A coalition of Greene County communities opposed efforts by the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission to consider racism a public health crisis, calling the move “unnecessary and polarizing.”
A resolution on the declaration was pushed back for 60 days at the MVRPC’s Aug. 6 meeting after a motion by Greene County Commissioner Tom Koogler to table it indefinitely.
In a statement to MVRPC before the vote, obtained by the Dayton Daily News, Koogler said he was speaking for Xenia, Beavercreek, Fairborn, Greene County and multiple townships in the county.
The first half of the statement says they don’t condone racism or discrimination, and they support equity initiatives but, “we are concerned about the evolving direction of the conversation.”
“We cannot support the current effort to intermingle regional planning with public health policy, even for the noble intent of fighting racism,” the statement says. “MVRPC should focus on addressing all forms of inequality through its proper sphere of influence and control — planning and transportation issues.
“Public health policy — especially in this pandemic crisis — should not be politicized. We feel adoption of an institutional position defining racism as a public health emergency to be an unnecessary and a polarizing act rather than a unifying call for change.”
Another issue raised by Koogler is a lack of clarity about how the resolution would impact funding standards, procurement and general policies.
MVRPC is a partnership of communities in Montgomery, Miami, Greene, Darke and Preble counties that work together for regional planning, especially for prioritizing federal transportation and infrastructure funding requests.
Asked by the Dayton Daily News if the resolution would lead MVRPC to prioritize projects in high-minority urban areas over low-minority rural areas, agency spokeswoman Stacy Schweikhart said, “the focus of the commitment is mostly internal.”
‘Still trying to understand’
Neither Koogler nor officials from Xenia or Beavercreek returned calls for comment.
Fairborn City Manager Rob Anderson said communities in Greene County support efforts to fight racism, they just wanted more time to review and discuss the resolution. He believes they will likely ultimately support the resolution.
“We’re still trying to understand the ramifications of everything, and I think that’s why we just paused for a minute to understand,” he said.
MVRPC Executive Director Brian Martin urged the agency’s Technical Advisory Committee — consisting of representatives from 34 member organizations — to pass the resolution, noting the region’s history of systemic segregation.
“Racism and discrimination impact African American residents by undermining the achievement of the American Dream and inhibiting access to opportunity that everyone should have available to them,” he said in a memo submitted along with the resolution.
In addition to a statement denouncing racism, the resolution would authorize Martin to work with local health departments to remove barriers to equity, allow him to develop policies and training on diversity for member agencies, pledge support for a regional equity initiative and call for an inclusive purchasing program to support minority-owned businesses.
Asked by the Dayton Daily News about concerns that public health is outside the domain of MVRPC, Martin said: “The language in our resolution says ‘address’ racism as a public health crisis because we have no direct public health duties as a city or county would.”
“MVRPC certainly addresses public health matters through our regional coordination of transportation and transit infrastructure, community planning and environmental sustainability,” he said.
RTA board debate
MVRPC also oversees a regional equity initiative aimed at addressing racial disparities in the region.
The Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority on Aug. 4 joined that effort by passing its own resolution supporting efforts to combat racism as a public health crisis.
RTA board member Franz Hoge said he supported the resolution but expressed concern with saying racism is a public health emergency in the Miami Valley.
“To me that’s a very powerful statement and I have yet to find anybody who has been able to justify that, within our community, racism is truly a public health emergency,” he said.
Hoge also spoke in support of gentrification because it increases property values, saying the real problem is the government’s inability to offset gentrification with affordable housing.
“Those two items bother me and I have difficulty supporting something that I don’t know if we can prove — or at least it hasn’t’ been proven to me — and my concern is, if it’s ever proven to be incorrect, it will dilute the meaning of ‘racism’ and it will dilute the meaning of ’emergency.’”
RTA board Vice President David Williamson countered that the agency isn’t making a public health declaration.
“We aren’t public health experts, but we can support somebody else’s declaration of that and promise to work with them to address the health and wellness of our residents by removing barriers to opportunity and good health,” he said.
The resolution passed 7-0 with Hoge abstaining from the vote.
Public Health–Dayton & Montgomery County passed a resolution in June declaring racism a public health crisis.
Along with the declaration came a commitment to adopting inclusive and anti-racist policies, offering internal training, advocating for policies that improve health in minority communities and working with the local health system to confront racism.
‘Important first step’
For years, the health district has chronicled that the Black community is disproportionately besieged by issues such as infant mortality rate, chronic diseases and barriers to quality health care. Now they are approaching the issues similar to the multi-jurisdictional, multi-agency response to the opioid epidemic.
“If implemented, such a structure would seek solutions in a variety of areas including; housing, transportation, employment, public health, education, health care, behavioral health and criminal justice,” county health district spokesman Dan Suffoletto said.
Other jurisdictions have made similar declarations, including Dayton, Trotwood and Piqua. The Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce and its members in June stated support for efforts to declare racism a public health crisis.
“It’s important that MVRPC passes its resolution denouncing racism and discrimination,” said Holly Allen, chamber of commerce marketing director.
DeWine earlier this year directed a task force to examine why coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths were disproportionately hitting minority communities.
The group’s findings point to the inequities Black Ohioans face in health care, economics and myriad other aspects of life. These inequities leave Black Ohioans more susceptible to problems such as heart disease and diabetes that put them at increased risk from COVID-19.
The first recommendation listed in the report: “State and local government leadership, publicly funded entities, and community partners across sectors — including health care, education, employment, housing, food, and criminal justice — should acknowledge racism as a public health crisis and dismantle racism and other forms of discrimination through a review of internal and external policies and procedures.”
When the report was released, DeWine stated that racism is a public health crisis. A resolution submitted in June for the General Assembly to make such a declaration hasn’t gained traction in the Republican-controlled legislature.
The Health Policy Institute of Ohio on Aug. 14 released a policy brief stating that racism is a crisis resulting in disparities leading to serious consequences for the health and well-being of Ohioans of color.
The definition of “racism” goes beyond the hate speech or discrimination people think of, the report says, and includes institutional and structural racism that indirectly affects minority communities — such as housing, education or economic policy.
Reem Aly, vice president of the policy institute, said local declarations of racism as a health crisis are “a very important first step.”
“In order to really advance equity and to eliminate those disparities and inequities you have to name the crisis that people are facing and racism is that crisis,” she said. “Even the controversy around naming racism as a public health crisis does allude to why it’s a crisis in the first place.”
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