St. Paul opens applications for reparations commission

The St. Paul City Council is seeking residents to serve on a new reparations commission, which will advise officials on efforts to address the harm systemic racism has caused Black descendants of slaves.

The ultimate goal of the 11-person group will be "boosting the economic mobility and opportunity in the Black community," according to the application form on the city's website. The council will accept applications through March 24 and plans to announce appointments in May.

The creation of the commission comes two years after city leaders issued a formal apology for St. Paul's role in institutional racism, including slavery at Fort Snelling and the destruction of the historically Black Rondo neighborhood for the construction of Interstate 94. A city-appointed group then met regularly for a year to study reparations and discuss what a permanent commission might look like.

That group, which reported its findings to the council last summer, said the commission's first task should be to consider direct cash payments to eligible residents. The city also lists racial disparities in generational wealth, homeownership, health care, education, employment and pay, and the criminal justice system as harms that could be addressed.

"Work on this commission holds the promise of changing the way we confront racial inequality in St. Paul," City Council Member Jane Prince said in a statement. "People should apply to serve who are committed to building real racial healing and justice in St. Paul."

Applicants must be St. Paul residents. The group will meet once a month starting in June, and members will be paid a $50 stipend per meeting.

The council plans to appoint a slate of members who represent a variety of perspectives. Preference will be given to "candidates who demonstrate lived experience as it pertains to the work of the commission, are engaged in the local community and understand the role of reparations in addressing the impacts of slavery," according to the application form.

The initial slate of commissioners will be appointed to terms lasting one, two or three years. Future members will all serve three-year terms.

Policy and budget recommendations from the commission will ultimately require approval from Mayor Melvin Carter and the council, who have yet to identify a funding source for future reparations programs.

Later this month, St. Paul will start taking applications for its Inheritance Fund, a new program providing former residents of the Rondo neighborhood and their descendants access to forgivable loans for down payments or home rehabs. But Carter has repeatedly said he does not consider that a reparations effort — it's not a race-based program, he says, and it's focused on soothing the sting of a specific instance of economic injustice.

In recent years, particularly since the murder of George Floyd, communities across the country have started grappling with similar questions about reparations. Evanston, Ill., became the first city to approve a reparations program in 2021, when city leaders voted to offer $25,000 grants for down payments or home rehabs to direct descendants of Black residents affected by the city's discriminatory housing policies between 1919 and 1969.

Lawmakers at the local, state and federal levels are following suit, though ideas of what constitutes reparations vary widely. San Francisco's reparations commission recently recommended providing a $5 million payment to each eligible Black resident. A California task force is scheduled to issue a report suggesting what statewide reparations should look like this summer.

"Born and raised in Rondo and now council member to the neighborhood, I am thrilled to have our city lead in racial equity and positive change for our community," St. Paul City Council Member Russel Balenger said in a statement. "This is one of the most important initiatives I've seen in my lifetime."