TODAY: No on Measure Y Outreach

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, September 25, 2004
For more information: Allegra Williams, ENI Youth Coordinator, 916-769-5446 (cell)
Aaron Shurman, ENI Organizer, 510-917-1931 (cell)
Wilson Riles Jr., former Oakland City Council Member, 510-530.2448

TODAY: Coalition Outreaches on No on Measure Y Calling for No More Cops!

Association of Community Organizations for Reform
Now (ACORN) will be hosting No on Measure Y outreach
on Saturdays and phonebanks on Wednesdays from 10am to 2pm at 3166 Fruitville Ave. Outreach on Saturdays will consist of a one hour training and then participants will leave ACORN at approximately 11AM to attend events and walk precincts in various parts of Oakland.


SOME PROMINENT INDIVIDUALS ENDORSING NO ON MEASURE Y
Wilson Riles Jr.
Councilwoman Desley Brooks
Patricia Loya, Central Legal de la Raza
Steve McClenathan, SEIU 247
Fanny Brown, State Co-chair of Association of
Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN)
Jimokeh Hodge
Jane Jackson, Grey Panthers
Ericka Huggins

NO ON MEASURE Y ENDORSING ORGANIZATIONS
SEIU616
Alameda County Green Party
Alameda County Peace and Freedom Party
Global Exchange
Education Not Incarceration
Prison Activist Resource Center
Oakland Community Action Network
Bay Area Policewatch
Poor Magazine/Poor News Network
Proyecto Common Touch
Out of Control Committee to Support Lesbian Political
Prisoners
All of Us or None
Justice NOW
Critical Resistance
International Peoples Democratic Uhuru Movement
African Peoples Solidarity Committee

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 11, 2004

Coalition Launches “No on Measure Y” Campaign to Fight Against Misleading November Ballot Initiative

Education Not Incarceration, in Collaboration with Other Local Groups and Concerned Community Folk, Questions Violence Prevention Measure That Prioritizes Police Over Services

OAKLAND, CA – The Education Not Incarceration (ENI) Coalition, along with Oakland local groups and concerned community members, is currently mobilizing to defeat Measure Y, the November ballot initiative in Oakland that puts funding police ahead of funding programs.

Oakland City Council members recently approved by majority vote Measure Y, a November ballot initiative that will direct 60% of newly raised taxes to hire more police officers in Oakland. A coalition of community-based organizations and concerned Oakland residents have started to mobilize against Measure Y with a campaign that challenges the idea that more police will address the root causes of violence in Oakland.

“Increasing police presence within our city will not curb violence nor make anyone safer,” said Aaron Shurman, local Oakland Organizer. Mr. Shurman points out that between 1995 and 1996 the Oakland police force fell roughly from 500 to 450. The homicide rate also decreased from 153 to 102. From 1999 to 2000 the number of police in Oakland increased roughly from 500 to 600. The homicide rate also increased from 68 to 85.

“True violence prevention begins by investing in the people of our communities,” said Wilson Riles Jr., former Oakland City Council Member. “We know that what builds strong, safe communities are the investments we make in education and other basic social services,” he added.

“We need to break from the national obsession with throwing more police at our social problems and Oakland can lead the way,” said Allegra Williams, a College student from Oakland and a member of ENI. “We must reprioritize the way Oakland invests in the future of our children by creating policies that redirect resources from incarceration to education,” she added.

No on Measure Y Outreach on Saturdays and Phonebanking on Wednesdays are held Thursdays, 6 PM - 8 PM at the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) office . ACORN is located at 3166
Fruitvale Avenue, cross-street is Pleasant, just below the 580 and MacArthur, in the Dimond District. For more information, please call 510-530-2448 or visit http://noonmeasurey.org.

Education Not Incarceration is a coalition of students, teachers, parents and community members who believe that the state budget needs to prioritize education funding, as well as funding for other important social services, over increased spending on prisons.