Kansas City Council approves task force charged with eliminating racial disparities
The Kansas City Council on Thursday overwhelmingly approved the creation of the office of racial equity and will appoint a task force that will review city ordinances and provide recommendation to eliminate racial disparities.
The task force will also review city current codes and the city charter to determine their impact on racial equity. The group will make recommendations when new policies and proposed spending measures come before the City Council.
“We are moving in the right steps,” said Councilwoman Melissa Robinson, who sponsored the measure. “We’ve done a lot of things, we’ve said a lot of things and we have passed a lot of resolutions. So we’re moving from the conversation to the actual action.”
The Council also agreed to use a $129,000 grant from the Health Forward Foundation to fund the new office. The money would also be used to pay for a chief equity officer, data analytics staff and community outreach efforts.
Robinson has advocated that bonds issued for infrastructure improvements be allocated equitably throughout the city, specifically in the urban core of Kansas City.
Mayor Quinton Lucas will appoint members of the task force that consist of residents from each council district, she said.
