The Proposed Racial Equity Task Force is a Sham; a Substitute for Real Action

Last fall, approximately one week before the Howard County Superintendent would present his much-anticipated redistricting proposal to the Board of Education and the general public, Councilpersons Jones and Rigby spearheaded a resolution calling for the school system and the Superintendent “to develop a county-wide integration plan to desegregate its schools.”

As I noted then, the timing of such a resolution did not make sense. Because to accept this resolution as well-intentioned, one would need to also accept that one week would be sufficient to develop such an ambitious redistricting plan. The timing makes sense only if the goal was to score some political point after the announcement of a “weak redistricting plan.”

This fall, the two plan to “introduce legislation to establish a racial equity task force.”

According to the press-release:

“The task force will be charged with evaluating county policies that have contributed to inequities and recommending legislative actions to close racial disparities in our community. The task force will be comprised of subcommittees exploring county issues including personal & public safety, discriminatory land-use & zoning decisions, and workforce & economic development, among other policy areas.”

Here is the thing about task forces. They are not intended to solve a real problem. Typically the answers to the questions are already known.

Take for example the “Economic Opportunity and Prosperity Task Force” established n 2017. As he was getting ready to launch his reelection campaign, Councilperson Jon Weinstein sponsored this resolution to establish the task force. One year later, the task force released a final report with ten recommendations, of which two were to establish another task force and fund the cultural center in Downtown Columbia.

Task forces allow the politician to say “I am taking action” without really doing so, especially if there are calls for immediate action on certain other related issues. For example, immigrant advocates around the county have called on Councilpersons Jones and Rigby to join Councilpersons Walsh and Jung in supporting legislation to end the ICE contract with the Detention Center.

But Councilpersons Jones and Rigby have not been willing to co-sponsor legislation because this would mean going against the County Executive’s wishes. The two Councilpersons, including Councilperson Yungmann vote lock-step with County Executive Calvin Ball on a whole host of issues that have been detrimental to the county’s budget, school quality, affordable housing, and accountability.

Task forces in most cases are the equivalent of kicking the can down the road. Take for example CR16-2015, a resolution to “establish a Committee on Community Policing and make recommendations related to community policing.” Five years later, the county has not acted on one of the pillars of the Committee’s recommendations to establish a police body camera program. This resolution was spearheaded by then Councilperson Calvin Ball, who as County Executive recently announced plans to “take another look at the program.”

It is ironic that the proposed task force would “evaluat[e] county policies that have contributed to inequities and recommending legislative actions to close racial disparities in our community.” Councilperson Jones also happens to be the Chair of the Zoning Board, who ignored calls to reconsider the virtual hearing format for a quasi-judicial hearing on a matter that disproportionately affects older adults, who face technological challenges. Choosing to continue this virtual format hearing goes against the spirit of any task force intended to study inequities.

Task forces not backed by actions are not a commitment of anything. When given an opportunity to take meaningful action, Councilpersons Jones and Rigby and the County Executive have failed and continue to fail. They continue to fail by not opposing the ICE contract, they continue to fail by not calling for immediate implementation of the body camera program, they continue to fail by not ending discriminatory practices in the zoning board, and continue to fail by supporting zoning and land-use decisions that exacerbate inequity.

This task force is just a superficial branding exercise. It is a veritable three-card monte and we are the marks.