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Reparations commission reports $500,000 seed funding and reconciliation plan as it finalizes report
Summary
Vice Chair Larry McClendon reported the commission was entrusted with $500,000 in county seed funding, identified major spending categories and reported a remaining balance cited as $192,247.48; commissioners said final invoice reconciliation and line-item adjustments are pending. Supervisors asked that budget transparency be included in the final report.
At an April 8 briefing, Alameda County reparations commissioners provided a budget overview for the commission’s work, telling supervisors the Board seeded the effort with $500,000 and that vendors, consultants and community partners helped keep costs lower than expected.
"You all entrusted $500,000 of the county's money with us," Vice Chair Larry McClendon said, outlining the commission’s largest spending buckets: project management and consultants, communications and design, facilitation and engagement, documentation and media, and wellness and participation supports such as therapists at listening sessions.
McClendon reported a remaining balance cited in the presentation as $192,247.48 and told supervisors some invoices arrived late; he said the commission planned formal line-item adjustments at its next meeting to reconcile variances. The vice chair credited vendor discounts and community generosity for underspending against some allocated line items and said planned increases to ECC and Informing Change line items would cover additional work needed to meet the June deadline.
Supervisors asked whether the commission had sufficient staffing and whether more funds earlier in the process would have allowed more targeted canvassing in underrepresented districts. Commissioners replied that both timing and staffing constrained outreach: had funds been available earlier, canvassing and broader district work could have been more extensive and costlier to execute.
The commission will reconcile final invoices, adjust budget line items at its next internal meeting and include a clearer accounting and lessons-learned section in the draft report for Board review prior to the June 30 presentation.
