Koleinu Takes it to the Mayor's Office
On the snowy afternoon of December 29th , Koleinu members, Jeremy Schwartz, RoseAnn Hermann, George Hermann, and I with Social Justice Coordinator Alex Weissman, gathered in a bustling Starbucks to prepare for our meeting with Bill Heinzen, Deputy Counselor to Mayor Bloomberg.
The purpose of the meeting was to deliver CBST’s petition with 352 signatures that we collected in a week, protesting the Bloomberg administration’s proposed $1.7 million cuts in funding for LGBTQ homeless youth services and demanding an alternative way to balance the budget that does not rest on the backs of LGBTQ youth.
Heinzen was well informed on the issues, having been involved with the NYC Commission on LGBTQ Runaway and Homeless Youth, which Rabbi Kleinbaum served on.
The meeting lasted about forty-five minutes, where we told him why we, as part of the CBST community, care about this issue and discussed different ways to move forward.
Heinzen assured us that he would pass our concerns on to the Mayor and stressed the importance of the work that CBST was doing in this area. He emphasized that there was no guarantee that the cuts would be eliminated or reduced, and that a victory heading into 2011 would not guarantee that services for homeless youth would not face budget shocks in the future—a solid reminder for us to remain vigilant and keep organizing our community.
As members of Koleinu, we are committed to holding the City accountable to its residents. If there is not movement to restore the budget soon, we will be partnering with our friends at the Ali Forney Center to hold a rally. Hopefully, this will not be necessary, but we are ready to take action if need be.
Stay tuned.
