President of Black Business Association Calls for Resignation of Town Manager

Amherst Town Manager Paul Bockelman presented his spending plan for distributing the remaining $3.8 million of the $11.9 million American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to the Amherst Town Council at their meeting on Monday, March 18, 2024. In response to that plan, Pat Ononibaku, President of the Black Business Association of Amherst Area (BBAAA), called for Bockelman’s resignation. In a BBAAA press release dated March 20, Ononibaku said, “Paul Bockelman must resign immediately due to his anti-black practices. Why did the Town Council vote to endorse $300,000 for the Drake in 2021 and deny in 2024 that same privilege of a vote on the current spending plan for the remaining $3.8 million? The rules of engagement must change. The BID (Business Improvement District) and the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce receive resources and support from our town government regularly and throughout the year. The same resources and support must be provided to the BBAAA.”

Demands for more fairness, equity, and transparency in the distribution of ARPA funds were first leveled in 2022 when Ononibaku charged that none of the pre-existing black owned businesses in Amherst were awarded ARPA funds. (see also here). (Editor’s note: see here for the BID response to the original BBAAA charges.)

The BID is a 501c4 lobbying group for developers owning real estate in downtown. Bockleman, who sits on the Board of Directors of the BID, gave the then BID Executive Director Gabrielle Gould control of $100,000 to distribute to businesses while providing another 501c3 nonprofit she simultaneously led (the Downtown Amherst Foundation) $300,000 to support the downtown night club, the Drake.

Ononibaku pointed out that the three white people implicated in the alleged unfair distribution of ARPA funds to the business community have resigned from their positions. The former Town Finance Director Sean Mangano resigned in 2023, and the former Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Claudia Pazmany and the former BID Executive Director Gabrielle Gould both resigned last month (2/24). All have been accused of denying ARPA funds to pre-existing black business owners including Hazel’s Blue Lagoon owners who operated a nightclub across the street from the Drake. Without the much needed ARPA funding and as a result of unnecessary extended delays with permitting process by the Town Inspection Office, Hazel’s Blue Lagoon was forced to shut down.

Ononibaku stated, “Public comments were overwhelmingly supportive of BBAAA calls for ARPA support for black-owned businesses, yet the Town Manager and Town Council consistently ignore our calls to do better, to be fair, and to be more transparent when it comes down to allocation of capital, resources, and support. No BIPOC led organizations in this town received a dime of ARPA relief from our town including Amherst Media, Sankofa Gumbo, and Amherst Community Connections.. Rather, the lion’s share of the $11.9M has lined the pockets of white-led nonprofit organizations, developers, and business owners including contractors selected to repair town infrastructure such as buildings and roads. A robust audit will be needed to fully expose this corruption in Amherst. To date, only two start-up black owned businesses (White Lion and Carefree Cakery) were awarded $5,000 and $8,000 of ARPA funds respectively. These businesses are tenants of two of the richest and most influential developers and commercial landlords in our town.”

Monica Cage, a board member of BBAAA, provided public comment at the town council meeting on Monday March 18, stating that she was hopeful ARPA funds could be used to scale up her natural hair braiding business, Crowned by Cage, and that BBAAA provides much needed community, mentorship, and support for young entrepreneurs like herself. She stated, “Excluding black businesses from access to capital is indefensible and most likely illegal.”

BBAAA’s treasurer Yasmine Brandford provided public comment stating she has been operating Amherst Extensions and Hair Salon in Amherst for the past 16 years and continues to be frustrated by the lack of support from the town. She stated, “Our backs are to the wall right now. They are not paying attention. They do not care about us.”

Ed Cage, a member of BBAAA, expressed his disappointment stating, “I came with an open heart and an open mind that our town would support us when they heard from us, when we appeal to them, but Monday night March 18, felt like a total rejection of my existence, of my humanity, of my service to this community. I have not felt more disrespected. It is as if the Town Manager did not bear witness to our tears, our struggles, and our pain when he came in 2023 to meet privately with me and other black men and women from BBAAA organization who operate businesses in this town.”

Ononibaku thanked supporters of BBAAA, “who have advocated for us through public comments, emails to the Town Council, showing up at Town Council meetings in person and remotely for the past two years,” and urged them to continue their advocacy, as “the black community is still hurting, and the Town Manager doesn’t care.”