Revised City of South Bend Disparity Study Report

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City of South Bend Disparity Study 2020 2. Commit additional resources to the Office of Diversity & Inclusion In addition to a good electronic data system, the City should increase staff and resources dedicated to the Office of Diversity & Inclusion. Office staff should be responsible for the contract award process (outreach, goal setting, bid and proposal review for compliance, etc.) and the contract performance process (goal attainment, substitution reviews, prompt payment tracking, etc.), asthey relate to M/WBE concerns. Functional areas must be separated by the type of program: labor compliance is very different from contract compliance, and personnel that specialize in each function are necessary for successful pro- grams. 3. Focus on Reducing Barriers to M/WBE Prime Contract Awards Interviewees reported that their firms would like to perform as prime vendors on City contracts. Given the size of the City's contracts, there are numerous opportunities for smaller firms to participate. Several steps should be imple- mented as soon as possible: Develop contract specifications with an eye towards unbundling projects into less complex scopes and lower dollar values. • Review experience requirements with the goal of reducing them to the lowest level necessary to ensure the bidder has adequate experience, perhaps by recognizing similar though not identical types of work, including work performed for private sector clients. Review surety bonding and insurance requirements so they are no greater than necessary to protect South Bend's interests. These possible barriers to contracting by small firms have been mentioned by the courts as areas to be considered. Steps might include reducing or eliminating insurance requirements on smaller contracts and removing the cost of the surety bonds from the calculation of the lowest apparent bidder on appropriate solicitations. 4. Increase Vendor Communication and Outreach to M/WBEs and Small Firms Increased communication with the contracting community is critical. City staff also stressed this point. In addition to continuing to notify minority- and woman -focused organizations, the City should conduct more regularly sched- uled vendor outreach events to provide information and address questions 96 © 2020 Colette Holt & Associates, All Rights Reserved.