August 4, 2020
COUNCIL MEETING DOMINATED BY PUBLIC COMMENT, DELAYS VOTE ON POLICE AMMUNITION REQUEST
Yesterday, the Des Moines City Council held their scheduled council meeting. One of the meeting's top agenda items was a proposal to approve a request of $99,029.76 for the Des Moines Police Department to be used for "ammunition for training and duty purposes."
Seven racial justice activists, including three Des Moines BLM organizers, had been approved for the agenda to speak about community issues important to Des Moines BLM at the meeting. The City of Des Moines effectively silenced these activists by shutting the meeting down earlier than planned and without notice.
When elected officials, at any level of government, do not follow public meeting procedures as required by law, it should be concerning to all constituents. There were seemingly no parliamentary rules followed, which raised great concern among attendees regarding whether the meeting was actually over, since a motion to adjourn was never made.
In an attempt to better understand what they were voting on, Councilmember Josh Mandelbaum raised questions on how the nearly $100,000 was intended to be spent. No clear answers were provided. Councilmember Joe Gatto, a known racist who does not reside in the ward he represents, attempted to rush through to a vote, even though questions regarding the proposal were still unanswered.
DMPD Chief Dana Wingert, who in recent weeks has allowed his police force to use illegal tactics against DSM residents, attempted to offer an explanation. However, he only further confused meeting participants, including council members who still did not know how exactly these funds that they were about to vote on- would be used.
Prior to the meeting ending abruptly, 26 community members spoke in opposition to this budget. Great concern and opposition to this violent agenda item was expressed, and folks highlighted several issues:
No clarity or explanation over how the funds would be utilized
Recent police violence, including the use of rubber bullets on Black children at Merle Hay Mall on May 31
Concern with council focus on police funding while their own constituents are strug- gling to pay rent amidst a global pandemic
Choosing to blatantly vote against the interests of the community despite endless
weeks of protest against police violence
Due to the endless comments from the public in opposition to this agenda item, the City Council was not able to continue with business as usual. This resulted in the abrupt end to the scheduled meeting, which went entirely uncommunicated to attendees.
Despite the extremely valid points presented by community members, Councilmember Josh Mandelbaum, known as the most "progressive" councilmember, has confirmed he will be a "Yes" vote on this agenda item for the meeting, which has since been rescheduled for Wednesday.
Des Moines BLM has had an active presence at other council meetings, such as on June 8, when the Racial Profiling ordinance was being discussed. A racist joined the June 8 meeting to say, "Kill all n******", and then the dialogue continued as normal. We recognize and condemn the differential treatment that the council gives to white, racist antagonists over Des Moines community members expressing legitimate concerns. Des Moines BLM will continue to fight against the astronomically high DMPD budget and against their continued police brutality, enabled by the Des Moines City Council.