The resolution declared “support for the creation of a reconciliation commission, with a mission of studying and developing proposals to redress the enduring negative effects of the institutions of slavery and the subsequent systemic discrimination.”

For about three years, little was done. Community concerns failed to materialize into tangible action by city officials.

Late last year, calls for the commission resurfaced. Burton and others poured into Old City Hall demanding action and donning T-shirts emblazoned with “Resolution 568.”

Then, last Sunday after church, City Council member Luis Viera drafted a proposal to finally form a committee.

“I’m not naive. This committee is not going to be anything of a cure-all in any way” he said Thursday. “But what it does is allow us to do better.”

He had proposed that Mayor Castor make six appointees. She declined.

“That’s a missed opportunity,” Viera said at Thursday’s meeting.

“I’m disappointed as well,” added councilmember Alan Clendenin. “I wish the mayor’s office was participating in this wholeheartedly.”

Castor’s chief of staff, John Bennet, wrote to the council member that the administration would, instead, provide the committee with technical and logistical assistance, records show.

A spokesperson provided a statement from the administration Thursday that read in part: “We fully support the council’s leadership and initiative in forming the Racial Reconciliation Committee and will assist the council’s committee with its work.”

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