By Kevin Aldridge
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Two years ago, Mission Impossible seemed like a more appropriate code name for Mayor Charlie Luken's race commission than Cincinnati Community Action Now (CAN).

The panel's task was to devise ways to repair decades of neighborhood neglect, economic disparity and bad blood between police and African-Americans - and get it done fast.

Much like the mission tapes in the popular TV spy drama, skeptics expected Cincinnati CAN to self-destruct. But after 24 months of meetings, planning and implementation, CAN leaders may be close to calling it quits.

Leaders of the race commission are expected to meet with more than 100 CAN volunteers today from 4-7 p.m. at the Cintas Center at Xavier University to discuss the group's progress and next steps. Though CAN is not expected to dissolve officially, it is anticipated that leaders will announce the various organizations that will be responsible for executing the commission's initiatives in the long term.

Some of CAN's programs already are being housed in other organizations.

The United Way of Greater Cincinnati oversees the group's early childhood development program "Success by Six," and the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce will operate the Minority Business Accelerator.

Ross Love, co-chair of CAN, has been saying since December that CAN likely would shift gears by midyear, taking on more of a "monitoring" role. Love and co-chair Tom Cody have maintained that CAN was never meant to be a permanent fixture.

Luken formed the race commission in the weeks following the April 2001 riots.

For the past two years, the privately funded task force has been developing long-term solutions to racial disparities in employment, education and the justice system, including expunging nonviolent criminal records and airing a public service announcement campaign promoting racial cooperation.