03/22/2024
For Immediate Release
Press Conference at Noon-1PM • TODAY • March 22, 2024 • 49 Middle Street, Hadley, MA
Contact: Pat Ononibaku, President
Black Business Association of Amherst Area (BBAAA)
BBAAA President Calls for Resignation of Town Manager Paul Bockelman for refusing to allocate ARPA funds to pre-existing Black Businesses
Amherst, MA—The Amherst town manager, Paul Bockelman, presented his spending plan for distributing remaining $3.8 million of the $11.9 million American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money to the Amherst Town Council at their meeting on Monday, March 18, 2024.
Demands for more fairness, equity, and transparency were leveled in 2022 when Black Business Association of Amherst Area (BBAAA) president Pat Ononibaku blew the whistle and led the charge that none of pre-existing black businesses were awarded ARPA funds.
Bockelman—who sits on the Amherst Business Improvement District (BID) board of directors which is a 501c4 lobbying group for developers owning real estate in downtown—gave the then BID executive director Gabrielle Gould control of all the money ($100,000) to distribute to businesses while providing another 501c3 nonprofit she simultaneously led (the Downtown Amherst Foundation) $300,000 to operate a night club, the Drake.
It is curious to the whistle blower Pat Ononibaku that the three white people implicated in the unfair distribution of ARPA Funds to the business community have resigned from their positions. The former Town Finance Director Sean Mangano resigned in 2023, the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Claudia Pazmany and the BID Executive Director Gabrielle Gould both resigned February 2024 after the exposure that they denied ARPA funds to pre-existing black business owners including Hazel’s Blue Lagoon owners who operated a nightclub across the street from the Drake. Without much needed ARPA funding and unnecessary extended delays with permitting process with the Town Inspection office, Hazel’s Blue Lagoon was forced to shut down.
Ononibaku remarked, “Public comments were overwhelmingly supportive of BBAAA calls for ARPA support for black-owned businesses, yet the town manager and town council consistently ignore our calls to do better, to be fair, and to be more transparent when it comes down to allocation of capital, resources, and support. No BIPOC led organizations in this town received a dime of ARPA relief from our town including Amherst Media, Sankofa Gumbo, and Amherst Community Connections, etc. Rather, a lion’s share of the $11.9M has lined the pockets of white-led nonprofit organizations, developers, business owners including contractors selected to repair town infrastructures such as buildings and roads. A robust audit will be needed to fully expose corruption in Amherst. To date only two start up black owned businesses (White Lion and Carefree Cakery) were awarded $5,000 and $8,000 respectively of the ARPA funds probably because they are tenants to the two of the richest and most influential developersand commercial landlords in our town.”
Monica Cage, a board member of BBAAA, provided public comments to state that she was hopeful ARPA funds could be used to scale up her natural hair braiding business Crowned by Cage and that BBAAA provides much needed community, mentorship, and support for young entrepreneurs like herself. She stated, “Excluding black businesses from access to capital is indefensible and most likely illegal.”
BBAAA’s treasurer Yasmine Brandford provided public comments stating she has been operating Amherst Extensions and Hair Salon in Amherst for the past 16 years and continues to be frustrated by the lack of support from the town. She stated, “Our backs are to the wall right now. They are not paying attention. They do not care about us.”
Ed Cage, a member of BBAAA, expressed his disappointment stating, “I came with an open heart and an open mind that our town would support us when they heard from us, when we appeal to them, but Monday night March 18, 2024, felt like a total rejection of my existence, of my humanity, of my service to this community. I have not felt more disrespected. It is as if the town manager did not bear witness to our tears, our struggles, and our pain when he came in 2023 to meet privately with me and other black men and women from BBAAA organization who operate businesses in this town.”
Ononibaku continued to state, “Paul Bockelman must resign immediately due to his anti-black policies and practices and every Town Council member must go who supports his anti-black positions, policies and practices. Why does the Town Council vote to endorse $300,000 for the Drake in 2021 and deny in 2024 that same privilege of a vote on the current spending plan for the remaining $3.8M? The rules of engagement must change, the BID and the Amherst Area Chambers of Commerce receive resources and support from our town government regularly and throughout the year, the same resources and support must be provided to the BBAAA. We want to thank all our supporters who have advocated for us through public comments, emails to the town council, showing up at town meetings in person and remotely for the past two years. Please continue your advocacy, the black community is still hurting, and the town manager doesn’t care.”
