11/14/2024
Mayor Kathy Sheehan, a third-term Democrat, is proposing a $221 million spending plan in which the Police Review Board receives about $683,000, a roughly 15% decrease. Its current budget is $804,000. Board Chair Nairobi Vives:
"What we learned during the presentation from the budget director is that that decrease was just some rough math they did in considering that we would no longer be contracting with the law school," said Vives. "What it's important for the community to know, and what we shared to the Common Council, is that we are in a process where we're losing the support of an entity that we've had for over two decades now. We had, historically, one full time staff member, and more recently, the help of consultants to make this transition efficient and effective. We'll need to continue to rely on those consultants that we have and try to build up staff to replace some of the support that we have from the law school. So this is not the time to be decreasing our budget."
Vives says keeping the funding level will maintain the board’s effectiveness, transparency and maintain its standard of professionalism.
CPRB Investigative Chair John Levendosky says the request is justified. "The amount that we do with what we have is, in my opinion, pretty good value for money. I'm going to the city. We're hoping to expand that. Once they see the necessity of what we do and the efficiency in which we do it, I think they'll better understand what we're asking for with regards to our budget, and the relationship, the fiscal relationship with, will evolve to a point where they kind of understand, better understand where this money is going to and how it's being used, and the actual cost of the necessity of things," Levendosky said.
Story by WAMC Northeast Public Radio
The Albany Community Police Review Board says its funding has been shorted once again in the proposed 2025 city budget.
