Kansas City's reparations commission is up and running with the appointment of 13 members who will seek taxpayer dollars for payments to eligible Black residents in the area.
After passing a vote in January to form the commission, Democrat Mayor Quinton Lucas appointed 13 people to sit on the board Monday and begin the process of forming reparation proposals in the Missouri city.
The Mayor's Commission for Reparations will reportedly be researching the city's historical treatment of African Americans and, according to a 2022 proposal, be "expressing apologies on behalf of the City of Kansas City and declaring the City’s intent to make amends for its participation in the sanctioning of the enslavement of Black people."
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Members of the new commission include, Chair Terri Barnes, Terri Barnes Linwood Tauheed, Cornell Ellis, Dionne King, Madison Lyman, Ryan Sorrell, Kenneth Ford, Fritz Riesmeyer, Bridgette Jones, Kelli Hearn, Will Bowles, Danise Hartsfield, Ajia Morris, Ex-Officio Mickey Dean, Ester Holzendorf and Mickey Dean, local outlet FOX4 reported.
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The city filed Ordinance #220966 in 2022 that laid out the city's reparations proposal and "expressing apologies on behalf of the City of Kansas City and declaring the City’s intent to make amends for its participation in the sanctioning of the enslavement of Black people and any historical enforcement of segregation and accompanying discriminatory practices against Black citizens of Kansas City, encouraging others to join the City in this effort, and establishing a commission within 90 days to be known as the Mayor’s Commission on Reparations to advise the City regarding reparation issues."
It is unknown at this time exactly what type of payments or how much in payments the commission will be seeking for Black residents, however, the ordinance states that "the Commission will issue a preliminary report of its findings within one year of its inaugural meeting and a final report will be issued within six (6) months thereafter."
While Democrat-run Kansas City discusses a price tag for reparation payments, proposals from San Francisco and California task forces are reportedly seeking to charge each individual taxpayer an estimated $600,000 for reparation payments to eligible Black residents in the state.
