General Comments: The proposal would enact an omnibus chapter entitled “Equity Agenda”

(EA) dealing with a range of polices and administrative procedures relating to multiple
departments and other entities. Because the ordinance doesn't amend the respective sections of
the code that deal with the policy issues or procedures that are part of the EA (i.e., doesn't
“bake-in” the policy with the statutory sections of the code which deal with procedure) they risk
getting lost since they're not contained in the appropriate sections of the Code. A year ago, I
took the original EA resolution (86.102.18R) and annotated it with statutory citations and other
resource material to facilitate, or serve as a road map toward, converting the EA agenda into an
ordinance (or more appropriately a LL) that would amend the appropriate sections of code and
build EA policy into existing departmental procedures etc. I still believe that is the appropriate
format. Additionally, it would establish a base within the respective sections of code that could
be built on in the future.

The EA uses ward lines to catalog prior investment and needs and target future resource
allocations. Wards are political jurisdictions and do not necessarily reflect neighborhood
boundaries. In fact, ward lines often bisect established neighborhood boundaries sometimes in
several ways so that an identifiable neighborhood can be divided amongst two or more wards.
Using ward lines can disadvantage some wards or neighborhoods depending on location. For
example, a downtown ward that has seen substantial capital investment, especially through the
Downtown Revitalization Initiative, could be at a disadvantage, especially since that investment
may not have been targeted to residential areas that the EA seeks to help. In addition, ward lines
change at least every 10 years based on census figures which makes it difficult to maintain a
consistent and comparative inventory of investment over a given time period and would require
additional work every ten years to reallocate inventory investments to reflect changing political
boundaries. Beyond that, neighborhood boundaries are used by the Planning Dept for planning
purposes and to develop neighborhood plans. Neighborhood boundaries are on file with the
Planning Dept and currently in use. The EA should use neighborhood boundaries vs. ward lines.

Chapter 183 – Equity Agenda

183-1. Legislative Intent

Equity is a cornerstone of a thriving democracy and must be embedded in the internal and
external actions of local government that contribute to the health and well-being of everyone in
our City. Racial and social disparities persist across key indicators of success in Albany,
including education, economic development, health, housing, jobs, criminal justice, the built
environment, service equity and arts and culture. The Mayor’s office established an Equity
Agenda Advisory Committee in 2014 to advise the Administration on executing an equity
agenda. The goal of this equity agenda is to focus on achieving equity across all communities
and ending the injustices caused by institutional and systemic racism and discrimination. The
Common Council of the City of Albany seeks to more actively oversee and assist City
Departments, as they utilize available tools and resources to end inequities across key indicators
of success. Equitable budgeting is a “funding shift” to focus on those neighborhoods with the
greatest needs.

183-2. Equitable Budgeting

1. Built Environment Enhancements

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A. The City rates streets on a scale of one to ten. A rating of three or lower indicates a need
for repair or replacement. The City shall seek to achieve parity among all Wards in the
proportion of street ratings of 3 or higher. The City of Albany Department of General
Services and Division of Engineering will provide the Common Council with a Ward
map identifying the rating of each street at the time that it submits to the Common
Council its annual proposed list of street and sidewalk reconstructions/enhancements.
This map will break down street conditions by percentage within each Ward. Wards with
a disproportionate percentage of streets rated three or lower will be prioritized. The
Department of General Services and Division of Engineering will also be required to
keep an electronic record of requests made for the enhancement of existing streets and
sidewalks and the installment of new sidewalks and walking paths. An update on these
requests will be included in the report.

Comment on A: This section would more appropriately amend that section of the code
dealing with DGS (C42, Pt 5, Art. XIII). As previously indicated, should reference
neighborhoods vs. wards. Should probably reference the CDTC Street Condition Report
as the baseline for clarity purposes. What is meant by “prioritize” wards with a score of
3 or less? Does that preclude investments in streets outside those wards? Can there be
greater clarity in terms of what constitutes a request of street/sidewalk enhancements, i.e
should there be a standardized reporting form?

B. Investment in parks must be based on equity which is measured based on data retrieved
from a city-wide parks assets map. The Departments of Recreation, General Services and
Water will develop a city-wide asset map that includes, at a minimum: the location and
name of each City-owned Park; the size of each park; the recreation equipment (including
splash pads) in each park including the age of the equipment, the designed age range for
children using the equipment, and the ADA access to such equipment; the number and
condition of any court services; the existence and condition of any restroom facilities and
water fountains; the existence and condition of benches, picnic tables, chess tables and
other such surfaces; the overall condition of the grounds (including hardscape) of the
park. The Department of Parks and Recreation, in conjunction with the Department of
General Services and Water Department will provide the Common Council with a
detailed asset map by September 1st of each year.

Comment on B: The development of the asset map (which Dept of Rec already has a
baseline doc on) should be done by Dept of Rec. (can be in consultation with DGS and
AWD, but place primary responsibility with Rec). This section should be an amendment
to section of code establishing Rec Dept (C42, Pt. 16, Article XXVI). In 2015 the
Council established a Parks and Recreation Planning Commission (LL 4-2015) to
develop a long term plan for parks and recreational facilities. That Commission was
never appointed but is still on the books and valid. Should the Commission be activated
as part of the EA?

C. The City of Albany Planning Department will conduct an annual assessment of lighting
to ensure streets, alleyways and parks are adequately illuminated.
 Comment on C: Amend section of code related to establishment of planning Dept,
Assessment should be in partnership with APD.

D. The City of Albany Department of General Services will assess if trash receptacles are
evenly distributed throughout wards in commercial zones and placed in areas of high
activity.

Comment on D: Should be in section establishing DGS. If the intent is to ensure, the

language might more appropriately read: “The Department of General Services shall
ensure that sidewalk trash receptacles are adequately placed in neighborhood
commercial zones including areas of high activity.” Is “areas of high activity” meant to
indicate areas other than commercial zones (i.e. in residential neighborhoods)?

E. Any proposed qualified capital improvements (other than capital projects required at the
City of Albany Landfill) will be accompanied with the name of previous capital projects
completed by ward in a four year period. The selection of wards for capital projects must
take into account the need for built environment enhancements, and the time period of the
last capital project proposed or completed in the ward. Wards that have received zero or a
limited number of capital project funds must be prioritized. The list will be submitted to
the Albany Common Council annually. Exceptions will be made for State and Federal
mandated orders.

Comment on E: How is “qualified capital improvements” defined? Outside of streets

and sidewalks, which are the basic neighborhood infrastructure capital improvements
that the city makes what other capital improvements are covered (parks?)? Many
improvements outside streets/sidewalks would likely be part of a neighborhood plan.
Would this listing include city owned buildings (AFD/APD etc.)? Would this exclude
AWD projects related to the Hudson River consent decree?

2. Violence Prevention

A. The Albany Common Council’s Public Safety committee will establish a Violence
Prevention Task Force. The Violence Prevention Task Force will be responsible for
convening stakeholders every fall to develop action items in preparation for the upcoming
summer in anticipation of an uptick in violence. This Task Force will be composed of
members of the Albany Common Council’s Public Safety Committee, community
members from wards disproportionately impacted by violence, at least one youth
representative, representatives from the Albany Police Department, the Mayor’s office,
the Albany City School District, clergy and members from violence prevention-related
organizations.

Comment on A: Activities, jurisdiction and procedures for Common Council

committees are appropriately governed by the Council's Rules of Procedures, we should
not circumvent that process through an amendment to city code. In 2009 the Council
established a Gun Violence Prevention Task Force (Ord. 1.11.09) which included the
 relevant stakeholders and which can serve as a model for a Violence Prevention TF. A
similar approach should be considered.

B. Funding will be allocated annually to violence prevention programming and initiatives in

Wards with the highest incidence and prevalence of violence. The funds will be allocated
based on prioritization through a community participatory budgeting process with
involvement from the Violence Prevention Task Force. A separate budget line within the
City of Albany’s annual budget will be created and titled violence prevention task force
funding.

Comments on B: This is a budget related issue, I don't know how you mandate an
unspecified allocation of funds through a code amendment. And how those funds
interplay with existing resources allocated for public safety, recreation, summer youth
employment etc.

3. Community Programming

While the office of Housing and Urban Development requires that all Community Block
Grant Funding be allocated to high needs communities, the Albany Community
Development Agency will take special care to ensure that CDBG funds be prioritized for
organizations that serve communities historically disadvantaged due to racism and
discrimination including African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans.

Comment: The ACDA has to operate under HUD guidelines and its 5-Year
Consolidated Plan which is developed through a public process. The Council reviews the
annual budget and can also work with ACDA in fund allocation. Over the years we've
come a long way in more carefully targeting funds and placing limits on how long a
program can receive funding to provide more turnover in funding opportunities. It's
important ACDA work within funding guidelines.

183-3. Measuring and Monitoring the Campaign for Equity.

The Department of Administrative Services and the Office of the Mayor will be
responsible for monitoring, advising and evaluating the City’s Equity Agenda in the
following manner:

A. The Human Rights Commission will be responsible for reviewing, enhancing and
providing recommendations on the City of Albany’s Equity Agenda. Recommendations
will be submitted to the Office of the Mayor. The Equity Agenda should include policy
recommendations for city-wide initiatives and policies to ensure equitable growth among
key indicators of success: education, economic development, health, housing, jobs,
criminal justice, the built environment, service equity, and arts and culture.

Comment on A: Any recs submitted to the Mayor should also be submitted to the
Council, Not sure the HRC is the appropriate body for evaluation, to be clear, the
 Council retains oversight authority over departments and programs, how does HRC
oversight interplay with Council's oversight authority?

B. The Office of the Mayor and the Department of Administrative Service will develop and
implement a communications strategy to promote summer jobs, job fairs, workforce
development training centers and information about Civil Service testing to residents.
The communications strategy will be submitted to the Human Rights Commission for
enhancements and recommendations. The communications strategy will be implemented
city-wide with an emphasis on communities with the following characteristics, minority
majority wards, low-income and disproportionate crime rates and vacant buildings.

Comment on B: This is something that should be happening now. A significant part of

this does rest with Dept of Rec and Workforce Development. Not sure why HRC is
included, but the plan should be submitted to the Council consistent with our role of
oversight.

C. The Human Rights Commission will implement an annual dialogue on race, equity and
inclusion for the City of Albany Community. The forum will be funded as part of the
Mayor’s Rotunda Evening Series. Funds for this initiative will be made available through
an administrative contractual expenditure line in the City’s annual budget.

Comment on C: The Mayor's Rotunda Evening Series is not a codified program but
rather an initiative undertaken by the incumbent Mayor. So it's not something than be
referred to in code. Again, I don't know how we can bind a budget allocation through
code vs. something that's handled through the budget process. This section is not
inconsistent with current HRC authority under the section of code establishing the
commission, some existing languish can be tweaked to build on this.

D. The City of Albany Commission on Human Rights, in partnership with the City of
Albany’s Department of Administrative Service, will track outcomes over time and
publish a report on an annual basis on the City’s progress towards achieving equity. The
City will measure the collective actions and policies in the following equity areas: built
environment enhancements; violence prevention, workforce training employment; and
education. A report will be delivered to the Council on an annual basis no later than
September 21st.

Comment on D: Some of this substitutes oversight by the HRC over the oversight
authority that rests with the Council for programs and policies. Aside from that, I'm
concerned that the HRC is not meeting it's current annual reporting requirements to the
Council.

§ 183-4 Employee Racial Equity Training.

The Department of Administrative Services will ensure that all City employees receive annual
training on racial equity, diversity and inclusion.
Comment: this is something that should be happening now. Should be added to section of code
establishing Dept of Admin Services. Sexual orientation, gender identity or expression and
religion should also be referenced as part of diversity training.

Section 2. This ordinance shall take effect thirty days (30) after its enactment into law.