South Bend Common Councilman, Dr. Oliver Davis, discusses South Bend Reparatory Justice Report, Mayor chimes in

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — "What's next?" is the question many are asking about the South Bend Reparatory Justice Commission's report, including At-large Common Councilman Dr. Oliver Davis.

The report addresses injustices Black people have endured for generations and provides recommendations for the near future. The first step towards addressing the recommendations is for the Commission to present the report to the Common Council and the City. The public document was filed with the Clerk's office on May 4. However, ABC57 is told the work was completed at the end of 2025 and Common Council President, Pastor Canneth Lee, has had the report since late March.

The South Bend Common Council put together the South Bend Reparatory Justice Commission in 2023 to review the generational injustices Black people have endured and how to even the playing field.

"It happened way before a lot of us were born, but we are still feeling the effects of it now. So, let us look at the equity of what we can do to help build up not only this section, but all of South Bend because every section we build up, it helps us all," said Davis.

Common Councilman Dr. Oliver Davis says the work was completed at the end of 2025 and he's spoken with the president of the commission.

"She’s been trying to get a meeting with the council so that their commission can present before our South Bend Common Council, bring it to a committee and then we can discuss and follow through with the recommendations."

Those recommendations include:

• A comprehensive education program in LaSalle Park about safe urban gardening practices
• Supporting efforts by LaSalle Park Neighborhood Association for a comprehensive health study
• Embarking on aggressive lead testing program for children in Beck's Lake region
• Accelerating cleanup of toxic sites like Beck's Lake

"I think when people look at that word, they get caught up on, 'this is reparatory justice, who’s going to get money?' It’s bigger than that when people cannot plant tomatoes because of poison in the soil. We have to be concerned about that and so we have to deal with that," Oliver explained.

Once the Commission presents the report, the question remaining is how do these recommendations come to life in South Bend?

"One of the key things that we have to look at is when the EPA did their testing, they focused on LaSalle Park and they did a tiny bit of some neighborhoods, but we need to go out into the neighborhood here and see what are the people living there dealing with? What else is happening? they're about to build a new library right down the street here, when we touch that soil, what’s going to happen?”

He continued to talk about the impact past companies and businesses have had on the soil.

"When these big companies come and they help us out and they leave, they leave a lot of toxins, they leave a lot of problems, and so, while the greatness of South Bend in the 1940s and 50s was awesome, when those companies closed down or changed, they left a lot of toxins that are still affecting us in 2026 Therefore, can we blame Mayor Mueller? He wasn't born then. Can we blame Mayor Buttigieg? He wasn't born then. I wasn't born when most of these toxins were left, but it's here now," Davis explained.

Davis tells ABC57 "this is not a blame game; it's a healing game."

"So now, as a city leader, it's my responsibility. It's the Mayor's responsibility; it's the council's responsibility; it's the school board's responsibility. It is the St. Joe County responsibility, the health department's responsibility for us to have a better life and quality of life for everybody," he continued.

Davis says after the report was filed, someone asked him for the report. He tells ABC57 he requested the document and shared it with multiple people.

"Let’s put it out. Let’s not hide behind the desk, hide behind 'well, we are waiting on final documentation,' we already know enough. Let’s work with what we have. Let’s address that. If there's more information that’s going to come out, we'll deal with it then but let’s deal with what we already have, take advantage of what we know today and let’s move forward. If we find more information tomorrow, we’ll deal with it tomorrow or the new councils in 2028 and 2030 and 2040 will deal with it then but let us deal with what we know now."

Davis plans to continue sharing the document and calls on his fellow elected officials to get the job done.

"Let the Mayor come out of the closet and be straight up and deal with it. Our President Lee, come and deal with it. That’s why I'm dealing with it because he should not sit on the desk when people are hurting.”

While the report that has been shared publicly says "final report" on the front of it, the city feels differently with the City Spokesperson saying:

"The report is not final until the Commission's official release. The formal process exists because the Commission earned it. Council empaneled this Commission under the leadership of former President McBride and continued under President Lee. Eighteen months of research, public testimony, and community participation produced this document. The Commission deserves to release its own work on its own terms.

The mayor will address the substance of the report when the Commission releases it. We haven't waited for the report to begin the work it documents, and we will not stop."

You can read the report below.

Black Lives Matter South Bend is hosting a meeting Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Charles Black Community Center. The meeting will focus on advancing the report with special attention to policy priorities and budget development as they work toward recommendation for the 2027 City budget.