A majority of Salem’s budget committee wants the city to set aside $400,000 to help people in Salem, including those impacted by the federal government’s sweeping immigration crackdown.  The budget committee voted 11-7 Wednesday night to recommend the city council consider reinstating the ci ty’s social services advisory board, and allocating $400,000 annually to support those in need. That’s intended to include those affected by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Salem.  “We live in a country run by an administration full of white nationalists whose core approach is to use the power of the state to exclude, intimidate, and arrest people based on the color of their skin,” budget committee member Evan Manvel said after proposing the funding. “Sometimes deporting them to torture prisons or killing those who get in their way.”  The council is expected to consider the matter at the “earliest possible opportunity,” according to Councilor Vanessa Nordyke.  The budget committee typically makes recommendations for the city’s annual budget, which is usually adopted in June. Nordyke, who is running for mayor, told Salem Reporter Thursday that the goal is to get the funds out to people sooner. The action comes after the city council reaffirmed its commitment to sanctuary city laws in November and approved a subsequent emergency declaration in the wake of ICE activity last month. A primary criticism from community members of the city’s move was that the declaration offered no financial assistance to immigrants and families impacted by ICE. Other city and county governments in Oregon have set aside money as part of emergency declarations, including Woodburn, which allocated $30,000, on Nov. 21.  Several people spoke during public testimony at the end of the meeting about the importance of providing funding for those impacted by federal immigration enforcement.    Budget Committee members Nick Beleiciks, David Gier, Manvel, Stacey Vieyra-Braendle, and Mel Fuller joined Salem City Councilors Irvin Brown, Paul Tigan, Micki Varney, Nordyke, Mai Vang and Council President Linda Nishioka in voting for providing assistance.  Committee Members Russell Allen, Andrew Cohen, Jennifer Murray and Bill Dixon joined councilors Shane Matthews, Deanna Gwyn, and Mayor Julie Hoy in voting against providing the assistance.  The three councilors who opposed the funding also voted against the city’s emergency declaration in the fall. Manvel’s original proposal was recommending the city council vote to set aside $270,000 to help those impacted by ICE activities in Salem. The money would help pay for food, housing, and legal assistance for those impacted, Manvel said during the meeting.  Nordyke then brought an alternate motion that would broaden the funding to include anybody in the community in need, including those impacted by ICE. Nordyke’s motion, which encapsulated and replaced Manvel’s motion, also called for reinstating the city’s social services advisory board. It also increased the dollar amount from Manvel’s original motion. The board would be charged with vetting applications for financial assistance for anybody in Salem struggling with housing and food insecurity, or impacts related to ICE enforcement.  Manvel said that while he appreciated the council’s actions in November and December, the moves were not enough given the gravity of the situation. Prior to the vote, Tigan was elected chair of the committee, and Vieyra-Braendle elected vice chair.  The committee discussed the financial health of major city funds, including the city’s general fund.  While the city’s finances are more stable than they have been in past years thanks to voters passing a property tax increase in May, the city still faces long-term structural financial challenges.  That was a point of disagreement among committee members on whether the city is financially stable enough to provide funding for those in need.  Hoy said the city should focus on keeping a close eye on its expenditures in order to ensure the city’s long-term financial health.  “The situation that is happening in our nation and in our community is extremely difficult and complex and there is very little we can do to change. That declaration of emergency did nothing to change what is happening on our streets. And that is an incredibly painful thing to accept,” Hoy said. “We…are just not in a position to begin any new funds. We have to get our own house in order so that we can be healthy enough to help this entire community.” Cohen had a laundry list of questions regarding how the funds would be dispersed and what kind of oversight would exist. He was also concerned about blowback from the federal government.  “I don’t know if I can support this because I feel like it is poking the bear in the eye,” Cohen said. “I do agree that there is more that needs to be done, yet I feel like this isn’t the avenue that I would approach it through.”  Matthews said he liked the idea of bringing back the social services funding, but said now is not the right time given Salem’s financial outlook.  “For me, I think looking at the structural deficit that we have in every one of our funds, us breaking into the social services game again, the nonprofit game, feels to me like it’s not a place we can afford to be in and we should leave it with the nonprofits right now,” Matthews said.  Gwyn said she wanted to ensure that the funding would be available to anybody in the community who is in need and not just people impacted by ICE.  Nordyke clarified that that would be the case.  Brown said providing funding, especially for those who have had a loved one detained or deported by the federal government, is about doing the right thing.  He said that while brown and Black people in Salem are the most likely to be stopped by ICE, the danger could impact anyone regardless of race.  He also provided a warning.  “Some of the violence that we’ve seen, whether it’s in Portland or whether it’s in Minneapolis, I think we are moments away from that being in northeast Salem,” Brown said. “At the end of the day, yes, it is about race. But it is also about being human. And so you have to find a way to live in that tension.”  “Poke the bear, poke the lion, poke anybody you want,” he said. “Because at the end of the day, some of us are feeling this in our bodies. And we are carrying around this stress and anxiety and worry because we don’t know if we are going to make it home.”  Clarification: The headline was updated to clarify that the fund is for social needs including impacts from immigration enforcement. Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected]. LOCAL NEWS DELIVERED TO YOU: Subscribe to Salem Reporter and get all the fact-based Salem news that matters to you. Fair, accurate, trusted – SUBSCRIBE The post Budget committee votes to seek $400,000 fund for social needs, ICE impacts  appeared first on Salem Reporter. ...read more read less