Black Reparations Committee nears formation in Amherst

Daily Hampshire Gazette – Black Reparations Committee nears formation in Amherst Downtown Amherst looking down Main Street toward the Town Hall building. GAZETTE FILE PHOTO AMHERST — Following a two-week delay prompted by worries about the process for how it would bring recommendations to the Town Council, the Amherst Black Reparations Committee could get its charge and be officially created on Monday. Under the proposal reviewed by the council’s Governance, Organization and Legislation Committee, the new committee would accept proposals, review them and then make recommendations to the council, in that order, said District 5 Councilor Ana Devlin Gauthier, who chairs the council committee. But the idea of having the five-member committee to regularly consult with the Black community in Amherst was put off by At Large Councilor Mandi Jo Hanneke, who said she is nervous that the council’s only role would be to fund recommendations and that the new committee should have a broader charge than disbursing up to $100,000 annually to address harms perpetrated against residents of African heritage. When an attempt was made to refer the charge of the new committee back to the council committee failed, Hanneke used her prerogative to postpone a decision until the...