Members of the Public Safety Commission took quite a while Monday discussing a proposed budget amendment to add $328,000 to the city budget for SAFE (Stop Abuse for Everyone) to increase funding for the forensic nursing staff dealing with victims of sexual assault. Even though the Commission for Women had endorsed the resolution in April, members of the Public Safety Commission heard that the additional funds might not actually increase the number of nurses doing this work and that SAFE might not want to allocate the funds to that item. In the end, after a lengthy discussion, commissioners failed to reach agreement on a resolution.
Jo Clifton is the Politics Editor for the Austin Monitor. More by Jo Clifton