REMARKS
Council Member Joann Ariola on veterans' needs and support
0:44:16
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138 sec
Council Member Joann Ariola emphasizes the importance of prioritizing veterans' needs, including healthcare and housing, over resources allocated to new city arrivals.
- Ariola criticizes the current allocation of resources, arguing that veterans are being overlooked in favor of new arrivals to the city.
- She calls for the City Council to collaborate with city officials to redirect support towards veterans.
- Ariola commits to advocating for veterans to receive their fair share of the budget, emphasizing health care, housing, and employment.
- She encourages veterans present at the meeting to communicate the committee's dedication to their wellbeing to other veterans.
Joann Ariola
0:44:16
I've been listening to testimony commissioner, and each time we meet, we're old in the same boat, so to speak, fighting for what our veterans need, whether it's mental health care, health care in general, housing, food vouchers, housing vouchers, all the things that our veterans don't have or don't have an abundance, which we are currently giving an abundance to people who have just entered our city.
0:44:51
And this is something that we have to look at.
0:44:53
So one of the questions on here is what can we as a city council do to help you help better That's really a question for us.
0:45:00
And the answer is that we have to get with our colleagues.
0:45:03
We have to get sit with the mayor.
0:45:04
We have to sit with the speaker.
0:45:06
And say at this point, we're doing is putting us on the wrong side of history.
0:45:11
We cannot be completely defunding our veterans and disregarding their needs.
0:45:17
While taking care of a humanitarian crisis that should be taken care of on a federal level.
0:45:23
So I give you my commitment and I don't speak for the entire committee, but I believe that our chairman who has been a strong advocate, and that's why he is a chair of this committee.
0:45:35
We need to do better.
0:45:36
We've said that from day 1.
0:45:38
We haven't done better yet, but we need to do better if the money is there for people who have just entered our city.
0:45:45
The money is there to take care of those who fought for our city, our country, and we need to take better care of them.
0:45:51
And then we will see Veterans in homeless homes.
0:45:56
We will see veterans get the mental mental health care they need.
0:46:00
We will see veterans get the cancer treatment and any other kind of treatment that they need for their health care.
0:46:06
We will see veterans placed in jobs that they can do still.
0:46:11
We will see veterans put first, and that's my statement.
0:46:14
And I and I really I know that there are many people on both sides of the aisle.
0:46:19
That would feel the very same way.
0:46:21
So I want the veterans in this room to go back to your fellow veterans to say that this committee is going to fight to make sure that you receive your fair share of the pie this budget season.
0:46:33
Thank you so much for the time share.