PKG: racism report with talk back

C1 3 in lexington, it led to the formation of a 70-member commission to try and tackle those issues.

Today the mayor's office announced it will make the commission permanent.

The two commission co-chairs released the full 68-page report that lists 54-recommendations.

In our top story at 6... abc 36's monica harkins joins us in studio ### it's a lot of recommendations... covering 5 different topics...you can't ignore the fact that almost half of the 54 recommendations are about law enforcement justice and accountability.

L3: top story white report released battles systemic racism lexington l3: top story white roszalyn akins co-chair l3: top story white report released battles systemic racism lexington protest nats from chants to change.

It's what some members of the lexington community have been calling for for months... if not years.

O "roszalyn akins, co-chair: this is an opportunity for us to make a better lexington."

Friday the mayor's commission made up of 5 subcommittess for a total of 70 different lexingtonians presented recommendations for how lexington can do better...this move spearheaded by gerald smith and roszalyn akins...i asked them how feasible these recommandations are.

"monica voice: so it's fair to say this is not just a wish list?

Roszalyn akins, co- chair: this is very much feasible actions, this is not a wish list."

The 68 page report covers education and economic opportunity...housi ng and gentrification...hea lth disparities....racial equity and... a big one considering the death of breonna taylor...law enforcement justice and acc oountability.

The latter something lexington protest leader sarah williams has been calling on specifically.

"sarah williams: this is a major major step in the right direction it is definitely a win."

A win seeing....25 of 54 recommendations in the law enforcement category...including civilian participation on a disciplinary review board, mandatory body cameras, and changes in police contracts known as a collective bargaining agreement.

"sarah williams: it's a major deal but we also have to ensure that whether it's something we're depending on the mayor to act on, our council to act on, or funding is needed that nows the time for the biggest follow through."

Mayor gorton saying she's committing to it making things happen...making the racial justice and equality commission permanent.

Another big topic on many people's minds...health.

I talked to stephen overstreet who helped on the health disparities sub-committee.

"stephen: i brought the aispect of being an actual community member from lexington from the hood."

A voice that made the recommenda tions in the health context to a realistic truth...overstreet goes on to say cultural competency a major theme in health..touches all parts of life.

I "stephen: the biggest issue we have is understanding each other and knowing who each other are."

### and when i asked sarah williams....what else she had to say about this...she expressed gratitude and respect for the people on these committees saying this topic isn't easy and they acknowledged the hard truths of system racism in lexington.

### the next part of this though, monica, is will these recommendations get done?

Getting every thing on paper is just the first step... and that was what everyone who was there today was saying...the mayor..the co- chairs...and stephen and sarah.

Some of these requests cost money...and the budget doesn't have much room to spend right now...mayor gorton admitting some of the more costly recommendations might have to wait until the next fiscal year.

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