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CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK
<br /> these opportunities to minorities? This is true empowerment. When we think about violence and
<br /> all these other things that happen in our City and how to fix them this is, in my opinion, how we
<br /> address these issues. I just want to remind you, we live in South Bend. This is the home of Oliver,
<br /> Studebaker, and great companies. Before there were automobiles, they made wagons. So, this
<br /> should show us that small businesses could transform with the help of the City. So, I just want to
<br /> kind of say that, you know? What are we doing to make these small businesses thrive and become
<br /> the next Oliver? The next Studebaker? Thank you.
<br /> Emmanuel Cannady, 311 LaSalle Avenue, stated, Good evening, Council. I just wanted to say
<br /> about Christina's budget, I think she expressed a great deal of humility in what she presented here
<br /> today. Because of the budget hearings that I have seen it sounds like other folks are asking for
<br /> more money, so I'm going to be the third(3rd)person to say it tonight,but I think we should double
<br /> her budget. We should double her budget because diversity and inclusion are more than just
<br /> programs and workshops. It's about what Mr. Cantu was talking about,it's about structural change.
<br /> We have an opportunity with our Diversity Inclusion Office here to make structural changes, but
<br /> that can only be done if there is support behind it from the City. So again, I just want to finish by
<br /> saying we need to double her budget. Thank you.
<br /> Steve White, 1606 Johnson Street, stated, Hi. I want to support Christina in her office, but I think
<br /> we need to triple the budget. "Steve,why do you want to triple the budget?" Because if we look at
<br /> our history, there have been decades of excellence and there needs to be intentional action to
<br /> promote this inclusion, rapidly. If you go look at some of these studies, the poverty rate in the
<br /> black community, the minority community, is just ridiculous. I think we're, the black community
<br /> is twice as high as the poverty rate of the national level. That somewhat seems like that's
<br /> intentional. And when you look at spending, the government, you're your biggest spender. And
<br /> Hardie had these great statistics that he brought up. And one (1) of them, I believe, was less than
<br /> one percent(1%) of spending to minority contractors. I mean, how can that be? And what are we
<br /> going to do to change that?That's why I say triple the budget. If we're really serious about this,we
<br /> need to triple her budget. We're talking about inclusion and empowerment, let's put some action
<br /> into that. We have the Mayor who talked about, he has his Douglass Plan. He said he's interested
<br /> in studying reparations. Let's get some action here in the City of South Bend and let's prove to
<br /> people that we're really trying to make a change here. So, that's why I say let's triple her budget
<br /> and let her and her staff do the best job they can and make some changes for our community.
<br /> Thank you very much.
<br /> Marilyn Gachaw, 2514 West Linwood Avenue, stated, I'm here to say that I support Christina
<br /> wholeheartedly. And one (1) of the reasons that I support Christina is that I'm part of a Diversity
<br /> and Inclusion Committee. There's four(4) of us and we meet once a month and we hold a dinner
<br /> series. We break bread with our neighbors, and we tell stories and we try to build relationships and
<br /> we're also trying to build trust between the races so that we can strengthen our neighborhood. And
<br /> that was initiated by Christina. She was the one(1)that helped us actually focus and come up with
<br /> a direction of where we would like to go. She is a wealth of information. She knows people who
<br /> can make a difference in the community and I think as far as her budget, I don't know if it should
<br /> be two(2)or three(3)times larger,but I do know that she should receive what she asks for.Thank
<br /> you.
<br /> Solomon Anderson, 612 North Jacob Street, stated, Just briefly, I'm standing in support of
<br /> Christina Brooks and the work that she's trying to do. Pastor Blake had spoken about the
<br /> EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY INNOVATION INCLUSION ; EMPOWERMENT
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