informed that the current taser software will no longer be supported. They expect the new equipment to last around 10 year. We were informed that they were notified past the CIB deadline and were unable to be on the CSP.

2) MNPD CIT Training $350,000

This was approved. I did not vote for it.

3) Napier-Sudekum Community $600,000

Safety Plan $300,000, Safety Partnership Plan $200,000, Napier Community Center improvements $60,000, Expansion of MNPD Community Engagement Budget $30,000, Pruitt Branch Technology Enhancement $10,000. I did make an exception for this item. This did have community input that was listed out. I requested to add it to resolution that goes to council.

4) Cure Violence Community Safety $1,060,000

Approved unanimously

5) MDHA Affordable Housing $15,000,000

Approved unanimously

The committee also took up Councilmembers Sledge’s amendment to double the allocation to the barnes fund and catalyst totaling $40M . It was approved unanimously. I would encourage everyone to keep an eye out as soon as the survey is released on Hub Nashville. Community input is very valuable. Survey will also be shared with councilmembers to send out.