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city council meeting tonight is taking the mayor& #39;s proposed 2021 fiscal year city budget. i have an entire bottle of white wine, dominos ordered, and a fully charged juul. i will be tweeting about it on this thread.
true to form i was late to meeting b/c i was distracted venting to my housemate about how the commercialized wellness industry is built on fucking colonialism/capitalism. i think i mostly just missed the pledge of allegiance where councilors stand and the webcam is crotch level.
i& #39;m settled in for a 5+ hour meeting tonight.
my tweets are going to get more unhinged as i drink my way through this meeting.
holy shit public comment seems mostly to be people naming how the property evaluations are done in the city and how some people (commercial property) seem to be getting lighter assessments and longstanding concerns about a "old boy network" that drives city assessments.
i& #39;m pumping my fist in the air and screaming (i& #39;m still sober) as people are saying, "i& #39;m not a libertarian who hate property taxes funding public services, i just want everyone to pay their fair share," cause fuck yes we don& #39;t just have to accept "this is how things are done"
also people are pointing out that the multi-million dollar last minute request for police station upgrade is vague, rushed, and honestly fucked up
correction: i do not have a fully charged juul but a hot girl gave me her extra charger today so i can charge it hashtag blessed https://twitter.com/girltrash_/status/1385009708952600579?s=20">https://twitter.com/girltrash...
there was an organized move for people to come and speak out against the police station funding and people are fucking laying into the pigs and naming all the other things that fucking need funding in our city. this is my happy place.
people tying the fucked up situation of our property evaluation/assessments with the underfunded city projects and the way that police seem to get whatever they want without much consideration. fucking bless.
member of the public cites the mayor& #39;s comment that "racism is a national problem, not a local one [i think i heard the speaker right]," i think i remember the comment she& #39;s referring to but i don& #39;t know for certain i& #39;m right
person who identified herself as the daughter of a police officer is speaking out against the police station upgrade allocation
public speakers are describing the budget allocation request for the pig station upgrade as vague and lacking even line-by-line breakdown of expenses, basically just a lump sum request. i haven& #39;t seen the actual request yet but this feels true to form imo.
a person who works with survivors of domestic abuse locally is speaking out against the pig station allocation & describes how right now our local resources are so underfunded that there isn& #39;t enough space at local domestic violence shelters & asks us to stop centering the pigs.
literally no one is here supporting the pigs& #39; funding so far
i believe that the entirety of the pig station repair allocation request is on the third page of this document. it& #39;s uh yeah seems really fucking light on details? maybe that& #39;s the normal for this type of document but it def feels WEIRD https://greenfield-ma.gov/files/Ways_Means_2021-04-21_FY2022_Budget_Agenda.pdf">https://greenfield-ma.gov/files/Way...
all public comment and hearing are now closed, i can now definitely say no one was in favor of the pigs allocation request https://twitter.com/girltrash_/status/1385024334020886529?s=20">https://twitter.com/girltrash...
i& #39;m looking at other FY2022 Mayor Capital Budget appropriations on tonight& #39;s agenda (start on page 23) and yeah, the lack of details on the pig station request is definitely in contrast with other large requests https://greenfield-ma.gov/files/City_Council_2021-04-21_Agenda.pdf">https://greenfield-ma.gov/files/Cit... https://twitter.com/girltrash_/status/1385029338404376580?s=20">https://twitter.com/girltrash...
$350,000 appropriation for the initial money for a skatepark was finally approved tonight! after our skatepark was demolished in 2009 the city finally has a plan (huge testament to the work of community members who& #39;ve been pushing for this since 2009)
we are FINALLY at the pig station funding question......
(still watching, had something come up and can& #39;t type but fuck all of this fucking shit)
fuck the police chief is now speaking
i had nausea flare up right when this motion was brought up so i& #39;m not really multi-tasking on twitter while i watch but at this point i have my head in my heads and repeatedly groaning, "BUT THIS ISN& #39;T THE PROBLEM, THE ISSUE IS YOU DIDN& #39;T BRING A PLAN WITH THIS FUNDING REQUEST."
some councilors, the mayor, the police chief seem to think the issue is that people just don& #39;t want to give money to pigs (which yeah, i don& #39;t) but they don& #39;t seem to understand that the concern is the way in which these funding requests are conducted
every other request is line itemized with clear estimates. this is just a fucking lump sum that seems to be requested on just "trust us" basis
so far tonight the city council has voted to appropriate about ~2 million for various public works projects. this one request is $1,350,000 and i don& #39;t understand why there& #39;s fucking pushback when councilors/public ask for some fucking information about what this is for.
this is part of why i fucking loathe the defense that pigs use. they act like it& #39;s fucking offending to ask them to offer any fucking explanation for WHY they need the funds they want.
everything is a fucking personal attack on them somehow and then councilors just end up apologizing to them for hurting their feelings.
voted unanimously to table this motion for next month to give more time.
y& #39;all i literally had ibs flareup kick in right as this pig station motion came up. i& #39;m going to log off and find a hot water bottle for the night and then watch the rest of the meeting on youtube when it& #39;s put up tomorrow or whatever.
we& #39;re not even close to the actual fy2022 operating budget which is next controversial thing but my body is not handling this tonight.
fuck the pigs 4 ever
Sorry for people but this thread is going to continue throughout the day as I watch the rest of the meeting while cleaning my room. I also woke up thinking about how fucking upset the police chief was while answering questions and like ugh it was so uncomfortable.
