Section 14 reparations: Palm Springs city council to consider $500K consultant agreement to develop reparations program
The City of Palm Springs is taking steps towards potentially providing reparations to minority families for the destruction of land known as Section 14 in the downtown area over 50 years ago.
The city council this Thursday is set to consider a more than $500,000 contract with a team from Columbia University for a year-long engagement to develop a reparations program that advocates say is long overdue.
"The families, survivors and descendants, they've been waiting over six decades. It is time for all parties involved to get down to the business of developing a plan that's going to make these families whole," said Areva Martin, lead attorney for Section 14 survivors and descendants.
Martin's group is seeking economic justice for the hundreds of families of color who were forced out of the prime downtown property called Section 14 in the 1950s and 60s. Long-term leases were legalized on tribal land, making commercial development possible, which resulted in the displacement of these families.
In November, Martin's law firm filed a claim with the city of Palm Springs seeking between $400 million and $2 billion, an economist's calculation of the economic harm done to the families based on present values of the homes and properties that were lost.
City documents made public last week reveal that the city council will consider hiring The Trustees of Columbia University, who would work with a team that includes members from the African American Redress Network, FirstRepair, and the International Center for Transitional Justice. The group "has extensive experience in handling reparations for various other communities," according to the city's staff report.
The consultants would be paid $502,304 for a one-year process that will begin with community engagement to assess possible approaches to reparations and forms of reparations, such as payments versus programs, among other considerations. The consultants' tasks include quantifying the harms caused by the redevelopment of Section 14 and developing a draft of proposed options that will be presented to the city council for feedback and consideration.
Martin emphasized that the decisions about the reparations program should be made by those who were actually affected, saying, "it is not for the oppressed to tell the oppressors what justice looks like."
While a lawsuit is still on the table, Martin acknowledged the positive progress made by the City of Palm Springs and expressed hope that it is a step in the right direction.
Palm Springs' city council meeting is Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
