Demand Housing Justice Now!
Peter Zanoni, City Manager, City of Corpus Christi; Paulette Guajardo, Mayor, Corpus Christi City Council; Michael T. Hunter, Councilmember At-Large, Corpus Christi City Council; John Martinez, Councilmember At-Large, Corpus Christi City Council; Mike Pus
City budgets are where we find out our elected officials' priorities. The 2022-2023 Budget put together by our City Manager, Peter Zanoni, and adopted by our City Council and Mayor shows a shamefully low prioritization of human life. Our City has allocated less than $400K of our $1.4 BILLION budget to Homeless Services, meanwhile they allocated $4.2 million to Animal Care.
Our houseless neighbors are incredibly vulnerable to a host of dangers, including increasingly severe weather. They deserve safe spaces where they can rest, find community, and access vital resources. We are demanding that the City Manager and Council put the low-barrier shelter back on the agenda. Low-barrier shelters are preferable to privately run shelters because they have less requirements to enter. Privately run shelters often split up families, turn away those with substance use issues, and discriminate against queer and trans people.
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To:
Peter Zanoni, City Manager, City of Corpus Christi; Paulette Guajardo, Mayor, Corpus Christi City Council; Michael T. Hunter, Councilmember At-Large, Corpus Christi City Council; John Martinez, Councilmember At-Large, Corpus Christi City Council; Mike Pus
From:
[Your Name]
Distinguished members of the Council, Mayor, and City Manager,
Housing is a human right. I want everyone in City to have a place where they can be safe, rest, and access resources they may need. Right now, our houseless neighbors do not have that, and I am unsure why that is. For the second year in a row, you have chosen to spend more money on Animal Care than Homeless Services. Frankly, this is shameful and we must do better!
I am asking that you put the low barrier shelter back on the agenda. Relying on privately run shelters is not going to fix the homelessness problem that exists in our City. We need publicly-funded and run shelters that will keep families together, show compassion to those struggling with substance use issues, and accept those who have been historically turned away from these private shelters (LGBTQIA+ individuals, previously incarcerated individuals, etc.).
I cannot in good conscience vote for anyone who does not do everything in their power to protect the most vulnerable. Please, do the right thing.