City Manager Says He Met Most Goals But Failed to Form Reparations Commission

Cambridge City Manager Yi-An Huang ’05 said he had met nearly all of the City Council’s goals for him in the second annual City Manager Performance review, but conceded that he had failed to establish a commission for reparations to the descendants of enslaved people.

In December 2023, the Cambridge City Council passed the American Freedmen Commission Ordinance, requiring Huang to establish a commission tasked with redressing the harms of slavery, housing discrimination, and mass incarceration for the descendants of enslaved Americans.

Almost a year later, the city has yet to do so.

Establishing the commission was the only goal assessed as “not met” of the 17 goals for the City Manager that were approved by the City Council last spring. Fifteen were met, and one — prioritizing key initiatives aligned with Council goals and providing regular updates — was marked as partially met.

Huang touted achievements such as the rollout of the Cambridge Preschool Program and the launch of the Community Assistance Response and Engagement Team — a team of nonviolent emergency responders aimed to supplement local police — both long-term goals of the Council.

In the performance review, Huang noted that the city has set aside money for the American Freedmen Commission in next year’s budget.

City spokesperson Jeremy C. Warnick wrote in an email that “while the Commission has not yet formally launched, strategic planning and community engagement efforts have been in place in order to support its launch.”

Warnick wrote that a “key stakeholder group” of residents and historians met Friday to discuss implementing the decision. He said the meeting highlighted the need for a working group to lay a foundation for what the commission will do and how it will engage with the public, and that he expects a follow-up meeting for those next steps will be held in December.

In the review, Huang also expressed caution about the impacts of Donald Trump’s second administration on the city.

Huang wrote that going forward it will be important to “navigate potential changes coming from a new presidential administration.”

“We are already working hard to assess existing policies and federal grants that could be affected, and developing plans for ensuring we can stand strong and carry out all our commitments regardless of the challenges ahead,” he said.

—Staff writer Benjamin Isaac can be reached at benjamin.isaac@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @benjaminisaac_1.