Alameda County Reparations Commission Meeting – May 14, 2026
Alameda County Reparations Commission Meeting – May 14, 2026
The Alameda County Reparations Commission (ACRC) convened on May 14, 2026, at 2:15 PM (Pacific) for a regular meeting. Commissioners reviewed and approved past minutes, discussed the draft Action Plan report (deadline May 15), approved a four‑priority memorandum for the Board of Supervisors, and adopted a community engagement campaign toolkit to mobilize support for the June 30 Board presentation.
Consent Calendar
- March 18, 2026 minutes: Approved unanimously (Commissioner Berry, Herskin, Triplett excused; Commissioner Barlack joined after roll call).
- March 23, 2026 special meeting minutes: Approved unanimously (Commissioners Barry, Herskin, Triplett excused; Commissioner Jones abstained because not in attendance).
- April 8, 2026 minutes: Approved unanimously (Commissioners Barry, Herskin, Triplett excused).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Quantum Norwood presented a written proposal for a “collaborative self‑use reliance model” for reparations implementation. He advocated using a community‑controlled land trust and secure community network to shift from a government program to a public‑community partnership, asking the commission to include infrastructure grants as a formal implementation strategy in the final report.
Discussion Items
- Action Plan (Draft Report) Review: Chair Gore outlined the comment process: commissioners have a shared drive with PDFs and a Google form for edits. Key discussion points:
- Commissioner Gardner suggested adding a section on financial literacy, noting it was missing from the report.
- Commissioner Knowles raised the need to list all partner organizations (e.g., Alpha Phi Alpha, Pilgrim, National Coalition of 100 Black Women, NAACP South Hayward, Russell City Reparations Coalition, Kingmaker, Alameda County Juvenile Hall School of Policyboard, and facilitators like Tracy Webb). Michael from the consulting team (Informing Change) confirmed they would add any names submitted by Friday.
- Commissioner Knowles also proposed listing former commissioners (CJ, Carolyn Johnson, Lori Cox, Stevens) with their service dates and suggested dedicating the report to all past commissioners. The commission agreed in principle.
- Recommendations on page 10: a discussion about adding dollar amounts alongside percentages in a budget table led to a friendly amendment to remove the table and have Commissioner Small revise it by Friday. The amended memo was approved.
- Other content additions: citations for California reparations bills (SB 518, SB 437), vetoed bills, San Francisco’s $5 million fund, and historical Klan convenings in Oakland/Piedmont. The “tip of the spear” language was kept but clarified to reference the Black Panther Party rather than just Oakland.
- Four Priorities Memorandum: Chair Gore presented the memo, which distills the commission’s work into four priority actions for the Board of Supervisors on June 30:
- Receive and accept the Action Plan.
- Bridge the gap and prevent delays: establish a permanent committee, a Phase 2 commission, and a community advisory council.
- Create equity alignment: canvas county equity efforts and align with departments/committees.
- Operationalize reparations within the county, with the library as interim home and eventual transition to an Office of Equity. After debate (including a motion to approve with an amendment to revise the page‑10 table), the motion carried. Commissioner Johnson emphasized the need to articulate the cost of inequality to build public support.
- Community Engagement Campaign Toolkit: Tasian of the Kwamaleli Group presented a toolkit for the June 30 Board meeting, including a why‑it‑matters explanation, ready‑to‑share messaging, an email letter template, a Change.org letter of support, and campaign graphics. Commissioners discussed using Juneteenth festivals and a pre‑meeting press conference for momentum. The toolkit was approved unanimously. The clerk noted a line item for printed collateral (signs, flyers).
Key Outcomes
- Minutes approved: All three sets (March 18, March 23 special, April 8) passed unanimously.
- Action Plan comments commitment: Motion passed (unanimous, with excusals) confirming commissioners will submit all edits and content by Friday, May 15, 2026.
- Four Priorities Memorandum approved with an amendment to remove and revise the budget table on page 10 by Friday.
- Community Engagement Campaign Toolkit approved unanimously.
- Next steps: The ad hoc committee will meet May 27 to rehearse the June 30 presentation. Commissioners interested in serving on the future smaller “Commission 2.0” were asked to express interest to their supervisors; the new body (likely 7 members) may not be appointed until fall 2026 due to August recess.
Meeting Transcript
to order this is our May 13th versus Commission meeting um welcome everyone we have a pretty full agenda I think we're gonna be using the the full two hours depending on how uh how much we deep dive into each of the attachments there's a lot to review a lot of homework at this day um with that all do the roll call commissioner brazil excuse commissioner berry excuse commissioner dones yeah commissioner gardener here commissioner gaitens here commissioner gore here commissioner herskin excuse commissioner johnson here commissioner noel here commissioner mclendon here commissioner sass room in the hallway i can hear them might be a commissioner small here commissioner triplet excused commissioner far like excused you have a forum thank you any public comments non agenda we said you were here i'm here no items for we have no comments um we have a gentleman from the public right here have a comment okay to sign that no no i'll take your name let me hold your wallet though i'm trying to send you the paperwork the number of six more i couldn't remember it 62 or second is there's it you want two two minutes yes okay it would be great if you can come over here so the folks online could see you okay fantastic thank you so much oh you're thank you for coming you the uh seats excellent so we do have public comments yeah let me see if I can get this done you can give you name and then here oh and now we have commissioner barlack welcome welcome we have we have uh public comments let the record show that commissioner has joined us okay please take questions okay good evening uh yeah and commission uh my name is quantum norwood i have provided a written proposal to the clerk regarding collaborative self-use reliance model um for reparation implementation while the draft report directly identifies the harm exclusion public cluster our proposal focus on mitigating the board of supervisors' concerns regarding long term liability we are proposing to use a community control land trust and a secure community network as a power level structure this model ships reparation government program to a public community partnership where the community manages its own safety and assets i ask that you include these infrastructure grants as a formal implementation strategy and the final report to ensure our community has the permanent sovereign tool to build that the system the one we are replacing very much and we received a handout as well that and also I'd like to um welcome commissioner bazil as well so not everybody to thank you again for your comments for the you have to be okay no yes absolutely okay uh next order of business are the minutes there are three minutes we need to review we'll start with each um uh minutes each month or each dates minutes and as you recall if you were not in attendance you'll need to stay from the vote so let's start uh if we can get a motion for the March 18th of motion for march eighth minutes so moved to a second did someone second yeah I've got a second second for the second second. First move and second. Approval eighteenth minutes. Yes. Commissioner bazil. Commissioner berry, excuse. Commissioner Dones. Aye. Commissioner Gaden. Commissioner Gore. Aye. Commissioner Gardner. Aye. Commissioner Herskin, excuse. Commissioner Johnson. Aye. Commissioner McClendon. Aye. Commissioner Sass. Aye. Commissioner Small. Aye. Commissioner Verlack. Excuse. March 18th. March 18th. Okay, now for the special meeting minute. So that was the March 23rd. Hopefully everybody was able to review those minutes. We could have a motion. Motion for the March 23rd minutes. I just motion for March 23rd. Motion, is there a second? I will second. Second by Sass. Thank you. For March 23rd minutes. Commissioner. Commissioner Barry, excuse. Commissioner Jones. Not sure if I was in attendance. Yes, you don't want to be a word. Aye. Commissioner Gardner. Aye. Commissioner Gayden. Aye. Commissioner Herskin. Excuse. Commissioner Johnson.
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