M Focus on: Municipal Management By DENISE FEDOROW | The Municipal
A topic that has both been discussed and dismissed over the decades as being too controversial or too difficult to enact — reparation — is being dealt with in Evanston, Ill., and other cities across the U.S.
Cities put reparation talks into action
Evanston is the first city to enact a reparation program. While city officials admit it’s not perfect, they’ve moved from the talking phase into the action phase. Other cities are following with their own programs. In June 2020, the Asheville, N.C., City Council passed a reparations resolution acknowledging all the ways it believes Black people have been treated unjustly. It specifically named them, including “have been denied housing through racist practices in the private realty market, including redlining, steering, blockbusting, denial of mortgages and gentrification” and “have been forced to reside in, adjacent to, or near Brown Zones and other toxic sites that negatively impact their health and property and whereas Black people have been limited to the confined routes of travel provided by public transportation and whereas Black people have disproportionately suffered from the isolation of food deserts and childcare deserts.” These are just a few items listed in the resolution. The resolution also states the city council apologizes for and makes amends for all the wrongdoings and directs the city manager to establish a process within the next year to address these issues. In February 2021, the city manager gave a report to the council spelling out three phases of the process. The first phase was an information and truth-telling phase from May through June 2021, and the second phase was the formation of the commission from May through July 2021. A final report is the third phase, which is expected from January 2022 through April 2023. In June, the council held a reparation series of speakers to implement the information and truth-telling phase. Ashley Traynum-Carson, communications specialist for the city of Asheville, reported, “On June 8, 2021, the Asheville City Council appropriated up to $2.1 million in proceeds from the sale of city-owned land at 172 and 174 S. Charlotte St. to fund the community reparations process. A portion of this property includes land the city purchased in the 1970s through Urban Renewal of East End/Valley Street.” In a blog titled “Asheville Reparations Resolution is Designed to Provide Black Community Access to the Opportunity to Build Wealth” by Nia Davis, Asheville Office of Equity and Inclusion, she explained that urban renewal.
TOP LEFT: The city of Evanston’s Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center was named after Evanston’s first African-American mayor, Lorraine H. Morton, who served the city from 1993-2009. (Photo provided by Evanston, Ill.) BOTTOM LEFT: The Stephens-Lee Recreational Center in Asheville was once the African American high school. (Photo provided by Asheville, N.C.) 26 THE MUNICIPAL | DECEMBER 2021
