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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-07-19 MBE/WBE MBE/WBE Utilization Board Meeting October 7th, 2019 5:00 p.m. Board Members Present: Takesha McClane, Breanna Allen, Dr. Janet Evelyn, Jas Alexander, Cheryl Ashe, Jeff Rea, Kara Boyles Board Members Absent: Kareemah Fowler, Bilijah Williams Others Present: Michael Schmidt,Christina Brooks,Karen White,Tim Scott Councilmember Karen White called the MBE/WBE Utilization Board meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. and explained the board membership as well as the need to elect officers. Boardmember Takesha McClane stated, The community meeting was probably over some folks' heads in teuns of the terminology. It seemed like a smokescreen. They didn't really have confidence that anything was going to move forward after the study. Those were the two (2)main concerns I gathered from folks that were there. Boardmember Jeff Rea, stated, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of steps the City has already taken, realizing that we're not there yet. I was encouraged by the plan and that we didn't have to go from zero (0) to one hundred (100), but we can build on some of the things we already have in place and set some realistic goals. I feel like we've come a long way from when we first (1st) created this, but we have a long way to go, too. Boardmember Breanna Allen stated, I thought it was commendable that these efforts even took place in the City around minority women and business awareness on what needs to happen to support that group. It was a good study to speak to the challenges that we have coming up. I would be interested to learn what framework would be established out of this study to support those businesses who have those concerns, like what the next steps are. Also, what is the capacity going to look like to be able to support something like that? And, what does the funding structure look like? Are there processes for the City? Do funds need to be reallocated? Boardmember Rea stated, What I've wrestled with is what the City spends in contracting. I think by the time you take paving and some of those sorts of things, that's a huge chunk of that. And for paving, there are like two (2) contractors that do that in the entire world. So, I liked that this study looked at capacity,too.Because it may not be realistic on paving,but her suggestions were perhaps to break these jobs up into smaller amounts to give greater opportunities. Dr. Kara Boyles, City Engineer for the City of South Bend with offices located on the 13th floor of the County-City Building, asked, In the presentation, did she talk about the geographic marketplace? And how was that perceived by community members? I was interested to hear what people's take on that would be. Boardmember Rea stated,What I didn't understand is that maybe there is a specific contractor that had an expertise where there is only a handful of them around or something like that. So maybe that county isn't really a competitor,but it showed up as one(1)because it is a pretty big chunk of contract related to something. Ms. Brooks stated, The study itself covered three (3) years of data: 2015, 2016, and 2017 for contracts over$50,000. Where the City spent money in those three(3) years is what showed up in the report and what went into calculating where our geographic marketplace is. The hope is that now that we have the initial study under our belt, in five (5) to seven (7) years, when we conduct another assessment, we will be able to look at the last five (5) to seven (7) years of data. Where we spent money in that period will determine if or how our geographic marketplace shifts. In that time period with the work that we're doing to develop small businesses,minority small businesses in particular, the number of businesses will hopefully increase and therefore the availability number will be different. This is a starting point. I don't want us to get so stuck on where we are starting that we lose sight of the fact that this is our first(1St) one(1). Many of the cities that have these programs have been conducting these studies for decades. She continued, Although the annual diversity purchasing report is a different calculation than the disparity study, one (1) thing people will see mirrored in both is that most people assumed we spent our money in South Bend. But for the last two(2) or three(3)years of the purchasing report, we have established that over all spending, forty percent(40%) or more was coming from outside of the State. The data should now inform how we think about our geographic market. We can't make the numbers fit what we think should be our geographic market. The numbers are what they are because that's where we spend money. If we are having to go to St. Louis to procure special services that can't be found here, we are a midsized City marketplace and I look at it as an opportunity for us to spur entrepreneurship in those areas where we have to go to other cities for specialized services. Then we can look at other employers in our area: do they also have to go outside of the State to get these services? If so, is that an opportunity for small minority or women owned businesses to start something here to serve our community? Dr. Boyles stated, Some of the members of the audience felt like some of the content was a little too technical and over their heads. Ms. Brooks replied, The presentation was probably as simple as you could possibly make it. The fact is procurement and contracting is complex. There are a lot of laws, a lot of legal jargon and Municipal, County, State, and Federal laws come into play. We can simplify it to a point, but if we oversimplify, then people may get the wrong idea about what can and cannot be done. I don't want that to be the case here. But hopefully we can make sure that vendors and contractors who are interested in moving their businesses here and doing business with the City, are able to access information to know who to speak with to actually submit bids. That is really what we need to focus in on. Boardmember Dr. Evelyn stated,This is a big project, and we've come this far,but I wonder about the reality of the situation. There seems to be so many moving balls as far as next steps. Moving forward, what role does the consultant play? And are you still going to be the only person who is going to be responsible to keep all of these balls in the air and to pick them up when they drop? Ms. Brooks replied, The consultant will continue to support us. Typically when consultants do studies, they're done. One (1) of the reasons we selected Collette is that is not the way she does business. She has a personal interest in making sure that we implement a successful program. 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. Councilmember White stated, I would like for you to clearly outline what you are asking from the Board and the Council as we begin to look at this. Please include what the role of the board is, what the expectations are, the relationship with your office, and then also how this board supports the disparity study. We have done outreach in the past, but we need to know exactly what that is going to look like. Ms. Brooks replied, Yes. There will be a role for you. Once we roll this out, there will be a need for outreach, engagement and feedback from the community so that we know that we're doing what needs to be done to address whatever challenges or barriers that exist. There will be a lot of asks of this board. She continued, The two (2)programs mentioned are brand new programs. It is really important to get feedback from this body as soon as possible regarding what you would like to see regarding the program plans and the ordinance. Dr. Boyles stated, It would be interesting to see the data on determining the market for the race neutral economy. Boardmember Rea stated, As the leader of this, should we cast a broader net, hoping that not everyone else casts an isolationist strategy? This is so that our entrepreneurs that start up and are looking for work do not have similar barriers when they are looking outside. If nothing else, if it is St. Joseph County, making sure that our businesses have other opportunities to work in our County and our region, giving them the capacity to then fix it. Councilmember White asked, What is your timeframe as we move forward? Ms. Brooks replied, I will send out topics for you to discuss and submit notes and feedback, and I will make sure that I take some of the language from the ordinance itself. Then I can use that to work with City Legal. Councilmember White stated, Our attorney has to be at the table as well. Bob, have you been at the table? Mr. Palmer replied, Yes. Councilmember White stated, I read through it and most of it dealt with definitions. We need to define the expectations, our role, and the relationship. Who owns this ordinance? Who has authority, and what does that look like? To me, that is critical. Council President Scott suggested holding officer elections and completed the roll call. Boardmember Allen made a motion to nominate Karen White as the President. Councilmember Karen White explained that she is the Personnel and Finance Committee Chair, so she will be coming to all of the meetings,but she respectfully declined. Boardmember McClane stated, I would like to be President. Boardmember Rea made a motion to nominate Takesha McClane as President. Boardmember Allen seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of seven(7) ayes. Boardmember Dr. Evelyn nominated Jeff Rea as Vice President. Boardmember Allen seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of seven(7) ayes. Boardmember Dr. Evelyn then nominated Breanna Allen as Secretary. Board President McClane seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of seven(7) ayes. Councilmember White stated,We will be adding members because the board decided that we need to have eleven(11), so I'll be reaching out to the Latino Chamber of Commerce to see if they have any recommendations. The ordinance will be updated and amended regarding who makes those appointments. I'll go back and see what makes sense, then we'll send an email listing the officers and the meeting dates. We should also have an update from Ms. Brooks in terms of how we move forward. The next meeting is November 4th, 2019. Ms. Brooks stated, When I send you the topics, you'll need to get those back to us within about a week. We'll want to make sure that the first(1St)reading for the new ordinance is the second(2nd) meeting in October. Councilmember White stated, We should meet separately to review it. Boardmember Dr. Evelyn asked if Kareemah Fowler was still on the board, and if the new City Clerk should take her place. Council President Scott and Councilmember White explained that Kareemah has served as a private citizen, not in her capacity as City Clerk. Councilmember White stated, I will reach out to Kareemah to see if she still wants to be on the board. Council President Scott stated, If we're going to build trust, we have to hit deadlines. If there is a slip of the deadline, then there has to be a reason why and how we're going to hit it the next time. This is the only way we are going to build trust. With no further business, Councilmember White adjourned the MBE/WBE Utilization Board meeting at 5:57 p.m. Respectfully, .Ccs�t-e-n_ Karen White, Councilmember