Nebraska African American Affairs Commission faces audit, looks toward future

LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) – More criticism of the Nebraska Commission on African American Affairs is coming by way of an audit from the Auditor of Public Accounts.

The commission was established in 2020 by the Nebraska Legislature to develop solutions to issues facing the state’s African American population.

In January, the commission took heavy fire from leaders of Omaha’s black community.

“Since 2020, what have you accomplished? This seems to be the same ole same ole,” said North Omaha community advocate Cheryl Weston.

“We can’t take no more mess from anybody that’s saying they’re doing something when you’re not really doing it,” community advocate Sherman Wells said.

“The people in the community don’t even have a clue who you are,” minister Sundiata Menelik said.

Newly appointed Commission Chairman Tim Clark asked the community for time to right the ship.

“This is something we have inherited, and I’m not going to stand here and say that all is bad in terms of what has happened day one,” Clark said.

A report issued by the Nebraska Auditor of Public Affairs points out things they think were wrong years ago, going back to 2022.

The report intends to give comments and recommendations to improve the internal control over financial reporting, or result in the commission operating more efficiently.

A few of the items the report points to include:

Apparent Open Meetings Act violations
Issues with the appointment of an interim executive director
Questioning of the commission’s expenditures
Use of temporary employees who worked without direct on-site supervision

Earlier in January, community advocate and former U.S. Senate Candidate Preston Love Jr. was very critical of the Commission.

After reading the report, Love said the commission should listen to and adopt the recommendations made by the auditor and move forward.

“It’s going to lay out, from their perspective, a road map of the things to strengthen our systems, our controls,” Clark said.

All of this falls on the head of Clark, who’s only been on the commission for only seven months.

Clark told First Alert 6 that some of the auditor’s suggestions have already been put in place, and the commission did get off to a rough start.

“It’s a learning curve of just how to function, how to get things paid for, how to get contracts, minutes, public notices of meetings,” Clark said.

Clark says the commission will learn from past experiences and the auditor’s report, but the makeup of the commission could change.

“I think you’ll see some re-appointments by the governor, and new appointments. Officially all terms end on June 30th of 2025,” Clark said.

Clark says the commission must move forward because the work is important.

“We have to be on point and very focused and intentional about how do we protect, enhance and improve systems and legislation that’s going to help black folks in the state of Nebraska,” Clark said.

Clark went on to say the Nebraska Commission on African American Affairs can be a part of leading the way to having meaningful conversations on solutions to issues facing Nebraska’s African American population.