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Commission reviews $500,000 county allocation, agrees process for drafting reparations recommendations
Summary
At its Nov. 12 meeting the commission reviewed a $500,000 Board‑approved budget and a proposed reallocation plan; commissioners directed subcommittees to vet a recommendation‑submission tool the week of Dec. 1 and approved that schedule by roll‑call vote.
Alameda County’s Reparations Commission spent the bulk of its Nov. 12 meeting on budget details, outreach planning and the process for assembling commissioners’ draft recommendations.
Vice Chair McClendon walked commissioners through a simplified budget and a SharePoint budget tracker showing the Board of Supervisors’ $500,000 allocation. McClendon said the admin team had identified roughly $193,570 in additional line‑item recommendations to itemize the total approved amount and that the current burn rate meant the commission could move money between line items if needs changed.
"The Board of Supervisors approved a $500,000 budget," McClendon said, explaining that the admin team had proposed a recommendation column to support outreach and survey collection across the county.
Commissioners discussed two distinct survey budgets: one line item intended for in‑person, on‑the‑ground survey collection with tablets and staff (line item 12) and a separate online data‑collection line (line item 18). The commission’s contractor and staff said line item 12 is intended to fund canvassing or in‑person survey vendors who can wear branded materials and gather responses in grocery stores and other community sites.
The commission also reviewed outreach materials and mockups for branded swag (hats, cups, tents, QR‑code flyers) to increase visibility at pop‑ups and festivals; presenters noted the projected cost for the full order was well under $7,000.
On process and content for the commission’s eventual recommendations, the meeting presented a tool that maps the state task force’s 13‑chapter findings to five reparations principles and to county budget domains. The tool is designed to help commissioners identify which recommendations they want to prioritize locally.
After discussion, the commission voted by roll call to ask subcommittees to meet the week of Dec. 1 to review the tool and return comments for the DAR (data/reporting) subcommittee and the writing team to use in drafting a report. The roll‑call result recorded a majority of ayes, one abstention, and the motion passed.
What happens next: Subcommittees will review the recommendation template during early December; ECC and DAR will collect commissioner inputs for the writing team to incorporate into the draft action plan.
