Kent Glenzer, Board President, and Jason Warburg, Board Member
There are many ways you can help the homeless and housing insecure women in our area. One of the most important, and most overlooked, is using your voice to speak up for the most vulnerable and voiceless members of our community.
A number of Peninsula cities are currently facing budget shortfalls, which is placing public funding for services benefitting homeless and housing insecure women at great risk. Now more than ever, those of us who care about the Peninsula’s most vulnerable can make a difference. Unfortunately, opposition to public funding for homeless women, vulnerable renters, and housing in general is currently strong and vocal, and opponents are showing up to voice their opinions. We need to show up for our community, too.
All cities on the Peninsula have twice-monthly City Council meetings. Public comments are invited at the start of each meeting and you can do it over Zoom or in person. Please consider encouraging your locally elected officials to retain funding in their upcoming budgets for homeless women, renters’ assistance, the rental inventory registry (for the City of Monterey) and other forms of support for homeless and housing insecure people in our communities.
Public comment is generally limited to two minutes per speaker. It’s very easy! Show up and let your city’s elected officials know that there are many people out here in the community who oppose cuts to public services for the women Gathering serves. It can be as simple as 30 seconds: “Please don’t cut public funding for homeless women and renters at risk of homelessness.” We know it is far easier and far less expensive to keep renters in their homes than it is to get them back in once they are homeless!
How Can You Help?
Here is a quick cheat sheet for making a public comment:
- This is your opportunity to speak directly to your representatives. They’d love to hear from you! (They are, in fact, bound by law to hear from you.)
- Visit “Attend a Council Meeting” for dates, times, and addresses.
- Tips for making an impactful public comment:
- If you have a personal story, share it! Putting a human face to the issue is often the most effective way to make your point and have it be remembered.
- Start with “As a [your profession/experience]” like “As a parent” or “As a community member,” to help representatives understand for whom this issue is important
- Address the council, not the audience.
- Be respectful. Negative language diminishes your credibility and damages the movement.
- Your comment can be five seconds long, or up to two minutes.
- If housing is on the meeting agenda, that’s great! Wait until the housing agenda item to make your comment. If housing is not on the agenda, your council members would love to hear your thoughts during the initial public comment section.
- If attending virtually, “Raise Hand” to let the council know you’d like to make a comment. Don’t forget to unmute!
- Public speaking gives you stage fright? No problem! Send your message in an email with the subject line “Public Comment Item # [insert the agenda item number relevant to your comment]” on the morning of the meeting to:
- Pacific Grove: publiccomment@cityofpacificgrove.org
- Monterey: cityclerk@monterey.gov
- Sand City: cityclerk@sandcityca.org
- Seaside: CityClerk@ci.seaside.ca.us
For more Information, feel free to contact Staci Alziebler-Perkins at (831) 241-6154 or ed@gatheringforwomen.org. You can read more about the importance of homeless prevention in our May blog.
Thank you so much for supporting our community!
