City of Somerville header
File #: 210326    Version: 1
Type: Mayor's Request Status: Approved
File created: 6/18/2020 In control: City Council
On agenda: 6/19/2020 Final action: 7/14/2020
Enactment date: 6/19/2020 Enactment #: 210326
Title: Requesting approval to create the Racial & Social Justice Fund.
Code sections: Stabilization Fund -

  Agenda Text

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Requesting approval to create the Racial & Social Justice Fund.

 

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Official Text

To the Honorable City Council:

 

I respectfully request that your Honorable City Council vote to create the Racial & Social Justice Fund, under the provisions of MGL 40, Section 5B.

 

The purpose of the Racial and Social Justice Fund is to provide a sustainable and enduring source of funding to dismantle systemic racism and social inequality.  The Fund’s resources shall be used to  support efforts of individuals, organizations, and government agencies to redress the impacts and deconstruct the underlying causes of racial and social injustice in all forms. Potential uses of the funding include but are not limited to contracts with nonprofit organizations serving vulnerable communities, creation of new or expansion of existing City and School efforts to reach and support vulnerable residents, economic development initiatives to support minority- and women-owned businesses, mental and public health investments, and education and training.

 

Sources of funding will include gifts, grants, appropriations from reserves, and appropriations from the property tax levy.

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Joseph A. Curtatone, Mayor