Jennifer Jones made these comments on the passing of the racial equity ballot propoals. “This is a new day for New York City! Today New Yorkers have made history—taking bold, unprecedented steps to upend systematic racism in local government in a way that other cities around the nation can follow.

We want to issue a tremendous thank you to our community partners, field educators, and volunteers who helped spread the word widely, educating everyone about these ballot proposals. But most importantly, we want to thank the NYC voters for coming out to the polls and using their voices to demonstrate their commitment to making a better, more equitable future for all New Yorkers.”

THECITY.nyc reported that “About 7 in 10 city voters also said yes to three ballot questions proposed by former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Racial Justice Commission, or RJC, formed in response to the widespread protests of racism and police brutality in the summer of 2020.”

Those measures — Proposals 2, 3 and 4 on the ballot — will do three things:

• Change the preamble of the city charter to include a statement of values to create a “just and equitable city for all.”
• Mandate that all city agencies create racial equity plans every two years and establish a new Office of Racial Equity to coordinate that planning.
• Ensure that the city government uses a new way of calculating the “true cost of living” without including public assistance as income. The RJC advocated for this change because it said the city’s current poverty measure did not accurately reflect household costs and, therefore, skewed the picture for policymakers. All four proposals take effect immediately.”