Letter: Cutting CRESS and DEI Budgets Is A Step Backward in Town’s Progress Toward Social Justice

by The Community Safety and Social Justice Committee of the Town of Amherst

The following letter was sent to the Amherst Town Council and Amherst Town Manager on April 16, 2025.

The Community Safety and Social Justice Committee (CSSJC) writes to express deep concern over the potential cuts of three responder positions and the implementation manager of the CRESS Department, as well as the potential cuts to the DEI Department and initiatives presented at the Town Council meeting April 7. While we strongly support fully funding the school budgets, we believe this should not come at the expense of the CRESS or DEI Departments. The Town must keep its commitment to invest in equitable services for all residents, centering those most marginalized by traditional systems.

We implore town leadership to revisit two of its resolutions from 2020, “A Resolution Affirming the Town of Amherst’s Commitment to End Structural Racism and Achieve Racial Equity for Black Residents,” and “Resolution in the Aftermath of Mr. George Floyd.” Both these resolutions speak to the need for structural changes to town services and policies that perpetuate white supremacist institutions, including policing. Cutting funding for the DEI and CRESS Departments would undermine these commitments and represent a step backward in the town’s progress toward racial equity and social justice.

At a time when marginalized communities are facing heightened attacks from the federal government—on DEI initiatives, LGBTQIA+ rights, immigrant protections, women’s rights, and student freedoms—it is critical that Amherst support its most vulnerable residents. Many of our most marginalized residents are feeling unsafe and unprotected. Now is not the time to abandon the CRESS Department, which has worked hard to build relationships with many people in these targeted groups. Their work is essential to cultivating community trust and safety. With the ongoing whitewashing of history in national monuments and government websites, coupled with silencing of “dissenting voices” the DEI Department is more important now than ever.

At the CSSJC meeting on April 9, we heard from the DEI Director— and echoed with our members’ experiences—  that the feedback for the Global Village Festival was overwhelmingly positive, with some attendees stating it was the “best event the town has put on to date.” Similarly, the CRESS Director reported the department saw an increase in responses of 44% from February to March, highlighting the growing community reliance on their services.  CRESS must continue operating with its current level of staffing— at a bare minimum— in order to meet the need for alternative response. Both departments are doing critical, appreciated work in the community.

We believe there are alternative solutions to address budget challenges without eliminating these essential programs:

• Reduce the capital project allocation from 10.5% to 10% and redirect those funds to the operating budget.
• Deny the police department’s $700,000 capital request for new equipment, given the budget shortfall, and reallocate those funds to operating budgets.
• Allocate opioid settlement funds to CRESS.

We remind the council and manager that the initial proposal never intended for CRESS positions to be in addition to a fully staffed police department. The Community Safety Working Group (CSWG) recommended a reduction in police staffing as CRESS assumed more responsibilities for diverting non-violent calls from APD. Please consider Amherst’s most vulnerable, marginalized residents as you create a budget, and do not cut DEI and CRESS.

The Community Safety and Social Justice Committee of the Town of Amherst