At its final meeting, the Asheville reparations commission says: We need more time

ASHEVILLE - At its final scheduled meeting July 15, the historic Community Reparations Commission had a clear message: We need more time.

Commission Chair Dewana Little reviewed a six-month extension request, taking the CRC through the end of the year, which will be presented to Asheville City Council Aug. 27, city spokesperson Kim Miller said July 17.

City staff responded after Little's proposal with a recommendation that some commission members say comes in "opposition" to their request: For the city to continue its current level of support only through October.

The process has not always been a smooth one. In July 2020, Asheville City Council passed a resolution supporting reparations for Black Asheville, which tasked the city with establishing a process to develop short-, medium- and long-term recommendations to repair damage caused by public and private systemic racism. Shortly after, the county passed a similar resolution.

Asheville and Buncombe County are among the first locales in the country to undertake such an effort.

Little said an extension was needed, in part, due to some of the accompanying complications — Like "repeated changes" around project management, inconsistent timelines, delays in accessing data and lack of time/capacity for research.

In the more than two years since its formation in April 2022, the reparations commission has seen three different project managers , as well as turnover in both the city and county’s equity offices and on the commission itself. In May, Dwight Mullen stepped down as chair and was replaced by Little.

With the extension, Little said they could finalize the report, continue community engagement efforts, form and organize an accountability council, create a nonprofit to establish a private fund for reparations and more. This is work she said is necessary to complete the "full charge" of the CRC.

This was not the first call for an extension. In October, the CRC requested an eight-month extension to their two-year timeline, which would have prolonged the process until December 2024. Both city and county agreed only to a June extension.

Commissioner Dwayne Richardson likened the reparations process to "trying to build a car while we drive it," and said it feels sometimes as though the goals of the reparations commission are "pushing against" the objectives of city and county government.

"How did you all come to the conclusion that it was best to overlook the fact that we thought we needed an extension?" he asked the city's Equity and Inclusion Director Sala Menaya-Merritt.

Menaya-Merritt said this was not a dismissal of the commission's request, but the three-month extension recommendation, rather than six, was determined based on the charge of the original resolution, which she said was to approve recommendations and create a final report.

As of June, nearly 40 recommendations have been passed. Beginning in June, a team has been meeting biweekly to write the final report. From there, recommendations will move forward to City Council and County Commission.

"It is ... our thought that within the next three months, we will be able to get the final report completed," Menaya-Merritt said. After October, staff will return to council to provide a status update, and initiate further extension discussion, if the deadline isn't met. "We will continue to support in any way that we are able to make sure this process is successful."

The county is not considering an extension request. Spokesperson Lillian Govus said the county would continue staffing the commission via its Equity and Human Rights Office.

Once the commission finalizes its recommendations, she said, they will go before the Board of Commissioners for consideration "as appropriate."

'This is not the end'

Whether this was the last formal meeting of the commission remains to be seen, but as the meeting concluded, commissioners offered some final thoughts.

Here's what some CRC members had to say:

• Keith Young, former Asheville City Council member and author of the 2020 reparations resolution : "Whether this is the last meeting or not, hold government accountable for this process moving forward. This is not the end. It is the beginning ... whether we're back or not, this is ongoing. This has to be a problem-driven, iterative, adaptive process. And if it is not being approached as a problem-driven, iterative, adaptive process, then it will not be successful."
• Dewana Little, CRC Chair: "I'm excited to be in this journey with you all. It's been a great two years. This is technically our last scheduled meeting. I have enjoyed and have grown off the insight, and input, and wisdom, and knowledge of everyone that is a part of this process ... I'm hopeful that this work will continue."
• Bobette Mays, CRC Vice Chair: "It's been an honor and a privilege to have worked with everyone that I've worked with. I think that even though we all have our own different opinions, that doesn't mean that end of that we don't all come together."
• MZ Yehudah : "Reparations is ongoing. This is one aspect of the process. I appreciate the time working with you all, and I want you all, and everybody, to continue to push ... push the envelope. Reparations is a promise that was made to address the harms that were perpetrated on Black people. I believe it was done in good faith. And I hope (the) city and county follows through on its process to address the harms, because at the end of the day, everyone benefits when that happens."
• Cici Weston : “I’m all in ... Whatever work needs to be done, I’m out there in the grind.”
• Roy Harris : “Let’s move forward and keep on going. The world will come to our doors and ask us about this. You can pretty much bet that as conferences happen all over the world, Asheville’s name will come up. Let’s keep moving forward. And no, this is not the end. It is just the beginning. Keep asking the question: What does this have to do with reparations?”
• Norma Baynes : “I know there is a lot of work yet to be done. And we will do it.”
• Dwayne Richardson : “Keep running. And if you can’t run, walk. And if you can’t walk, crawl. No matter what you do, keep moving. Let’s keep moving.”

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Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or message on X, formerly Twitter, at @slhonosky. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times .

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: At its final meeting, the Asheville reparations commission says: We need more time