By Scott Tibbs, September 17, 2014
----Original Message Follows----
From: Scott Tibbs [mailto:tibbs1973@yahoo.com]
Sent: Friday, September 12, 2014 11:50 AM
To: syoder@co.monroe.in.us; rlangley@co.monroe.in.us; mhawk@co.monroe.in.us; rdietz@co.monroe.in.us; gmckim@co.monroe.in.us; ljones@co.monroe.in.us; cmunson@co.monroe.in.us
Subject: Planned Parenthood's request for corporate welfare
Councilors,
I am writing you to once again encourage you to reject Planned Parenthood's request for a handout from the Community Service Grant Program. I urge you to respect the consciences of your constituents and to respect the other organizations that do not have the backing of an extremely wealthy national organization by denying this cynical request for a political endorsement from the Monroe County Council.
The 2014 grant application states that "Support for operational expenses will be considered, but not given highest priority." This is the second time this year that Planned Parenthood is seeking "bridge" funding for its operating budget instead of a grant to help with a one-time project.
It has become PP's habit to seek support for operational funding, so the obvious question is this: What is the purpose of the Community Service Grant Program? Is it to help with a one-time project, limited in scope, with a specific goal? Or is the CSGP to subsidize the operating budgets of community groups?
As representatives of this community, you should be distributing money based on need, not abortion politics. Quite simply, Planned Parenthood does not need the money they are asking you to give them. According to the national Planned Parenthood's annual report, the national office and all state affiliates took in $1,210,400,000 in revenue, while spending $1,152,200,000. That is a surplus of 58,200,000. The national office alone had a surplus of $11,700,000.
See the attached screenshots for more.
In addition to the lack of need, many of your constituents object to funding Planned Parenthood on a moral level, because Planned Parenthood performs abortions at its South College facility. Even though the money given to PP does not go to "abortion services" we object to being forced to give any money to an organization that performs such a morally heinous act. It is simply wrong for you to force us to contribute to an organization we find morally abhorrent. I urge you to be pro-choice in rejecting this request.
Finally, I am very disappointed in the lack of transparency on the Community Service Grant Program website. The website for the John Hopkins Social Services Fund is much more helpful, and includes each application for funding and the date where the final vote will be taken by the city council. As of the time I am sending this e-mail, none of that information is on the county's CSGP website. That should not be the case, and indicates the county council is not interested in transparency.
Thank you for your time.
Scott Tibbs
Resident of County Council district IV
