West Palm Beach Mayor Keith A. James established the Mayor’s Task Force for Racial and Ethnic Equality in August 2020. Created by Executive Orders 2020-13,  2020-13A, and 2020-13B  and signed by Mayor James, the task force grew from the national outcry and racial unrest after the death of George Floyd and a series of police-involved shootings exposed a decaying trust in the nation's system of policing and criminal justice.

The task force spent about one year examining the racial atmosphere in the City of West Palm Beach, the relationships with the law enforcement community and government and the impacts of external forces. 

At a meeting of the city commission on October 4, 2021, the Mayor’s Task Force on Racial and Ethnic Equality, led by co-chairs Michelle Diffenderfer and Patrick Franklin, presented recommendations for consideration by Mayor Keith A. James and the commission. The recommendations are the culmination of more than 300 hours of work and repeated engagements with stakeholders by 43 diverse community representatives who responded to Mayor James’ call for a more equitable West Palm Beach. Justice & Sustainability Associates served as facilitator.

By Executive Order, Mayor James established the taskforce in 2020 after police-involved shootings of African Americans in other parts of the country ignited outrage, exposed deeply entrenched systemic racism, and challenged the public’s confidence and trust in policing and criminal justice. This coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic’s exposure of racial and ethnic disparities and led to demonstrations calling for change across the country and in West Palm Beach.

The task force’s mission was to identify and help address issues of racial and ethnic inequality through:

• Education about racial and ethnic inequities,
• Research of best practices, and
• Issuance of policy/funding recommendations to address racial/ethnic inequity.

The five key policy areas included:

• Education and workforce development,
• Finance, banking and business,
• Health,
• Real estate and housing, and
• Criminal justice.

The task force progressed through six phases which included policy area assignments, member selection process, priority selection, fact-finding process, information sharing, and drafting policy recommendations.

“The work of the task force has been truly extraordinary, and I thank each and every one of the task force members and community groups who helped make possible this historic moment for our city,” said West Palm Beach Mayor Keith A. James. “I look forward to meeting with our city commissioners to identify next steps and strategies for short-term implementation. Working together, we can build upon the task force’s great work to deliver real, transformative change for our residents for generations to come.”

The task force recommendations, which are non-binding include:

Education and Workforce Development

• Improve information sharing and outreach for access to existing education, career, and workforce opportunities.
• Leverage business, philanthropic, and private partnerships and offer incentives to businesses to support workforce development and education programs.
• Develop strategies to address barriers that people have faced when trying to access workforce training or career development programs.
• Create a Communication Engagement-Foundation Liaison staff position in the Mayor’s Office to work closely with the business and foundation community to facilitate funding for initiatives.
• Create an Education Liaison coordination team in the Mayor’s Office to support the schools with resources and advocate on behalf of teachers and students.

Finance, Banking and Business

• Incentivize offices of financial institutions to locate in black and brown neighborhoods with the goal of investing in increasing percentage of home ownership.
• Target programs toward financial education, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship with a focus on youth and young adults.
• Create a dedicated city-staffed neighborhood small business center with a presence in identified underserved neighborhoods in the city.
• Develop or support initiatives that solicit bids from and offer contracts to small- and medium-sized minority-owned businesses from both city and private enterprises in multiple languages.

Health

• Create mobile services and transit services for medical needs to overcome the digital divide in communities and support areas with low accessibility to healthcare.
• Promote and encourage more equity in healthcare institutions and recruitment of more representative minorities in medicine.
• Prioritize policies aimed at ensuring equitable access to and increase education about healthy, affordable food options.
• Invest in programs that improve relationships and build trust between health providers and community organizations.
• Increase availability and access to mental health resources and services, especially in underserved communities.

Real Estate & Housing

• Develop programs that target use of vacant lots, support partnerships to buy distressed properties, and build affordable housing on city-owned land.
• Invest resources to support education and capacity-building of local organizations that advocate for tenant rights of vulnerable immigrant communities.
• Invest resources to prioritize code enforcement in the most blighted areas and other targeted neighborhoods.
• Promote quality rental housing with incentives or ways to support landlords in addressing substandard conditions both inside and outside of units.
• Prioritize greater investment in programs that help people, especially historically excluded populations, purchase and maintain homes.

Criminal Justice

• Establish a Civilian Review Board designed to provide recommendations to the police department.
• Target strategies for hiring and maintaining a diverse team of police officers.
• Invest in the police department’s field training program to build a culture of community awareness and best practices in promoting racial and cultural sensitivity.
• Create mechanisms for tracking use of force and data available for identifying and understanding racial and ethnic disparities in community-police interactions.
• Pilot a crisis intervention team program to work alongside police officers with mental health calls.
• Provide and promote a more accessible portal for community members to share information or file complaints of misconduct toward police officers and provide the choice for citizens to remain anonymous.

“The work of the task force was thoughtful, deliberate and inclusive in approach,” said task force co-chair Michelle Diffenderfer who presented the recommendations on behalf of the task force. “A lot of amazing people worked to pull this report together, and I applaud them for their service to our community.”

“I thank all the members of the task force for their commitment of time, talent and passion for a better tomorrow,” said co-chair Patrick Franklin. “We’ve laid a baseline to build upon and identified opportunities for improvement. I thank Mayor James for the chance to lead the task force with co-chair Michelle Diffenderfer.”

Task force members included: Maria Antuna, Rick Asnani, Alexandria Ayala, Ana Bacas, Leontyne Brown, Jennifer Jean Bell, Sally Chester, Alexcia Cox, Julie Fisher Cummings, Jerry Deng, Daniel Eisinger, Bryce Graham, Chauncey Graham, Bill Jacobson, Faye Johnson, Dina Martinez-Rubio, Danita Niaz, Juan Pagan, Gopal Rajegowda, George Soria, Tameca West, Alisha Winn, and Bishop Antoine Wright.

Presentation of Task Force Findings, October 4, 2021