Shelby County Black Caucus renames Region 1 task force and moves to form environmental task force

The Chair of the Shelby County Black Caucus moved to rename the "Region 1 Black Economic Inclusion Task Force" to the "Region 1 Economic Task Force" and, without objection, the motion carried by voice vote. The Chair also requested creation of an environmental task force to collect environmental test scores and examine community concerns about lead and contaminated soil and air.

The chair said she has begun district tours for District 7 and offered to share her outreach template with caucus members interested in replicating the work. On the environmental proposal, the chair described reports from residents inside and outside District 7 raising “environmental issues with lead” and “contaminated soil and air,” and said forming a task force would be a way to respond.

On scheduling, the chair announced that the Black Caucus meeting will be ‘‘immediately following committee meetings’’ and asked staff to publish that standing notice so assistants can place it on members’ calendars. The chair said she had not had a consistent assistant until last month and that publishing the meeting following committees should allow staff to add the caucus to calendars.

No roll-call vote was recorded in the transcript; the chair noted objections were not raised and moved the items by voice. The caucus did not record a final membership list or budget details during this item.

What comes next: the chair said she will create an agenda for the caucus and staff will attempt to publish the recurring Black Caucus meeting; follow-up items include formalizing the environmental task force’s charge and collecting environmental test scores.