On July 3, the East Palo Alto City Council voted to allocate $45,000 to the East Palo Alto Boxing Club, a nonprofit organization within the city that teaches boxing skills to the city’s youth. The organization also encourages its young participants to set personal goals, maintain high standards and stay out of trouble.When the city council agreed to allocate the money to the boxing club, it requested that the city’s staff provide the council with potential funding sources from which to take the money. At the council's evening meeting on July 17, the staff suggested three city funded areas: the fund for children and seniors, the technology fund and the council’s budget allocation fund.
One resident remarked, during a community forum after the suggestions were made, that if the council followed through on the suggestions, then it would be robbing Peter to pay Paul, since the boxing club’s funding would be taken from other city programs.
So, we’d like to know whether you think the council should take the money that it plans to give to the boxing program from other funded programs. If the council does what the staff suggested, would it, in fact, be robbing Peter to pay Paul?
