A new report from Albany’s Chief City Auditor concludes progress has lagged when it comes to improving equity.
In February 2022, the city of Albany embarked on what was to have been a year-long equity audit. Chief City Auditor Dorcey Applyrs announced Wednesday at city hall that the probe is finished.
"Striving for a more equitable city can be more involved than many anticipate and require a level of detail and commitment that most people underestimate," Applyrs said. "Undoing decades of disinvestment, racism, sexism, discrimination, and implicit and explicit bias requires diligence, tenacity, humility, patience, and not personalizing when we missed the mark. But yet being more inclined to understand why we missed the mark and how to improve."
She notes the audit found several actions and procedures involving minority and women-owned business enterprise and Americans with Disabilities Act compliance have been implemented "contrary to what the equity agenda legislation passed by the common council in 2019 mandates."
“Currently, 70% of city owned properties are partially compliant with the with ADA, and the remaining 30% are not compliant. Only 26% of pedestrian signals accommodate both visual and audible impairments. Among the other pedestrian signals, either the visually impaired or hearing impaired would have restricted accessibility,” said Applyrs.
Recommendations include updating the ADA transition plan for all city owned properties along with the city updating its MWBE webpage to more clearly display open bids and request for proposals so that MWBE firms may access them.
As for inequities that haven't been addressed, Applyrs says the focus has to be on the details at the grassroots level. “You can have well intended policies and practices. But the it's really where the rubber meets the road with hand holding and really getting into the neighborhoods really talking to residents to make sure that our well-intended policies actually effectuate the change that we want to see,” Applyrs said.
Applyrs, a Democrat and candidate for city mayor in the 2025 election, says there is no shortage of desire to ensure that Albany is an equitable city.
"The audit’s primary goal was to identify inequities in institutional policies, practices and culture that may produce differences in outcomes that affect our constituency, our constituency, being employees hired by the city, but also our residents and business owners. The audit period was over the course of 10 years from 2011 to 2021. And the complete report includes 43 findings and 31 recommendations," said Applyrs.
Asked whether the audit's findings bear any weight on her campaign for mayor, Applyrs says the report sheds daylight on equity problems and challenges facing the city.
“I would go as far as saying that this is a clarion call to elected officials in the city, not just me, that we should really be intentional about wanting to alleviate and eliminate the inequities that we see in our city and this, I believe this audit report really lays the foundation for that,” Applyrs said.
You can read the audit report here.
