Home  >  Northwest  >  OR: Agreement aims to have more minority contractors working on projects

OR: Agreement aims to have more minority contractors working on projects

By   /   August 31, 2012  /   1 Comment

By Shelby Sebens | Northwest Watchdog

PORTLAND — The Portland City Council is expected to consider a Community Benefits Agreement aimed at getting more minority- and female-owned contractors working on city projects.

The goal, according to a letter from Mayor Sam Adams on the city’s website, is to enhance workforce equity on city projects and increase training.

The city’s 2009 disparity study, conducted by BBC Research and Consulting, which provides business planning and feasibility studies, found that minority-owned contractors are underutilized in the city. The study revealed that the Portland Development Commission didn’t meet the expected number of minority and female contractors on projects that received PDC funding but not oversight.

CBA would set a uniform standard for working conditions, wages and benefits, as well as increased workforce training, employment and contracting opportunities for women and minorities.

The agreement would affect contractors, unions and the community, according to Adams’ letter. If passed, it would be the first of its kind in Oregon.

CBA only would affect large city projects — $15 million or more — and be piloted on the Kelly Butte Reservoir projectand the interstate maintenance facility renovation, according to the proposed resolution that the City Council will vote on Wednesday.

Contact Shelby Sebens at Shelby@NorthwestWatchdog.org, or follow her on Twitter @ShelbySebens.

For more Northwest Watchdog updates, visit Facebook and Twitter.

 

Please, feel free to "steal our stuff"! Just remember to credit Watchdog.org. Find out more

Shelby Sebens

  • rogerclegg

    Why do race, ethnicity, and sex need to be considered at all
    in deciding who gets awarded a contract?
    It’s good to make sure contracting programs are open to all, that
    bidding opportunities are widely publicized beforehand, and that no one gets
    discriminated against because of skin color, national origin, or sex. But that means no preferences because of skin
    color, etc. either–whether it’s labeled a “set-aside,” a
    “quota,” or a “goal,” since they all end up amounting to
    the same thing. Such discrimination is
    unfair and divisive; it breeds corruption and otherwise costs the taxpayers and
    businesses money to award a contract to someone other than the lowest bidder;
    and it’s almost always illegal—indeed, unconstitutional—to boot (see 42 U.S.C.
    section 1981 and this model brief: http://www.pacificlegal.org/page.aspx?pid=1342
    ). Those who insist on engaging in such
    discrimination deserve to be sued, and they will lose.