At the opening of the public hearing Tuesday, a handful of residents showed up to share their priorities in person. Three people spoke about plans to defund the mounted police unit, all of them favoring the end of that program.
Alina Schmont was the first to speak on the matter — and said the horses should be retired to a sanctuary together for their own wellbeing.
"Maybe what we need is a group of equestrians from around here to volunteer to come to parades and do weekend events that would not cost the city anything, but would still give everybody the pleasure of seeing these beautiful animals.”
Others suggested that horses be replaced with motorcycles or bicycles.
Another priority for the speakers was funding for the Downtown Business Alliance, an organization that receives $10,000 from the city annually to put on street fairs and other public events. And one other spoke about DEI, and said the city should continue to support DEI efforts.
The council will meet twice in June for the first and second readings on the budget — if all goes smoothly, those meetings will get the budget passed and it’ll be done before the July 1 deadline.
