URGENT
- 1 item
PROBLEMATIC
- 0 items
The Community Reparations Commission will hold their next meeting on Monday, June 27, 2022, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. The meeting is being held at the Buncombe County First Floor Conference Room at 200 College Street. The public is welcome to attend the entire session. The meeting will be recorded and streamed here.
The Asheville City Council meets this Tuesday 6/28/22 at 5 pm. You can attend the meeting in person at the Council Chamber in City Hall in downtown Asheville, or watch it online (instructions are here). The full agenda is here.
URGENT:
Things that are top priority
The Buncombe County Commission persists in completely ignoring the request of the Community Reparations Commission
It’s now been over a month since the Community Reparations Commission formally asked both the City of Asheville and Buncombe County to commit to Reparations. The City has responded, but the County continues to ignore the request. The Buncombe County Commission passed a budget last Tuesday, approving $2 million for Reparations as previously planned, but they did not address the issue of funding into the future.
Refusing to respond at all to the Reparations Commission is disrespectful and potentially harmful to the Reparations process, which the County Commission claims to support. We reiterate our hope that the Buncombe County Commission will designate Reparations as an ongoing funding priority, with an annual goal that matches their allocation this year of $2 million. Will Buncombe County commit to funding Reparations or not?
Things to do
We encourage you to reach out to the Buncombe County Commission and ask them to finally respond to the Community Reparations Commission’s request for a funding commitment. You can personalize and send the email template available at the Racial Justice Coalition website.
YELLOW:
Things of concern, more information needed
Asheville City Council: Unfinished Business A – Fiscal Year 2022-23 Annual Operating Budget Documents
The City will vote on whether to approve this budget for the next fiscal year. They are allocating $500,000 for Reparations, with the stated intent to use that figure as a baseline for future budgets. “In future fiscal years staff will plan on budgeting Reparations similar to how the current annual funding is handled for the Housing Trust Fund (also $500,000). Specifically, staff will include at least $500,000 for Reparations in future base budgets, subject to financial feasibility and eventual final budget approval by City Council.”
We are concerned about the apparent lack of communication between City and County officials around the Reparations process in general and funding in particular. We encourage folks to watch the City Council meeting, either in person or via livestream (instructions above), and to keep watching to see how the City follows through on its commitment to Reparations.