Good Wednesday morning --
We have just 49 days until the November 2nd election when public safety will be on the ballot in Austin when voters have the opportunity to ensure adequate police staffing, double police training and enact important police reforms.
Early voting begins in just 34 days, on October 18.
Over the weekend, our city witnessed four homicides in a four hour period and we just hit 60 homicides for the year (#61 will be announced as early as today). Last year's all-time record was 48.
Steve Adler and Greg Casar may not care, but a majority of Austinites do.
Austin has NEVER been less safe than it is today. But we can change that.
Do you support spending $54 per taxpayer each year in the city budget to ensure our city is safe?
Put another way, our city budget is $4.5B annually. Do you support spending 1.4% of the entire city budget to ensure adequate police staffing and training? Of the discretionary budget, it is only 5.4 %.
Casar, Adler and radical left wing groups claim that going back to the same police staffing we had two years ago would require massive cuts to city services and programs.
This is a scare tactic and Austin voters will not be fooled.
How can Austin not afford the same police authorized strength level FROM TWO YEARS AGO?
A city that spent $161M on homelessness the past three years and is proposing to spend $515M the next three years can commit an additional $54M annually to restore public safety to Austin. Adequately funding our police and ensuring we have a safe city for everyone should be the top priority.
Steve Adler has full time protection and lives in a penthouse in a downtown hotel. He has been out of touch for many years.
The victims of the violent crime wave in our city are DISPROPORTIONATELY MINORITY AUSTINITES!
As Save Austin Now PAC co-founder Cleo Petricek pointed out yesterday, "Of the 61 homicide victims for 2021, 72% were African American and Hispanic", while those populations total 42% of the city's population. For African Americans in Austin, they represent 7.6% of the city's population, but represent 36% (!) of homicide victims in 2021.
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
After the unconscionable 11-0 City Council vote last August to cut/relocate up to $150 million from the Austin Police Department (one-third of their annual budget), our city has been in chaos and the consequences have been disastrous.
Consider how ‘Defund the Police’ has created a profound police staffing crisis in our city:
> We are now at 1,540 available police officers, down from 1,959 authorized strength and 1,800 available just two years ago.
> We are seeing 15-22 officers retire or resign each month and it will be at least six more months until the current police cadet class can become active. We will be at 1998 police staffing levels by the end of the year, when our city was 25% as large as we are today.
> According to the Austin Police Association, only 4% of scheduled police shifts are fully staffed – putting every single officer at greater risk.
> Priority one 911 call response rates are up at least 20% since that year began. This Labor Day weekend was the worst 911 response in city history. This past weekend a stabbing victim waited seven minutes for a 911 call to be answered.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
Adequately funding the police department will cost roughly $54 a year per taxpayer from the existing city budget of $4.5 billion.
More than 200 cities in America (with a population of at least 50,000) have 2.0 police officers per 1,000 population, including Dallas (2.9/1000) and Houston (2.4/1000).
To save our city from the radicals at City Hall, we must overturn the ‘Defund the Police’ policy and ensure adequate police staffing for our city.
HOW WE WILL WIN
A majority of Austin residents will support Prop A if we explain how the police budget has been defunded, how the staffing crisis is getting worse, and how this has led to an almost unprecedented violent crime wave in Austin.
We need to identify and turn out Prop A supporters over the next 34 days before voting begins.
This will require significant financial support, thousands of volunteers, and a tremendous team effort to overcome 9 out of 10 council members, the Mayor, and far left wing groups across our city.
HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT US RIGHT NOW:
1) To attend an upcoming Save Austin Now PAC fundraiser, please email Lauren -- events@potomacstrategygroup.com.
2) Donate now online: Will you support our efforts right now? Securely donate here -- https://secure.anedot.com/save-austin-now-pac/donate.
3) Donate now by check: Make a check to "Save Austin Now PAC" and mail it to 807 Brazos Street, Suite 202, Austin, TX 78701.
ADDITIONAL WAYS TO HELP:
1. Share our social content on Facebook and Twitter.
2. Sign up to volunteer -- https://www.saveaustinnowpac.com/volunteer. We will need office help, phone banks, and door to door activity starting very soon. We have a nice office downtown with parking!
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As I have said before, we have only begun to fight!
Thank you!
-Matt Mackowiak
Co-founder, Save Austin Now PAC
> Questions? Email Matt -- matt@saveaustinnowpac.com.
> Learn more: http://www.SaveAustinNowPAC.com
Will you please support our efforts now?
You may donate here: https://secure.anedot.com/save-austin-now-pac/donate.