Dismay at Town’s Alleged Foot Dragging on Social Justice Projects

Report on the Meeting of the Community Safety and Social Justice Committee (CSSJC), August 14, 2024

The meeting was held over Zoom and was recorded. The recording can be viewed here.

Present
Allegra Clark (co-chair),  Debra Ferreira (co-chair).  Absent: Everald Henry, Lissette Paredes.

Staff:  Camille Theriaque (CRESS Director, Town Liaison to the Committee), Pamela Nolan Young (Director of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI),  Philip Avila (Assistant Director, DEI office).

The number of members of the public in attendance was not announced.

Committee Lacks Sufficient Numbers to Field a Quorum
Because the CSSJC currently has three vacancies, a quorum was not present so no official actions were taken. This was the second month in which the committee  was unable to field a quorum. A town liaison has not attended a CSSJC meeting since Assistant DEI Director Jennnifer Moyston resigned in April. DEI director Pamela Nolan Young informed the committee that the town would be conducting interviews of applicants and that the Town Manager hoped to fill positions on the committee in late September.  She encouraged members of the community to apply to fill those openings (see also here) and noted that one opening was for a youth member – a position that has never been filled. She said that moving forward, CRESS director Camille Theriaque would be the new town liaison to CSSJC and that Assistant DEI director Philip Avila would endeavor to attend future meetings as well.

Dismay Over Marginalization of CSSJC
The CSSJC devoted the bulk of its meeting to raising concerns about the town’s commitment to social and economic justice, about the apparent lack of progress in creating a BIPOC Youth Empowerment Center and a Residents’ Police Oversight Board (ROB), about the town’s failure to share information with the committee concerning social justice initiatives. and about a perceived sense of hostility from town departments toward the CSSJC. 

All of these concerns were also shared by six of the  seven members of the public who spoke during public comment (see below). Of particular concern was the transfer of responsibility for creating a BIPOC Youth Empowerment Center from the DEI office to the Recreation Commission and Finance Department and of the failure of those departments to share any information about these changes or future plans with CSSJC.  

Chairs Debora Ferreira and Allegra Clark noted that getting information about these projects from town hall – information about who is in charge and what is happening, has proven to be a challenge. They noted an unwillingness of town departments to keep CSSJC informed, even though these projects originated with CSSJC and its precursor, the Community Safety Working Group (CSWG). Ferreira said that CSSJC has a mandate to advocate for the interests of those who will be served by these projects and that it is necessary and appropriate for CSSJC to be involved. She accused the Town Manager of “foot dragging”:  implementing these changes and keeping CSSJC out of the loop in order to delay progress on the projects.

She and Clark repeatedly voiced their frustration saying “we’re just trying to figure out what is going on, who is involved, and what the timetables are for moving the projects forward.” Recent meetings of the CSSJC have seen Ferreira presenting Pamela Young with long lists of questions about the projects as well as about public safety issues,  but often failing to get a substantial response (e.g., see here,  here,  here, here, and here).  

This tension between town hall and the committee has been present since the committee’s inception in 2022 and carries over from hard-won concessions to the CSWG – including commitments to create an alternative responders service (CRESS), a BIPOC Youth Empowerment Center, and a Residents’ Police Oversight Board (see e.g., here, here, here,  here, and here). But while the committee’s advocacy for the town’s most marginalized residents has always encountered resistance, it appears that lately, their efforts to engage in advocacy are facing increasingly formidable obstacles. The CSSJC had to file a public records request in March of 2024 to gain access to CRESS dispatch data to which they are entitled as a town committee.  And in June, Town Manager Paul Bockelman indicated that he would not reappoint CSSJC co-chair Ferreira to the committee when her appointment expired at the end of that month.  This was met with considerable public outcry and Bockelman relented in June and reppointed her.  Ferreira had  described Bockelman’s actions as retributive in response to her strong advocacy for Amherst’s most vulnerable residents.  Members of the committee have frequently expressed frustration at the difficulties they have encountered in getting answers to their questions. 

Town to Conduct New Feasibility Study for Youth Center
Ferreira and Clark asked if the work on a BIPOC Youth Center – first recommended by the CSWG in 2019, had indeed been moved out of the DEI office and was now in the hands of Recreation Commission. Theriaque confirmed that this was the case and that the initiative was now being led by the town Finance Director and the Recreation Commission. Ferreira asked if a committee had been appointed to do this work.  Theriaque responded  that the Town Manager decided over a year ago that there would be a Task Force on Youth Empowerment – and that it would not be under DEI. Young reported that she is no longer in the loop concerning youth. empowerment.  Theriaque added that the coordinating group is “not actually an official task force but an unnamed group of people, including people from the Recreation Commission, who have been brought together by the Town Manager to organize this initiative.”  This group has thus far met once and they have hired the Donahue Institute to do a feasibility study.  Theriaque and Avila will serve as town liaisons to this group.  She did not share who the other members of the group are or which constituencies will be represented or whether a committee charge had been adopted. CSSJC members said this was the first they had learned of these efforts.

Young reported that since it had been four years since the 7 Gen Collective, under the direction of the late Dee Shabazz, had conducted a feasibility study for a Youth Empowerment Center,  the committee felt that the information was out-of-date and that a new feasibility study was needed. She said that is why the town had contracted with the Donahue Institute to conduct the new study. She reported that at their first meeting, the group, suggested engaging young people at the upcoming block party on September 19 to help ensure a diverse outreach effort.   

Ferreira reacted strongly to this information.

She objected to discarding the previous work of the 7 Gen Collective, noting that it was far more methodologically sound and more comprehensive than approaching youth at a block party, which she suggested would likely be biased toward white youth and not conducive to collecting detailed and thoughtful responses.  Ferreira noted that the original study was grounded in participatory action research with methods aimed at guaranteeing outreach to a diverse community including those who are mistrusting of authority and government and who might be reluctant to speak up.  The original study was designed to ensure the representation of marginalized residents and people of color and she wondered whether such concerns were shared by those designing the new study.  She noted that Shabazz worked hard to be inclusive when formulating the study. She wondered about the DEI experience and priorities of those creating a new study and about whether there was significant BIPOC leadership on this new committee. Clark also noted Shabazz’ many and varied contributions to social justice and DEI work in the community and said that the town should honor her work.

But Young responded that the original research done by CSWG was not sufficiently robust though she did not elaborate on how or why she found it to be lacking.  She said “There will be a lot of people at the block party and it seems like a good place to start.”

Ferreira countered that the block party is just that–a party– and not a great environment to have any sort of a meaningful research engagement or be a primary data collection site.

Ferreira again objected to being left out of the loop, and said town hall has failed to share information with the committee, town staff have failed to use CSSJC as a resource in developing programming for BIPOC people, and the town has failed to include CSSJC in the planning process.  She asked, “How are we supposed to oversee and monitor this issue when we are not in the loop? The last study was done by a diverse BIPOC- led organization.  Will that be the case with Donahue?  Can we be confident that this will be a program that emphasizes the needs of BIPOC youth and with BIPOC leadership as it was originally envisioned?  This is deeply concerning to me.  We’d like to know who the leaders are going to be.  We are already four years in…. we’d like to hear something about timetables.”

Avila said that he believed that the new group’s focus is in line with the original work of CSWG and Amherst’s African Heritage Reparations Assembly. 

Young reported that the town is currently negotiating with a contractor to complete studies for a Resident Police Oversight Board (ROB) and that a timetable for establishing the ROB should be available by the end of the month.

Social Justice Work in Amherst is Short-staffed
Human Rights Commission (HRC) co-chair Elizabeth Haygood announced during public comment that she would be resigning from the commission, possibly as soon as October, because of work-related travel obligations. She noted that the commission currently has three openings that need to be filled and she encouraged people to apply to fill them.

CRESS director Camille Theriaque reported that CRESS currently has four responders on staff, half of the original staffing of the department, and that the four responders who recently left did so to pursue other opportunities.  She did not indicate whether any of those who just departed were among the four new responders who had been hired in January. She said that CRESS is in the process of interviewing for new responders and that such turnover is not unusual during a leadership change and that she is not worried about the current staffing. She said “Change takes time. Our call volume is still increasing significantly. We are in the community, active, and participating.  We are now doing the work that we were originally charged with.”  

She said that although staffing is at an all-time low, responder activity is up.  She reported that CRESS took 76 calls in June, 94 calls in July and has had 1020 interactions this year.  She did not provide a written copy of her report to the committee and it was not available in the meeting packet.  Ferreira requested that in the future, she submit her reports in advance of the meeting and she agreed to do so.

DEI director Young introduced Philip Avila as the new Assistant DEI Director.  She noted that DEI has been an office of one since Moyston left in April and that Avila’s presence would be an enormous help in advancing the work of the office. Avila previously served as a member of the CSSJC and as co-chair of the HRC.  She also noted that DEI was originally tasked with working with four different boards/commissions/committees and that in seeking “work load equity” from the Town Manager,  responsibility for CSSJC has been transferred from DEI to the CRESS director.

Ferreira was concerned about the change, noting that DEI needs to be working in partnership with CSSJC because their charges overlap substantially.  She said that it is important that DEI and CSSJC maintain open communication and that DEI attend CSSJC meetings. Avila assured Ferreira that he would make every effort to do so.

Public Comment
Young informed the meeting that from now on, public comment at CSSJC meetings will not necessarily be limited to three minutes but may be longer at the discretion of the chairs. She said, “ We want to make sure that people have the opportunity to raise their concerns regarding social justice in the town and that they see CSSJC as a safe and welcoming space, so we don’t want to be cutting people off when they have something to say.”

Pat Ononibaku, a former member of the CSSJC, underscored the importance of unrestricted speech during public comment and commended the committee on their new policy.  She said that CSSJC was created to be a safe space for residents and especially marginalized members of the community to bring their perspectives and concerns to the town.  As President of the Black Business Association of Amherst Area, she reminded the committee that, in her opinion, the town’s distribution of ARPA (American Rescue Program Act) funds had been inequitable and had excluded Black owned businesses and had not supported the folks who were hurting the most after COVID. She challenged the DEI office to do better at looking out for the marginalized people of the town and for prioritizing equity and social justice.

Regarding the Youth Empowerment Center, she said, “The town’s rejection of the 7 Gen report is disrespectful of the people who did the original work and of the two women of color ( Shabazz and  Sonji Anderson  who along with Katie Lazdowski led the team. It was clear in the early work that the Youth Empowerment Center needed to be under DEI and it needed to be under leadership of People of Color.” 

She also voiced concern over the high turnover in CRESS saying that something must be wrong if we are experiencing that kind of turnover and asked, “Why is the department that is supposed to support marginalized people in town struggling so much?”

She praised Ferreira and Clark for speaking up for the community and expressed frustration that they are not being respected for that work.

She concluded, “We need more transparency in this government.”

Brianna Owen, previous co-chair of the CSWG said she feels like there is a
“weird hostility” on the part of town departments toward the CSSJC and that the original ideas for a BIPOC youth empowerment center and an ROB  originated with the CSWG and CSSJC and it is reasonable that the CSSJC remain involved in the development of these programs and in advocating for the interests of the communities that they will serve.

Martha Hanner, a member of the League of Women Voters of Amherst, reported that the monthly CSSJC meeting is her only chance as a member of the community to keep tabs on what’s happening with DEI and CRESS.  “It’s not just CSSJC members who are interested in this information that CSSJC is requesting,” she said. “Many members of the community look here to get that information so filing the reports such as the CRESS report and putting them in the packet makes this information available.  Transparency does seem to be a challenge throughout our town government. There are a lot of us out there who are interested in the good work being done and we ask that you help us to stay informed.”

Kathleen Anderson, a former member of the the Amherst School Committee and past president  of the local chapter of the NAACP announced that the Race Amity Group of the local Bahai community will hold a community music event at Kendrick Park from 5-8 p.m on Saturday August 17.

Town Councilor Ellisha Walker (at large), previous co-chair of the CSWG and speaking as an individual, echoed the comments of Brianna Owen saying, “We need to think of all of us in this community working on these issues as a team and we need to be working together.” She reminded the committee that previous research and outreach on youth empowerment was very intentional, that data were collected by trusted members of the community among people that included Amherst’s most vulnerable residents who are most lacking in trust of town government.  “That kind of information can’t be obtained by walking around a public event and talking to people. Those original data should not be discarded and are still relevant and they ought to be considered more purposefully,” she said

Liz Haygood – co chair of HRC, raised concerns about the short-staffing of social justice committees and departments. She said, “It can’t be a small handful people carrying all of this work in town.  It just leads to burnout.”  She implored people to get involved.

Evelyn Aquino  seconded what the preceding speakers had said and emphasized the need for more transparency in government and more collaboration with CSSJC. She said, “It is hard to comprehend the animosity town staff exhibits toward this committee that emphasized healing, collaboration and community building.  Why all the negativity?  Who is in this new task force?  Why don’t we know?” 

She added, “It seems like the hiring of the Donahue Institute is in conflict with the equity approach that led to the hiring of 7 Gen as the original consultant for the project. I have concerns about using the block party as a primary source of youth input for Youth Empowerment programming.  This does not seem like a thoughtful approach.”

She concluded, “We want to live in a just and equitable community. “