By ALICIA FABBREDAILY SOUTHTOWN |NOV 01, 2020 AT 2:03 PM
A proposal calling for reparations to address the harm done to the Black community through slavery, mass incarceration and the war on drugs may be part of a discussion Thursday on how Will County should spend its share of marijuana sales tax revenues.
Members of the county board’s finance committee will get an update on the cannabis sales tax and are expected to discuss how to spend that money. Board member Rachel Ventura, D-Joliet, is calling for using those funds to address the economic hardships of Black residents.
“This isn’t a hand out,” Ventura said. “It’s a hand back. This is about looking at the community as a whole and looking to those most harmed to tell us where would be the most worthwhile place to put this money.”
The plan calls for a nine-member committee compromised of eight community members equally split among men and women, and one county board member, to recommend how the money should be spent. All committee members would be Black, under Ventura’s proposal.
Ventura has said she is willing to compromise on various aspects of the resolution, which also calls on the county to work to eradicate systemic racist policies and to declare that Black Lives Matter But she said she stands by the key theme of empowering those most harmed by slavery and the war on drugs.
The proposal has drawn support from some Black community members, who joined Ventura in a news conference last week. It also has drawn its share of opponents, including fellow board members.
“I’m 100% opposed to it,” board member Steve Balich, R-Homer Glen, said. “It should go for substance abuse initiatives. That would be for everyone, not just one class of people.”
The resolution, titled Repairing the Transgenerational Damage Done through Slavery, the Black Codes, the War on Drugs and Mass Incarceration in Will County, IL, was presented at a recent meeting of the board’s Democratic Caucus. The resolution, however, has not been formally presented to or discussed by the county board.
County Executive Denise Winfrey, D-Joliet, objected to Ventura creating her “own program” and presenting it publicly before discussing it with the board.
“Our process is ideas, thoughts, suggestions and proposals come forward in the committees,” Winfrey said.
Winfrey said Ventura’s proposal is “not well thought out,” and that she could not support it. She said she would rather see the marijuana sales tax revenue be used to benefit those directly harmed by substance abuse by supporting initiatives such as the county’s specialty court or for substance abuse programs.
Ventura said those other programs already receive substantial county funding. She said the board should turn to the community for suggestions on how to best address the harms done by policies that have adversely affected minority communities.
Some board members raised concerns about the proposed pay for members of the committee reviewing use of the tax funds. Under Ventura’s proposal, committee members would be paid $500 a month for an annual cost of $54,000. Ventura said that pay should come from the county’s general fund, not marijuana sales tax revenue, as is done with other stipends.
Board member Ken Harris, D-Bolingbrook, chair of the finance committee, said he anticipates discussion on Ventura’s proposal and distribution of marijuana sales tax revenue. Harris said he supports the idea of reparations but said there is a need for more discussion.
“There’s a lot more work to be done in terms of getting community input,” he said, noting the county board recently formed a diversity and inclusion committee to examine minority contracts, hiring and related topics. “We need to tie all this together.”
Alicia Fabbre is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
