De Blasio's Racial Justice Commission announces three ballot proposals in final report

On Monday, New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio's Racial Justice Commission released its final report, issuing three proposals that will be on the November 2022 ballot for residents to vote on.

"With humility and honor, the NYC Racial Justice Commission puts forth this final report for your consideration. Fueled by the great works of New Yorkers, past and present, who've fought tirelessly to bring an end to racism in our city and country, Commission members and staff have faithfully performed the responsibilities with which they were charged and have proposed three structural changes in New York City government that would lay the foundation necessary for achieving racial equity," a letter from the commission's chair, Jennifer Jones Austin, read.

De Blasio announced the commission in March, stating: "We've never had a model for actually addressing structural racism, institutional racism—identifying it, acknowledging it, formally apologizing for it, weeding it out, eradicating it, making the policy changes, changing the laws."

The commission was created with a focus on racial justice in the city, with hopes to end structural racism.

"If new laws are needed, if our Charter requires revision, this Commission will have the power to send proposals to the ballot for the people to decide," he continued.

Proposal One adds a "statement of values" to guide the city's government by creating a "preamble to the New York City Charter.

"A preamble is a statement at the beginning of a legal document that explains its purpose or goals. The New York City Charter does not currently have a preamble. Adding a preamble would allow New Yorkers to adopt a vision and statement of foundational values intended to guide City government in fulfilling its duties," the proposal states.

Proposal two establishes a Racial Equity Office, Plan, and Commission in the city.

"This proposal would amend the City Charter to require citywide and agency-specific Racial Equity Plans every two years, establish an Office of Racial Equity and appoint a Chief Equity Officer to advance racial equity, and create a Commission on Racial Equity to bring community voices to the racial equity planning process," the proposal states.

The Office of Racial equity would be headed by a Chief Equity Officer appointed by the Mayor, with the office working with "every city agency to train and provide technical assistance on racial equity, and assist them in creating their agency Racial Equity Plans."

"The Office would establish standards for agencies regarding the collection and reporting of data to measure gaps and differences in wellbeing at the level of racial, ethnic, or other groups and communities for such racial equity reporting processes," the proposal continues.

It also would identify "priority neighborhoods" to be highlighted in Racial Equity Plans "based on identified disparities in wellbeing or the neighborhood's potential to be disproportionately impacted by future events."

The proposal also would establish citywide Racial Equity Plan and the agency Racial Equity Plans, required every two years, which would "identify and communicate publicly the goals and strategies, both short and long term, for improving racial equity and justice."

The final piece of the proposal would be the establishment of a Commission on Racial Equity, comprised of 15 New York City residents, "intended to bring the perspectives of New York City's often overlooked, under-represented, and under-resourced communities into the decision-making process."

Proposal three looks at measuring the "true cost of living" within the city.

"This proposal would amend the City Charter to require the City to create a True Cost of Living measure to track the actual cost in New York City of meeting essential needs without considering public, private, or informal assistance, in order to inform programmatic and policy decisions," the proposal states.

This metric would be reported annually, and would include the cost of essential needs like child care, housing, transportation, healthcare, food, cleaning products, internet service, and more.

In conclusion, the commission hopes that the new proposals will "form a seed whose roots will grow over time and knit together a new soil for an equitable society."

"The proposals are actions and steps toward justice. For the first time, the City will be required to create a comprehensive strategy to improve justice, equity, and fairness. The proposals include the establishment of an office that will push all agencies toward solutions that reverse the ways communities become oppressed, marginalized, and disempowered," the report continues.