Community Justice Center

Thanked Sheriff Osborne for his new unit and his handling of Reimagining Public Safety, but said she feels less safe than before 2020, criticized the Community Justice Center's results, and mourned the loss of officers from the Ithaca Police Department.

A retired Youth Bureau worker said this is not the time to cut a program that builds police trust amid a national climate of racial bias.

Opposed another three years of CJC funding, urging instead a countywide sheriff's special victims investigative unit and a resolution on Cornell police accountability under Education Law 5709.

The police chief praised CJC director Mona Leda's work building trust between IPD and the community, saying now is not the time to stop it.

An Ithaca common council member urged keeping the CJC intact through the budget, citing its data collection and rural outreach value.

A longtime peace and justice activist urged the board not to pull funding just as the CJC gains community trust.

A CJC facilitator said the program touches communities countywide and that cutting it now would cost far more later.

Thanked the committee for earlier answers about the ROOTS program, then asked whether the Legislature has formally asked Sheriff Osborne his views on the CJC before committing $100,000 a year through 2028, and what 'joint operation' actually means.

Supported the CJC contract but asked the county to require a formal memorandum of understanding between the Sheriff's Office and Ithaca Police Department before committing up to $100,000 a year.