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Mebane's Racial Equity Advisory Committee, or REAC, recently introduced itself to members of the city council and other Mebane officials.
Committee members were chosen by Mebane's council earlier this year and they recently started meeting. The group, which consists of seven members, was one of the most applied for committees in the city's history.
"I want to thank the folks who volunteered," said Mebane Mayor Ed Hooks. "We had, I think, 49 people [who applied]. It was a tremendous group."
The group members include Daniel Velasquez, Schenita Randolph, Stuart Smith, Tomeka Ward-Satterfield, Travis Albritton, Kiesha Bluford and Tommy Jones.
Hooks said he was impressed by the resumes of all the people who applied and particularly those who made it onto the committee. The seven REAC members run the gamut, from college faculty to lawyers and retired residents.
"I'm very passionate about this work," Randolph said.
Smith echoed Randolph.
"If I listen and I learned to be a good listener, sometimes things are different from what I perceived them to be initially," Smith said. "I understand the need for it in our society and I just want to be part of something positive."
As its name implies, the Racial Equity Advisory Committee will tackle matters related to racial equity. Both the committee and the city council spent Tuesday's meeting specifying the nature of the committee's work. This includes providing input on new projects, ordinances, or general policies, to Mebane's council, after considering its impact on racial equity.
Hooks said ultimately the committee is to ensure the council has greater accountability to all its residents.
"We need to make sure that we are doing the right thing and the right thing for all people," Hooks said. "It's what this committee is hopefully going to do to help us see where the right way to go is."
Hooks added that politics should be absent from the committee's deliberation and consideration.
"I'm particularly excited about that," Hooks said.
Currently, REAC has plans to meet later in August to formalize their regular and planning sessions along with other details.
"I'm extremely excited about this, what we see here is a bridge," said Councilmember Everette Greene. "Like a good bridge, it can go both ways. I think this is a wonderful group and I'm excited about what we are going to do."
REAC members hit the ground running by throwing out a number of ideas. One of which was to include some of the dozens of people who applied for REAC by including them in a focus group. Albritton suggested that doing so would give the committee a better idea of some of the items they should tackle.
Albritton, Bluford, Ward-Satterfield, and Randolph will serve terms of four years while Stuart, Velasquez, and Jones will serve terms of two years.
Dean-Paul Stephens covers racial justice. Follow him on Twitter @DeanPEStephens. If you have tips, send an email to dstephens@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Times-News: Mebane's Racial Equity Advisory Committee holds initial meeting
