You may recall, during the March 19, 2024 meeting, City Council voted to research a resolution to the Silas White property controversy. City Manager David White and City Attorney Doug Sloan were instructed to report back to Council in 90 days with historical records, court documents and recommendations. And while that 90 day period isn’t up until July 23, part of that research was presented to Council in last Tuesday’s meeting focusing on the broad picture of reparations.
"This is in response to your requests. [We’re] really happy to be here to share what we’ve learned studying reparations movements from across the country and we’ve learned quite a bit," said Lisa Parson, Project Manager with the City of Santa Monica.
Parson and her team explained that the United Nations has developed a framework called "Principles on Reparations" and "the five main ingredients that need to be in the soup for the soup to be considered actual reparations," David Gardinier, Equity and Inclusion Communications Coordinator with the City of Santa Monica, explained.
First, there’s "restitution" that means to the extent possible, the people who experience harm should be restored to the condition they were in before that harm took place. And this can include things like the return of property. Secondly, there’s "compensation" and that can include compensation for loss opportunity, or for moral damages. Thirdly, "rehabilitation" that means those who are harmed receive medical and psychological care if needed, plus legal services and access to social services.
"And this is also when the truth seeking public apology and memorials and commemoration process happens," Gardinier said.
"And then the fifth one, I think we all learned in kindergarten, which is non repetition, guaranteed and non partition, if you say you’re sorry for something, it means you’re not going to do that thing anymore. And that’s a very important part of reparations," he added.
A number of examples were shown were reparations were underway, including 125 acres of the Redwood National Park that was returned to the Yurok tribe this year, where the land will be co-managed in partnership with the Yurok tribe, national and state park service and Save the Redwoods non-profit organization. In Eureka, 300+ acres of land were transferred to the Wiyot tribe and in Oakland, five acres were returned to Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, along with 2.2 acres in Berkeley.
According to Parson, in 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom formed the nation’s first statewide reparations task force to study the harm that has been done to black Californians and the ways that harm might be addressed. That study resulted in a 1,900 page report and unfortunately Santa Monica appears in that report a number of times. It begins with Ku Klux Klan chapters that were formed in the city in the 1920s, it includes the construction of the 10 freeway through neighborhoods of color, Belmar and the Ebony Beach Club.
The presentation also included valuable information that addressed many of the biggest concerns, including where other cities and counties have found funding.
"Evanston, Illinois, for example, created a reparations fund for black residents. They funded their reparations program with a 3% tax on recreational cannabis sales. And they have allocated $10 million, over 10 years," Parson said, adding, "In Asheville, North Carolina, theirs was funded through city budget reallocations, they allocated $2.1 million for their initial fees, and they are working on additional funding strategies."
"There’s a lot of opportunities out there for people who are willing to step into this space and try to create something … I think it’s important to note that it’s not always about writing one check to one person, it’s actually very rarely about that," she said.
Councilmember Caroline Torosis asked if Council was expected to give additional direction and Parson clarified that their instruction was just to provide an insight to the process at this stage. However, she also said that her team would return in a July Council meeting "with the city wide Equity Plan, where we will have recommendations for how the city might proceed."
Torosis also asked if there were any philanthropic partners interested to which Parson replied, "We are definitely looking for external funding. Everywhere we can find it."
Councilmember Oscar de la Torre linked reparations to the ongoing California Voting Rights Act litigation.
"When we leave here, we’re going to go into closed session and talk about a lawsuit that’s been going on for about eight plus years now. And that lawsuit is brought forward by Latino … regarding our voting system and so forth," he said. "And how do you reconcile that? You’re doing all this work, but yet, how do you not upset the powers that be in doing this analysis?"
However, Mayor Phil Brock attempted to end that line of questioning saying it crossed into a closed session item that could not be discussed publicly.
"With all due respect, Councilmember de la Torre … that’s off topic going into closed session and the staff certainly cannot discuss anything going to closed session right now. So we’ll be able to discuss that in closed session, but we’re still in open session now," he said.
De la Torre responded by claiming that the Mayor was trying to silence him before Sloan finally wrapped the matter up, "I’ve not had any conversations about the Voting Rights Act Case and context reparations, but the City Manager and I can discuss it going forward."
