South Bend’s new Reparatory Justice Commission invited the public to its third meeting Saturday at IUSB’s Civil Rights Heritage Center, along with all of its future meetings.
It was to be the group’s third meeting, but only its second meeting open to the public.
South Bend Common Council President Sharon McBride appointed the commission’s members, tasking them with exploring whether African-Americans, as descendants of slaves, are owed reparations or compensation.
Mayor James Mueller has said the group will study reparatory justice rather than cash reparations. For example, the commission could recommend the city fund new housing initiatives.
Commission Chair Darryl Heller, director of the Civil Rights Heritage Center, initially told WVPE he wanted to keep some meetings private so its members could speak more freely as the commission begins its work. He said he was acting on advice from council attorney Bob Palmer.
But WVPE checked the legality of that with Indiana Public Access Counselor Luke Britt, who said the meetings must be public under the state’s Open Door Law because the commission has been created by the common council to conduct public business.
Heller said he’s fine with that.
"I'm pretty certain we're going to have some fights down the road, coming from different corners," Heller said. "That's certainly not one of the fights we wanted to have, at any time actually, about whether we're being transparent or we're hiding something or doing stuff behind closed doors. Because the nature of our charge, I think, is that it's a public, it has to engage the public and it has to engage the community."
Saturday’s meeting was to begin at 10 a.m. at the center, 1040 W. Washington St.
