AMHERST — Six residents will soon begin serving on an advisory committee examining how public safety is delivered in Amherst and ensuring that racial equity is a focus for the police.
The Town Council this week unanimously approved an initial slate of people to serve on the nine-member Community Safety Working Group, a panel created by Town Manager Paul Bockelman in which at least two-thirds of the voting members will represent Black, Indigenous and people of color, or other historically marginalized communities. Three additional residents are expected to be appointed to the committee soon.
The working group was launched amid appeals from local groups, including Defund 413 Amherst and the Racial Equity Task Force, to slash the police budget.
Of the people recommended for the working group unanimously by an interview team, two self-identify as Black, one as West African/Cape Verdean, one as Latinx and one as multiracial. Another member did not answer the racial and ethnic background question. They include:
■Tashina Bowman, a doula who previously taught African dance.
■Deborah Ferreira, an attorney who works as the chancellor’s liaison to the Office of General Counsel at the University of Massachusetts.
■Pat Ononibaku, a business owner and self-described social justice advocate.
■Brianna Owen, program director at Friends of Children and who works with people ages 18 to 26 who have experienced the foster care system and need help navigating adulthood.
■Ellisha Walker, a case specialist at the Springfield district court and an executive assistant at a private law firm.
■Paul Wiley, former interim head of school for The Common School and retired Crocker Farm School principal.
The group is being charged with studying changes to the current organizational and oversight structures of public safety services and examining existing town funding priorities for the delivery of safety services.
A written report will be delivered to Bockelman by Jan. 15 on alternative options to the public safety services currently provided by Amherst police, and a second written report will be delivered to Bockelman by June 30 on recommendations for resident oversight and for policy reforms for the department.
The interview team for panel members included Keisha Dennis of the town’s Residents’ Advisory Committee; Matthew Charity, chairman of the Human Rights Commission; and Sid Ferreira, a member of the Human Rights Commission and resident director of the ABC House. The Racial Equity Task Force, which had been invited to participate, opted against doing so.
Although the interview team passed its recommendations on to the Town Council through the council’s Town Services and Outreach Committee, District 5 Councilor Darcy DuMont said she is concerned with continuing lack of transparency in the appointments process, including not knowing who applied to be on the task force. This, she said, makes it impossible to judge the recommendations, though she voted in favor because no constituents got in touch to object.
“I’m very impressed with the group of people who have been appointed,” District 5 Councilor Shalini Bahl-Milne said.