Watch Now: Black Lives Matter protesters dominate city budget hearing – Lincoln Journal Star

An organized and boisterous stream of people repeatedly called on the Lincoln City Council on Monday to halt Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird’s budget and defund the police.

Dozens of young, mostly white people, who chanted Black Lives Matter while concluding their remarks, said the proposed budget flies in the face of repeated calls this summer to divert city dollars from the Lincoln Police Department to social services. 

“If the budget passes as is, that will show you aren’t listening,” a man who identified himself only as Harrison said.

At a hearing that stretched late into Monday night, several people who addressed the council described the budget as grotesque and horrible and the council and the mayor as oppressors and cowards. And most took issue with the mayor’s plan to hire five new officers with a federal grant and accelerate the purchase of body cameras for officers. 

Some applauded a move by the mayor, with council members joining her, to restore proposed cuts to library hours, park improvements and sidewalk repair while still closing a $12 million budget shortfall. 

Deputy Mayoral Chief of Staff Jon Carlson said Gaylor Baird’s budget takes on the difficult budget challenge while prioritizing public health and safety and protecting the city’s quality of life during economically uncertain times. 

About $8 million in cuts across city departments help close that gap, along with a proposed wage freeze for most of the city’s unionized workers, and other measures.

The proposed $210 million tax-funded budget features no tax rate increase. 

For Lincoln property taxpayers, the city receives about $16 of every $100 paid in property tax. The largest share of that bill, 61%, goes to Lincoln Public Schools.

Most of the testimony focused on the tax-funded budget aimed at the proposed $56 million proposed for the police department. 

Many people testifying questioned the ability of the city to account for how the police department spends its dollars and want the council to create a separate crisis response agency to respond to mental health emergencies or domestic violence. 

They also took issue with the 3.25% cost-of-living raise for police officers, which was agreed upon last fall when the city and Lincoln Police Union reached a new collective bargaining agreement.

Gaylor Baird was also criticized for receiving a $25,000 donation from the police union during her 2019 campaign for mayor. 

Many people took issue with her decision to accept a $625,000 federal grant to hire five new officers. 

Outside the Council Chambers, the activists cheered, chanted, banged drums and shook tambourines. 

Earlier Monday, a group of about 50 Black Lives Matter protesters gathered outside the County-City Building.

Members of the Black Leaders Movement, Jews Against White Nationalism and other groups convened there to support protesters arrested during rallies this summer who had scheduled court dates, organizer KaDeja Sangoyele said.

In the afternoon, the groups joined a teachers’ rally at the state Capitol aimed at reopening schools safely before congregating outside the building where the City Council meets.

The group hopes to maintain pressure on local politicians throughout the fall, Sangoyele said.

Organizer Dominque Lui-Sang was arraigned Monday after being arrested for breaking the curfew imposed during the first wave of protests earlier this summer.

Instead of spending more funds on law enforcement, Lui-Sang said, the mayor and City Council should shore up funding for public parks and libraries, which can have a positive impact for underprivileged youth.

Protesting and speaking to policymakers at the same time is vital to the group achieving its goals, Lui-Sang said.

Monday night, Kieran Wilson of the Black Leaders Movement told the council calls to halt the budget were a demand for the council to show it’s listening to the movement. 

“Your decisions should not be based on what your constituents want, but what they need,” Wilson said. 

Council members must propose all changes to the budget by Friday, with final changes to the budget voted Aug. 12 and formal adoption of the budget coming Aug. 24.