Silicon Valley, Los Gatos Annie Schwartzstein Defends Wasteful Programs

ANNIE SCHWARTZSTEIN

Hello Town Council

Thank you so much for having this conversation on this really important issue, I really appreciate it

So as we have been discussing, what we’ve been seeing from the federal government is a shrinking of federal services and federal funding that serve our vulnerable populations

And I find this incredibly concerning and I am not quite sure how we’re expected at the local level to make up the federal dollars that is put into these communities

But I want to be incredibly clear that I do think it’s a true shame if we do not try

59% of people are one paycheck away from not being able to pay their rent or mortgage and falling into housing insecurity

Musk and Trump have openly discussed cuts to federal programs such as Social Security, Medicaid and SNAP benefits

These are programs that keep our neighbors, our friends, our families, and ourselves above water every single day

Because of the cost of living in Los Gatos we do have to face the reality that these federal cuts will most likely have a larger impact on those within our community

There’s less wiggle room here for many people especially because of these federal funding and federal grant cuts to those community centers that help to keep these people above water

If people end up losing their jobs or falling behind on rent or mortgage payments

We may end up having a crisis on our hands very quickly and faster than many places in the country or even within California

We also have to think about rising costs of living, such as food

It’s not an option, in my opinion to simply let residents of Los Gatos fail

We are talking about neighbors and friends

I understand the Republican philosophy of shrinking federal funding in order to give more power to state and local governments

I’m not sure how we’re supposed to replicate the impact of these programs especially when government is putting our budget in jeopardy

With our budget concerns I know that it seems like a daunting task but I really do think it’s a necessary task

I do think that our town is in a really great position

I think our rental assistance program has already helped many families

I think that we could do something similar to help people get access to food especially if SNAP benefits are in jeopardy

I think we’re in a really privileged position in Los Gatos

Many of our residents are excited and enthusiastic about volunteering

There’s many people here today

I think that people are excited to lean into community support

and hopefully help provide services for community members

I also want to emphasize that it’s an incredibly important topic

And I don’t see it going away anytime soon so I think that these are conversations that we should be continuing to have regularly and perhaps like set up some working group things like that

Thank you