Bay Area

Assemblymember Buffy Wicks Holds Public Hearing on Impact of Gun Violence on Youth Mental Health

Published

5 years ago

December 12, 2019

More than two dozen community leaders, advocates, academics and medical health experts recently convened a public hearing to discuss the issue of gun violence and how it affects youth’s mental health, during a meeting facilitated by California Assemblymember (AD 15) Buffy Wicks.

“The purpose of the hearing was to explore the rise in mental health issues in youth across the county, and the role gun violence play in this troubling epidemic,” said Wicks, chair of the Assembly’s Select Committee on Youth Mental Health. “If a child grows up in a community plagued by gun violence, the likelihood they’ll suffer from mental health issues skyrockets.

“The research on this is both troubling and extensive with more than 34 million U.S. children suffering from this kind of toxic stress nationwide,” added Wicks. “We’ve identified gun violence as an underlying cause. Now is the time to start identifying solutions that will provide more resources and counseling to confront these issues.”

Wicks has a personal interest in eradicating gun violence. Her husband, Peter Ambler, was the legislative director for former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords when she was shot in the head on Jan. 8, 2011. The gunman shot 24 people, killing six and wounding 18 during a constituent meeting held in a supermarket parking lot in Casas Adobes, Ariz., in the Tucson metropolitan area.

During Giffords’ recovery, Ambler helped manage Giffords’ office while she was in the hospital. He later co-founded and became Executive Director of Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a gun-control advocacy organization.

Each speaker at the hearing talked about gun violence and how it affects victims and families, noting that whenever there’s a shooting, it is not only tragic, but the aftermath also impacts the community as a whole. Panel members echoed each other’s remarks discussing how Black and Brown communities across the nation, who are mostly affected and experience these issues on a regular basis, don’t get the attention they deserve.

“Looking at the equity rate of gun violence in our communities, it reveals that this problem is 10 times higher in minority neighborhoods than in white communities,” said Wicks. “This is unacceptable. There is no reason why children in urban communities should have to deal with these issues.

“We cannot let this be the case going forward. I will remain on the forefront of this issue and will push for more funding for programs to help alleviate the existing problems of gun violence and its effect on youth’s mental health.”

Currently, there are 3 million children and teens who witness shootings across the country,” said Wicks. “Fortunately, those numbers have slightly subsided, which is attributed to prevention and intervention programs. In Oakland alone, there has been a 66 percent reduction of gun violence in the past year. However, we still need to continue to provide more mental health services for those adversely affected by gun violence.”

Wicks noted that the Assembly Select Committee on Youth Mental Health will continue to work closely with community-based programs that know the community well, as those programs are demonstrating successes.

Speakers on the panel included local and national representatives from Gifford’s Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense, Brady United Against Gun Violence and March for Our Lives.

Medical experts included representatives from the UC Firearm Violence Research Center, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, The Permanente Medical Group and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland.

Local advocates included representatives from the Children’s Defense Fund, CA, RYSE Youth Center, California Children’s Trust, Youth ALIVE!, Public Health Advocates, Californians for Safety and Justice.

Assemblymember Wicks represents California’s 15th District which includes all or portions of the cities of Oakland, Richmond, Berkeley, Emeryville, Albany, El Cerrito, San Pablo, Pinole, El Sobrante, Hercules, Kensington and Piedmont. To learn more about Assemblymember Wicks and her work, visit a15.asmde.org.

Saskia Hatvany

Posts by Saskia Hatvany

Related Topics:Buffy Wicks Casas Adobes Clifford L. Williams Gun violence U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Youth Mental Health

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Oakland Post: Week of December 25 – 31, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of December 25 – 31, 2024

Published

3 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Oakland Post

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Bay Area

Glydways Breaking Ground on 14-Acre Demonstration Facility at Hilltop Mall

Glydways has been testing its technology at CCTA’s GoMentum Station in Concord for several years. The company plans to install an ambitious 28-mile Autonomous Transit Network in East Contra Costa County. The new Richmond facility will be strategically positioned near that project, according to Glydways.

Published

2 days ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Image of planned Richmond facility courtesy of Glydways.

The Richmond Standard

Glydways, developer of microtransit systems using autonomous, small-scale vehicles, is breaking ground on a 14-acre Development and Demonstration Facility at the former Hilltop Mall property in Richmond, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) reported on social media.

Glydways, which released a statement announcing the project Monday, is using the site while the mall property undergoes a larger redevelopment.

“In the interim, Glydways will use a portion of the property to showcase its technology and conduct safety and reliability testing,” the company said.

The new Richmond development hub will include “over a mile of dedicated test track, enabling Glydways to refine its solutions in a controlled environment while simulating real-world conditions,” the company said.

Visitors to the facility will be able to experience on-demand travel, explore the control center and visit a showroom featuring virtual reality demonstrations of Glydways projects worldwide.

The hub will also house a 13,000-square-foot maintenance and storage facility to service the growing fleet of Glydcars.

“With this new facility [at the former Hilltop Mall property], we’re giving the public a glimpse of the future, where people can experience ultra-quiet, on-demand transit—just like hailing a rideshare, but with the reliability and affordability of public transit,” said Tim Haile, executive director of CCTA.

Janet Galvez, vice president and investment officer at Prologis, owner of the Hilltop Mall property, said her company is “thrilled” to provide space for Glydways and is continuing to work with the city on future redevelopment plans for the broader mall property.

Richmond City Manager Shasa Curl added that Glydways’ presence “will not only help test new transit solutions but also activate the former Mall site while preparation and finalization of the Hilltop Horizon Specific Plan is underway.

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Alameda County

Last City Council Meeting of the Year Ends on Sour Note with Big Budget Cuts

In a five to one vote, with Councilmembers Carroll Fife and Janani Ramachandran excused, the council passed a plan aimed at balancing the $130 million deficit the city is facing. Noel Gallo voted against the plan, previously citing concerns over public safety cuts, while Nikki Fortunato-Bas, Treva Reid, Rebecca Kaplan, Kevin Jenkins, and Dan Kalb voted in agreement with the plan.

Published

2 days ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Oakland City Council voted on a plan to balance the $130 million deficit at their last regular meeting of 2024. The plan reduces police spending by $25 million, temporarily closes two fire stations, and guts the cultural arts programs. iStock photo.

By Magaly Muñoz

In the last lengthy Tuesday meeting of the Oakland City Council for 2024, residents expressed strong opposition to the much needed budget cuts before a change in leadership was finalized with the certification of election results.

Oakland police and fire departments, the ambassador program, and city arts and culture will all see significant cuts over the course of two phases.

Phase 1 will eliminate two police academies, brown out two fire stations, eliminate the ambassador program, and reduce police overtime by nearly $25 million. These, with several other cuts across departments, aim to save the city $60 million. In addition, the council simultaneously approved to transfer restricted funds into its general purpose fund, amounting to over $40 million.

Phase 2 includes additional fire station brownouts and the elimination of 91 jobs, aiming to recover almost $16 million in order to balance the rest of the budget.

Several organizations and residents spoke out at the meeting in hopes of swaying the council to not make cuts to their programs.

East Oakland Senior Center volunteers and members, and homeless advocates, filled the plaza just outside of City Hall with rallies to show their disapproval of the new budget plan. Senior residents told the council to “remember that you’ll get old too” and that disturbing their resources will only bring problems for an already struggling community.

While city staff announced that there would not be complete cuts to senior center facilities, there would be significant reductions to staff and possibly inter-program services down the line.

Exiting council member and interim mayor Bas told the public that she is still hopeful that the one-time $125 million Coliseum sale deal will proceed in the near future so that the city would not have to continue with drastic cuts. The deal was intended to save the city for fiscal year 2024-25, but a hold up at the county level has paused any progress and therefore millions of dollars in funds Oakland desperately needs.

The Coliseum sale has been a contentious one. Residents and city leaders were originally against using the deal as a way to balance the budget, citing doubts about the sellers, the African American Sports and Entertainment Group’s (AASEG), ability to complete the deal. Council members Reid, Ramachandran, and Gallo have called several emergency meetings to understand where the first installments of the sale are, with little to no answers.

Bas added that as the new Alameda County Supervisor for D5, a position she starts in a few weeks, she will do everything in her power to push the Coliseum sale along.

The city is also considering a sales tax measure to put on the special election ballot on April 15, 2025, which will also serve as an election to fill the now vacant D2 and mayor positions. The tax increase would raise approximately $29 million annually for Oakland, allowing the city to gain much-needed revenue for the next two-year budget.

The council will discuss the possible sales tax measure on January 9.