Diverse Erie to receive $1.5 million in settlement with Brenton Davis

• Diverse Erie reached a legal settlement with Erie County Executive Brenton Davis, who had been withholding $1.5 million in American Rescue Plan funds.
• The settlement requires the county to release the funds within seven days of the judge’s authorization.

Diverse Erie, a commission that seeks to empower and invest in Black and brown communities, will receive $1.5 million as part of a legal settlement with County Executive Brenton Davis.

The settlement, which was announced Thursday during a special meeting of the Diverse Erie board, requires Davis to release the $1.5 million in American Rescue Plan funds that he had been denying the commission for more than a year.

As part of the negotiations, the commission agreed to use roughly $1.1 million of the funds toward grant awards and the remainder toward administrative costs.

Davis also agreed to not reclaim the commission’s remaining funds from its 2021 ARP contract. That amount was roughly $400,000 in December.

Davis is required to release the $1.5 million within seven days of Judge Edward Reibman, who oversaw the matter in Erie County Common Pleas Court, authorizing the settlement.

“This has been long overdue and we’re excited,” said Diverse Erie Chief Administrative Officer Gary Lee.

“We want to move forward because Erie County is depending on us, especially the Black, Indigenous and people of color community, to make it a better place for all.”

Diverse Erie sued Davis to perform ‘ministerial function’

The settlement brings an end to a months-long legal battle between Diverse Erie and Davis.

The commission sued Davis in December for refusing to release the $1.5 million despite the funds being approved by County Council in January 2024.

Davis, who’s frequently criticized the commission over its financial management, declined to recognize the appropriation, arguing he never certified the availability of those funds, which is a pre-condition outlined in the Erie County Home Rule Charter.

The lawsuit argued that the certification process was a “typical ministerial function,” and that the county executive cannot refuse to certify because he doesn’t agree with the supplemental appropriation.

The lawsuit also argued that Davis had no problem certifying a separate $1 million ARP appropriation months after council approved the $1 million in January 2024.

By doing that, the executive “acknowledged that certification of funds does not have to occur before County Council’s supplemental appropriation and such certification can occur at any time,” the lawsuit stated.

A ‘big win’ for Diverse Erie

Diverse Erie Solicitor Tim Wachter said the settlement with the county was a “big win” for the commission.

“The money will be released to benefit the underserved populations that County Council had intended the money to benefit,” he said. “We look forward to the judge authorizing the settlement.”

Lee, who has said the additional $1.5 million will allow the commission to engage in homeownership, apprenticeship and health care programs, stressed there “continues to be a need and demand” for the commission’s work.

“When you’re trying to do the right thing, whether it be the county or the region, you can never go wrong,” he said.

The nine-member Diverse Erie commission, which was formed in the wake of County Council declaring racism a public health crisis in 2020, has sought to empower and invest in historically disadvantaged — and in particular, Black and brown — communities affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

It has been funded by $3.5 million in ARP funds.

A.J. Rao can be reached at arao@gannett.com. Follow him on X @ETNRao.