Passage of the Runner Initiative would mean more youth snatched from their mothers. This young man’s note says, “Mother I’m OK. Don’t worry.”

The initiative would bankrupt the state by directing billions of dollars to fund prisons, probation and police in the midst of a budget crisis that has caused drastic cuts to education and health care. This potential statewide ballot proposal, also known as the “Runner Initiative” or “Safe Neighborhoods Act,” would waste California tax dollars on policies that don’t work.

“Bringing peace to urban America is perhaps the most difficult and profound challenge facing the country today. However, in this time of crisis, the Runner Initiative is the worst kind of public policy. It plays on our deepest emotions but sets us up for failure. The Runner Initiative is an unfunded mandate that will gut California’s budget. It won’t result in safety and security. Instead it will leave us in more debt with less safety and stability than ever before,” said Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, who has taken a position against the initiative.

Zachary Norris, director of the Ella Baker Center’s Books Not Bars Campaign, adds: “The Runner Initiative is an investment into failed ‘tough on crime’ policies that cost too much for California in this time of crisis. If we want to tackle the problems of crime in our communities, we need an investment in education, job-training and community-based crime prevention programs.”

On Tuesday, April 22, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and the Berkeley City Council both passed resolutions against the proposed Runner Initiative. United States Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates all have taken positions against the Runner Initiative, joining groups including the California NAACP, California Church IMPACT and the California Federation of Teachers.

“California already spends more per capita on prisons than any other state in the nation. The state spends more on its prisons than it does on higher education, while our schools remain drastically underfunded. The CFT (California Federation of Teachers) is committed to working to defeat this initiative that would take more money away from our schools and put it into prisons,” declared California Federation of Teachers President Marty Hittelman.

The Runner Initiative is a proposed ballot measure that would shift state resources away from education, crime and violence prevention and toward increased incarceration of youth and young adults from low-income communities of color who already have limited opportunities for education, employment and rehabilitation. The initiative would cost Californians $1 billion in the first year and half a billion per year thereafter; plus additional unfunded mandates that local and county governments will be forced to pay.

The Runner Initiative is a far reaching measure that stiffens criminal penalties and introduces laws reminiscent of failed past polices that did not increase public safety but instead substantially increased California’s prison population. The initiative would allow the prosecution of youth as adults, increase penalties for drug related offenses, increase penalties for offenses alleged to be “gang related,” create mandatory criminal background checks for housing subsidy recipients and prohibit bail for undocumented immigrants charged with “gang related” felonies.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’ projected $12 billion budget already exceeds that of higher education. Currently, California prisons house 170,469 people, with an additional 3,275 people shipped out of state from overcrowding. Many prisons are packed at more than 200 percent, forcing some inmates to sleep outside and on floors. Highlighting the prison system’s failures is California’s 70 percent recidivism rate, the highest in the country.

Jonah Zern can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it For more information and to get involved in defeating the Runner Initiative, visit www.defeatrunner.org or call (510) 428-3939, ext. 232.

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