HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-03-21_Open Session_General Comment-Wood, Ben_links sanitizedFrom:Ben Wood
To:Public Comments
Subject:Public Comment for tonight’s city council meeting
Date:Wednesday, November 3, 2021 3:58:58 PM
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Please read this comment aloud during the “public comment” section of this evening’s council meeting. (Please
confirm you have received the email.)
Mr. Mayor, members of the council, city staff, and community members,
My name is Benjamin Wood and I am currently a staff organizer with the Pomona Economy Opportunity Center.
Our organization is focused on protecting the rights of day laborers such as the workers who look for work every
day outside the Home Depot on Highland.
Yesterday we were astonished to learn of a large-scale police operation at the informal hiring site in which
numerous workers were ticketed and several vehicles impounded.
When the workers went to retrieve the vehicles from the tow yard, they were informed that the vehicles had been
placed under a 30-day hold.
Council, by allowing your police department to act with such wanton disregard for the law you are exposing your
city and the taxpayers to unnecessary liability. Since 2017, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that the
statute permitting 30-day holds on vehicles violates the Fourth Amendment.
Since then, the vast majority of law enforcement agencies in the state have abandoned the practice. The one agency
that didn’t is currently subject to costly litigation.
Mayor and council, I strongly encourage you to order your police chief to lift the 30-day hold immediately and
release the vehicles, and to generally halt the attacks on hard workers who are seeking only a fair day’s work for a
fair day’s pay.
Sent from my iPhone=