Invest in Poughkeepsie's Future

The PCAC has created a petition, Invest in Poughkeepsie’s Future- Invest in Our Youth! Please add your signature and share with as many people as you can! As many of you know, there was a shooting outside the high school yesterday, and another shooting on Smith St. in the evening. This follows on the heels of a single week that saw eight shooting victims in the city. We can no longer undertake reactive measures alone- WE MUST TAKE CONTROL OF CONDITIONS and intentionally create an atmosphere of opportunity and a continuum of interventions and support services for our youth!

 

We implore you all to do the following:

  1. ATTEND THE COMMON COUNCIL FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING THIS THURSDAY, 11/18, at 6:30pm. There should be a link to the meeting in the near future. At the beginning of the meeting there will be time for public comment- just raise your hand and you will be called on. This committee will review the administration’s proposed budget and request amendments before it’s voted on, so this is probably the most important meeting you can attend concerning this youth spending initiative.
  2. Attend a community meeting this Friday, 11/19, from 6:00-7:30pm, where we’ll discuss and formulate a strategy to efficiently organize and mobilize before the budget is passed in mid-December. Zoom link provided at the bottom.
  3. Sign the petition and share with as many people and organizations as possible (our goal is at least 1,000 signatures by Dec. 1);
  4. Write the common council (CommonCouncilMembers@cityofpoughkeepsie.com) and mayor (mayor@cityofpoughkeepsie.com) to demand that they drastically increase the amount we invest in our youth from less than 0.5% to 2%-3% or $2-$3 million dollars. If you have questions about what to write, you can use the petition as a guide or reply to this email for suggestions;

 

In the past, the city has spent little to nothing (yes, $0) on youth programming, demonstrating an utter unwillingness to engage with the community on this issue. When an effectively non-existent piece of the pie is offered to address an issue, the conversation surrounding it will inherently be non-existent. We fully recognize that specifics on how any amount of funding will be spent are critical, but at the same time we hope everyone can understand that it will take a significant financial commitment from our elected officials, a tangible amount of ownership of this city and its future by the community, for our community to become engaged in such conversations. We must demand this investment and demand that this conversation begin in earnest if we want to change the conditions we set for our young people to live and grow within.

 

ZOOM LINK for Friday 11/19/2021 at 6pm

Talent Davis is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://usc.zoom.us/j/91286800340

 

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