AMHERST — Educational and recreational programs for youth and affordable housing that includes home ownership opportunities could be prioritized for funding in the final report to be delivered by the African Heritage Reparation Assembly next month.

The town committee is in the final stages of completing its recommendations, with a draft copy of the report expected to be circulating among town officials in advance of a final report and presentation to the Town Council on either Sept. 11 or Sept. 18.

District 1 Councilor Michele Miller, who chairs the assembly, said at the Aug. 7 meeting that more participation is still being sought from the public, following a survey in the spring that closed with 614 responses, 95 of whom identified as Black. Miller said the final report will be done through an iterative process.

“That draft is always open to being changed between now and final approval of this committee,” Miller said.

The committee’s charge comes out of the Town Council’s 2020 resolution “Affirming the Town of Amherst’s Commitment to End Structural Racism and Achieve Racial Equity for Black Residents,” and its report was originally due at the end of June, a date that has been extended.

Its advice will give direction for reparations initiatives and the report is a critical component of the Town Council’s commitment of $2 million in certified free cash obtained through cannabis tax revenue. The robust reparative justice plan will include eligibility criteria and recommendations about usage of funds. An allocation plan, including eligibility criteria, is being determined and approved by the broader Amherst Black community through a census and community feedback process.

Irv Rhodes, a member of the assembly, said youth programming is appropriate, as is appropriating money to be used in conjunction with other money to create programmatic goals and objectives.

“Youth as related to recreation is really big for me, youth as related to education is really big for me,” Rhodes said.

Housing, too, should be supported, Rhodes said, noting that there is a two-class system in Amherst with the very wealthy and the very poor.

Miller said decisions on how to stretch the money to impact the most people have to be in the report.

The report will also outline a plan for developing ongoing funding streams to repair past harms committed by the town against Black people, and additional means of repair for anti-Black structural and communal racism, including public events and activities that prioritize truth telling and reconciliation.

A delicate issue is cash payments and whether those should be recommended, even if there is a need for special legislation from the state to accommodate them.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com]]>