“My concern is for the folks that are direct survivors, as we call them ancestors in our ordinance, those folks are over seventy and we can’t wait to provide justice to those folks,” said Alderman Devon Reid.
READ MORE: Evanston reparations program approved as city becomes 1st in US to do so; some say it’s not enough
Back in 2019, the Evanston City Council voted to create the reparations fund. The city pledged to distribute millions of dollars over 10 years. But with just one cannabis dispensary, Reid worries keeping that promise will be a challenge.
“The expectation for most residents is that we would have $10 million in the first ten years and our cannabis revenue isn’t showing that kind of progress,” he said.
Reid has put forth proposals to support the reparations fund, including a tax on lakefront properties and transferring $5 million from the general fund.
“It is critical that we don’t just rely on cannabis tax dollars, as revolutionary as that is and was, we have to expand the revenue supporting our reparations fund,” he said.
Earlier this year the City of Evanston announced its first group of recipients for its first reparations program, focused on housing.
Lifelong Evanston resident Ramona Burton was one of 16…
