Background
This ordinance authorizes the City Clerk to enter into a grant agreement with Partners Achieving Community Transformation (PACT) in support of the Equity Now Coalition and to allow for reimbursement for expenses incurred since December 1, 2020.
The Equity Now Coalition’s work began on March 18, 2020 when President/CEO of the Columbus Urban League (CUL), Stephanie Hightower, convened a COVID-19 virtual meeting on March 18, 2020 with the immediate goal of sharing information to mitigate the pandemic’s disparate impact on Black and other People of Color (POC). The weekly COVID-19 Alliance meetings began on March 26, 2020. The urgent necessity for these virtual meetings was further exacerbated by the public death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020. Mr. Floyd’s death, against the backdrop of the pandemic, set the stage for protests in every state in our nation and across the globe. These unprecedented times present a perhaps fleeting opportunity to make great strides toward equitable race and gender outcomes in the City of Columbus.
This funding will allow the Equity Now Coalition to continue to develop racially-equitable responses to the COVID-19 pandemic for the Black and other People of Color communities in Columbus including research work that will focus on building out the first two phases of ENC's data management platform and smart data dashboard for Central Ohio; continuing communications, outreach and engagement work including focus groups, a community survey; and building out ENC's outreach & engagement plan to sustain continuous feedback loops with community stakeholder groups.
Fiscal Impact: Funding is available within the Neighborhood Initiatives subfund.
Emergency action is requested in order to avoid any delay in providing the resources necessary to the Equity Now Coalition to develop racially-equitable responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Title
To authorize the City Clerk to enter into a grant agreement with Partners Achieving Community Transformation (PACT) in support of the Equity Now Coalition; to authorize an appropriation and expenditure within the Neighborhood Initiatives subfund; and to declare an emergency. ($150,000.00)
Body
WHEREAS, the Equity Now Coalition is a coalition of more than 160 participants dedicated to developing racially equitable responses to the COVID-19 pandemic; and
WHEREAS, the COVID-19 pandemic presents a perhaps fleeting opportunity to make great strides toward equitable race and gender outcomes in the City of Columbus; and
WHEREAS, this funding will allow the Equity Now Coalition to further develop racially-equitable responses to the COVID-19 pandemic for the Black and other People of Color communities in Columbus; and
WHEREAS, an emergency exists in the usual daily operation of City Council such that it is immediately necessary to authorize the Clerk o enter into a grant agreement with PACT to avoid any delay in providing the resources necessary to the Equity Now Coalition to continue to develop racially-equitable responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for the immediate preservation of the public health and safety; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
SECTION 1. That the City Clerk is hereby authorized to enter is hereby authorized to enter into a grant agreement with the Partners Achieving Community Transformation (PACT) in support of the Equity Now Coalition.
SECTION 2: That the City Auditor is hereby authorized and directed to appropriate $150,000.00 in the Neighborhood Initiatives subfund, fund 1000, subfund 100018, to the City Clerk per the accounting codes in the attachment to this ordinance.
SECTION 3: That the expenditure of $150,000.00 or so much thereof as may be needed pursuant to the action authorized in SECTION 1 of this ordinance, is hereby authorized in the Neighborhood Initiatives subfund, fund 1000, subfund 100018 per the accounting codes in the attachment to this ordinance.
SECTION 4. That for reasons stated in the preamble hereto, which is hereby made a part hereof, this ordinance is hereby declared an emergency measure and shall take effect and be enforced from and after its passage and approval by the Mayor, or ten days after passage if the Mayor neither approves nor vetoes the same.