Sixth annual RASE update marks progress

Five years after the Commission on Racial and Structural Equity issued its final report, nearly half of all recommendations have been implemented and work on others is underway, its organizers say. 

“Monroe County government remains committed to the work we’ve done with the RASE commission and has achieved many milestones,” said Monroe County Executive Adam Bello last week at the sixth annual progress report on the effort to dismantle structural inequity. “It’s a guidemap for what we do here in government and really sets a new standard for our community in how we think about programs and investments we’re going to make.” 

Bello and Lovely Warren, then mayor of Rochester, appointed the commission in August 2020. The commission was established to review local city and county laws, policies, and ordinances to identify areas of structural inequity and recommend reforms. 

In March 2021, the commission released its final report, “No Time for Excuses: It’s Time for Action.” While the commission found few county and city laws that created and sustained racist policies, it identified practices and conditions that perpetuated racial inequities. 

“Racism is deeply embedded in the culture and practices of Rochester and Monroe County,” the commission chairs stated in a letter to Bello and Warren. “This declaration may shock some people, but it affirms what many others have been saying: the entire County of Monroe has a racial problem, one that is not contained within its largest municipality, Rochester. And it is a problem that must be fixed.” 

The commission called for finding ways for people of color to achieve greater participation in decision-making, with 213 recommendations across nine categories including business development, education, and health care. 

In 2022, Bell and current Mayor Malik Evans selected the Urban League of Rochester to implement RASE’s recommendations using seven Community Advancing Recommendations Teams with representation from city and county government, the Rochester City School District, and community-based organizations. 

“One of the things I said to (Bello in 2022) was that we want to make sure that this report does not just become another document on a shelf,” Evans said last week. “We want to make sure that if we put something on paper we can show that we are having measurable progress. When we measure and track our progress, we can accomplish good things which is what this report has allowed us to do.” 

“As I prepare to transition from the Urban League, I have to say that this is one of the bodies of work that I am most proud of,” said Seanelle Hawkins, president and CEO of the Urban League. (Hawkins will be leaving the civil rights and community development organization for Daystar Kids, where she will be CEO effective May 1. Tiffany Owens will serve as interim Urban League CEO through October.) 

“This wasn’t just process. This was the community saying, ‘We deserve better and we’re going to do what we can to help define what better looks like,” Hawkins added. “And I know this work is not finished, we still have much to do. So, it doesn’t end with this moment; the Urban League plans to carry this work forward.” 

Among the implemented recommendations are free child care screening training through Get Ready to Grow for centers and families, the Measures for Justice Commons data portal launched in 2025, and the expansion of language access at county facilities through iPads equipped with Propio translation and interpreting services. 

According to the progress report, 47 percent of all recommendations have been implemented and another 22 percent are currently in progress. 

Detailed information on the implemented recommendations has not yet been made available online. The presentation contained examples, but no comprehensive overview. 

When the Beacon requested up-to-date specifics, a representative from the Urban League said that progress posters are on display at Rundel Building’s Harold Hacker Hall until April 24. The online version of those posters are from the fifth annual community update last October. 

“Today’s RASE Update is focused on what the CARTs are working on in the next 12 months,” the Urban League said in the presentation Zoom chat. “There is a ‘future’ section on the posters that some CARTs have added to since the 2025 RASE Update.” 

During his remarks, Evans pushed back against some members of the community. 

“We have a lot of people in this community who like yapping, but not actually doing,” said Evans. “This work involves, not pointing out problems or what the challenges are, but actually rolling up your sleeves and actually working on it. Regularly, I get notes from people who say ‘Here is something we should do.’ And yeah, it is something we should. Together, not just one entity.”

Jalil Muntaqim, a community organizer with Citizen Action, utilized the online presentation’s chat function to push presenters on issues related to the organization’s current campaign focused on affordable housing.

“Since housing vouchers were set at $440 in 1990 (at today’s value $275), why is there no focus on increasing the amount of housing vouchers to assist 70 percent of Rochester residents?” Muntaqim wrote. “Rochester has the money but not the will to do so.”

Laurie Mahoney, one of the Housing CART facilitators, responded, stating that the money in question is defined as a benefit and is set by the state. She agreed that the money value was not enough and encouraged Muntaqim to carry on the conversation with her CART in the future.

Jacob Schermerhorn is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer and data journalist.

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