Updated 12/06/2024 5:52pm PT

More than half of the City of Pomona’s budget goes toward funding the Police. This is historically true, and it is still true today. It is an emphasis that we need to continually scrutinize - even with the recent passage of Measure Y that reallocates 10% of the City’s General Funds to child and youth services by the years 2030-2031.

Pomona’s police budget has increased about $20 million since 2020, and currently $80 million is allocated for Police. This was enabled, in part, with the voters’ approval of the 0.75% sales tax in 2018, and again in spring of 2024, that has resulted in an influx of about 16.8 million more dollars per year to the City’s General Fund.

It is a sobering fact that at the same time as the police budget has increased, the City’s homicide rate has basically remained the same. Since 2016, the City has averaged about 17 homicides a year. Which means that preventing violent crime remains a constant and ongoing concern, raising all sorts of basic questions:

Is the amount of funding devoted to policing translating into safer streets and effective crime reduction, or is this funding failing to address the root causes of violence?

Will allocating a slightly bigger slice of the City’s overall budget to youth programs, with the passage of Measure Y, help us secure safer streets and see a reduction of crime?

Now that our governing bodies, the City Council and Commissioners, are charged with allocating more funds toward child and youth services, are the individuals that make up the governing body, including Pomona’s Mayor, capable of being creative enough to manage a large city like Pomona?

Many members of the City Council and various commissions actively campaigned against Measure Y. Among them was the Pomona Police Officers Association, which contributed nearly $25,000 to the "No on Measure Y" campaign opposing the Pomona Kids First Initiative. Despite their efforts, the measure passed with a 62.5% majority. Their slogan? “The Wrong Way to Help Pomona’s Children.”

This raises an important question: given their level of opposition to Pomona’s Kids First Initiative, are they capable of making the new funding formulas work?

The City’s traditional disproportionate focus on police, while homicide rates remained roughly the same, means that there continues to be room for reflection and re-evaluation. It is with great hope that by enhancing support for community-driven initiatives and preventative strategies, Pomona can build a more holistic approach to public safety. It is also with great hope that focusing funding for youth will not only address the immediate needs of our young population, but also address long-term reductions in crime.

THE NUMBER OF HOMICIDES SINCE 2016:

2016: 13 Homicides
2017: 17 Homicides
2018: 17 Homicides
2019: 12 Homicides
2020: 13 Homicides
2021: 21 Homicides
2022: 19 Homicides
2023 : (Pending) Discrepancy

In 2023, there was a body found “in front of a house on Towne Ave, titled, ‘Suspicious Death’ (Reference# P000288-091324).This unfortunate incident, which took place July 1, 2023 at 5:45 am has not been included in The Pomonan Homicide Report count. When the Pomonan submitted a public records request on this incident, the city’s response was vague and only stated information of what officers observed upon their response. The request did not state if this incident was deemed a homicide.

After submitting a public records request for the total number of homicides in 2023, the city reported a figure of 14. However, our independent review and cross-referencing of the data revealed the actual total to be 16. Notably, the city's report included one incident classified as manslaughter, which does not meet the criteria for homicide.

This raises important questions about whether all homicides are being accurately reported in the city’s crime data. Are all homicides being included in the official reports, or are some intentionally left out and swept under the asbestos, making it appear that the homicide rate is decreasing when it may not be?

Do we feel safer every year the police budget increases?

Behind the Six P’s–The reputation of Holt avenue in Pomona goes beyond the Indian Hill Mall. Everyone in the surrounding cities knows about it.

The street is known for unhoused people, sex workers and street vendors.

Its reputation is a shadow looming over the officials running the city and now the city council and the mayor want to turn Holt into a Business Improvement District to improve its conditions.

According to the US Department of Transportation, Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) are privately-directed and publicly-sanctioned organizations that supplement public services within geographically defined boundaries by generating multi-year revenue through a compulsory assessment on local property owners and/or businesses - which basically means - BIDs are privatized public places that use funds to: BIDs are privatized public places that use funds to:

Promote business and events within the boundaries
Patrols it with private security
Keep the area clean.

The function of a BID is to monetize gentrification and criminalize loitering, by keeping unwanted individuals from the area. Under a BID, the funds, generated from increased taxation on property located in the district, are set aside for promotion, security and clean-up, and are managed by a selected board of directors.

Lisa Marie Alatorre from the San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness described the work of BIDS as “Jim Crow laws” and described them as a way to promote “discriminatory policing practices to simply remove people deemed unwanted from certain parts of town.”

Downtown Pomona is currently operating under a BID until 2028 under the management of the Downtown Pomona Owners Association (DPOA). From 2021 through 2022, DPOA spent $306,373 on private security, even though the area remains covered by a police force that operates with 49.8% of the city’s budget. Private security cannot arrest an individual, but they can call the police on any 'suspicious' activities, according to American Global Security.

From 2021 through 2022, DPOA spent $306,373 on private security. The area is still covered by a police force that will be given 49.8% of the city’s budget for the new fiscal year. Private security cannot arrest an individual but they can call the cops on any “suspicious activities,” according to American Global Security.

In regards to dealing with the problems of Holt, the city of Pomona wants to adopt a BID in order to hire a professional ‘rat’ to call the cops on any activity that a business owner deems 'suspicious.' Creating a BID on Holt will give property owners major influential power. Typically, a BID board of directors includes the district’s property owners.

Creating a BID will also give major influential power to property owners. The board of directors for BIDs typically includes property owners of the area. The tax forms from 2022 indicate that the DPOA board of directors includes two members of the Tessier family.

The tax forms from 2022 indicate that the DPOA board of directors for downtown Pomona includes two members of the Tessier family who run Arteco Partners, the current owner of the Progress Building and its basement art gallery; the Founder's Building; the Union Block; the Fox Theater; the Glass House; Acerogami; the Oxarart Block; the Wright Brothers Building; the Wurl Building; the Armory Lofts; the Tate Building; the Opera Garage; the Civic Center; and the School of Arts and Enterprise. Arteco Partners have a negotiating deal with the city of Pomona to buy more land in the downtown area and build more apartments that would only serve to increase their monopoly of downtown Pomona.

The Arteco Partners have a negotiating deal with the city of Pomona to buy more land in the downtown area and build apartments to complete their monopoly of the heart of Pomona.

Not only will a BID on Holt Avenue pass the problem to someone else, it will give property owners the power to increase rent on the local businesses and drive them away.

To quote “Mad Max: Fury Road,” "Where must we go, we who wander this wasteland, in search of our better selves?"

The city of Pomona claims that its mission is to improve the quality of life for its diverse community, yet the changes its officials want to make will only drive the diverse community into the Wasteland known as Victorville and sell their soul to vegan milkshakes and spa water.

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