BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The 5/14 Memorial Commission held its first public meeting Tuesday night. The meetings have been held, but not necessarily open to the public.
Last month, the 7 News I-Team began looking for answers to questions on the transparency of the commission.
WATCH RELATED: Is the 5/14 Memorial Commission as transparent as it claims?
The I-Team then requested an advisory opinion from the state after discovering the commission was potentially breaking open meetings law. The State Committee on Open Government said the 5/14 Memorial Commission should have all of its meetings in public.
WATCH RELATED: State committee rules 5/14 Memorial Commission is required to hold open, public meetings
Until earlier this month, commission meeting minutes had not been posted since December. Anything that was discussed or any selection and vetting processes had not been done in the public view.
At Tuesday's meeting, 7 News' Pheben Kassahun spoke with the commission chair, a board member who is also a survivor of the tops shooting and a concerned community member.
Each shared their sentiments about the public meeting and their vision for the community, as the survivors and community heal from the tragic event.
The meeting was held at Rich Products Corporate.
The board, which consists of ten members, wanted to ensure transparency moving forward.
"Now that we are going to be following the public meeting laws, it's not that we didn't want to but privacy is my main concern for the families and for those on the commission," 5/14 Commission Chair Reverend Mark Blue said. "There's a lot of consoling and there are times where it's emotional and I wouldn't want that to be on camera for anyone because of the sensitivity in nature of what we're doing."
Also last month, the commission announced three finalists to create a design for a permanent memorial to honor the victims and survivors of the racially motivated mass shooting.
WATCH RELATED: 'One time to get this right': 5/14 Memorial Commission selects finalists to design permanent memorial
The submission date for the three finalists is April 22.
During that time, the finalists can enhance or change their plans for the memorial's design.
The finalists will present their work during an executive session to the board members on April 29.
That is when they will then vote publicly.
"Nothing can restore the loss that our community and that the families have but our hope is that this can be an opportunity of hope, reflection and also of learning," Rev. Blue said.
Community member Samuel Herbert was one of three people to attend the meeting.
Herbert said, "Whatever memorial, whatever is built [needs] to represent those ten individuals who lost their lives simply because of the color of their skin."
Fragrance Harris Stanfield is a board member of the 5/14 Memorial Commission.
"I was asked to be on the board because I've been involved because this is is my life now," Harris Stanfield said. "Being involved helps with the healing process and that's important for me and Zeneta and family members who are on the board as well."
Aside from working at Tops, she works as an educator within Buffalo Public Schools.
She said the educational aspect of the memorial is imperative.
"We need to identify that this was racially motivated, so there's going to be something related to that as a part of this memorial but I think we don't want to go so deep down the rabbit hole of racial inequality, that we lose the concept that there were people who were there. People whose lives will never be the same."
