10-07-19 MBE/WBE - Laserfiche WebLink

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South Bend is one (1) of the only cities of our size in the country to try to tackle a systemic and institutional problem like this. Most cities our size treat it as though it is what it is. The fact that we had the tenacity to say this can be a part of how we create a more inclusive ecosystem in our community by starting with what we can control, which are our City procurement and contracting dollars, and then depending on the natural market forces, assist with that is extraordinary. She wants to see us succeed. She won't drop off the face of the Earth. I have her on speed dial. We have asked for additional staff in the budget this year for a full-time Contract Compliance Coordinator in addition to funding for a Labor Compliance Coordinator. Hopefully, we will also be supported by a full-time Assistant City Attorney. She continued, All certifications do not have a cost as it depends on who you certify with. Some are free. Our role as a City is to support organizations that already exist in our community that provide these direct services and to make sure that they have resources and funding to function as they were created to function. That is one (1) of the reasons why we, as a City, will not have our own certification process. We are making sure that we have reciprocity with existing certifying agencies that have full staffs in place to make sure that they are legally bona fide MWBE businesses, and later down the road, legally bona fide veteran businesses. That is what we feel is the best use of our resources. There are other organizations in the community that provide very robust services, so we would like to make sure that we are supporting them as well as advising business owners as to which organizations they should contact depending on their needs. The board then discussed the process of certification and how they are working with businesses to support them, including through the online toolkit. Ms.Brooks stated,The difference between the existing ordinance and the ordinance we are looking to draft is that the new one(1)will be contingent on the recommendations of the study. It will refer directly to the calculations and the analysis that were in the study. The existing ordinance did not have a study. Councilmember White stated, The current ordinance did not have all of this information or details on the disparity study and it didn't clarify what the relationship was going to be because we didn't have all of this in place. Council Attorney Bob Palmer suggested a red lined version to clarify what changes are being proposed. Ms. Brooks asked, What specific activities would you like to make sure we consider as we are drafting the program plans? One (1) is the race conscious program that is largely informed by the Disparity Study itself The other program plan is a small local emerging business program that will establish the target market for that program. Even those minority businesses that are established outside of the City Limits of South Bend, or small businesses in general can participate in that. If we narrow that to just the City of South Bend, then that definitely would increase our economic development as a City. If we're looking at Mishawaka, that is already a strong economic area. We would be able to double our efforts in that sense. There are pros and cons of each.