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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-05-14 MBE/WBEDUB — Diversity Utilization Board May 5th, 2014 5:11 P.M. Seven members of the newly formed nine member DUB were recorded as present constituting a quorum. Present were Board President James Summers, Vice - Present Carrie Kosac, Secretary Kareemah Fowler, Thomas Capers, Sam Centellas, Eric Horvath, and Cheri Peate. Sheri Miller -Story sent notice she was out of town. Joe Shabazz was removed from the DUB by a majority (5 -3) vote of the City Council at their meeting of April 28th. The City Council is taking applications to fill that position. Also attending were Jan Hall, George King, Valerie Schey, Oliver Davis, Donald Chambers and Don Sanders. Board President James Summers opened this second meeting of the DUB and said the board's first task was to review the current ordinance affecting minority enterprise originally adopted in 1987 and amended in 2011. The 2011 ordinance creating the DUB is the one now being reviewed. Mr. Summers noted the handouts provided at the first meeting on April 21 including the Trinal report, Council Attorney Kathy Cekanski- Farrand commentary, and the City's 2013 diversity participation report, were all to be studied for suggestions for possible changes to the ordinance. In addition, each board members perspective would be considered as well as those of the public. Mr. Summers urged the board to keep in mind the purpose of the ordinance and subsequent action plan to accomplish that purpose. He identified the purpose in terms of the intended outcome, that being to increase the number of minority business enterprises. The minority businesses' capability, sustainability, and possible need for training. Prior to soliciting board views it was agreed upon a motion by Eric Horvath, seconded by Kareemah Fowler and affirmed by all that DUB meetings were to be held on the third Monday of the month at 5:30 in the Council Caucus Room and be limited to one hour in length. Mr. Summers then asked each board member to express their own opinion as to the board's mission. Cheri Peate was first. She said they should work to raise public awareness bridging gaps between the board, minority businesses and the public. Carrie Kosac thought it critical to increase the number and capacity of minority businesses. Eric Horvath agreed noting that growing the capacity of existing minority was important as was growing the number. He added he would like to see the term "good faith effort" found in contracts for goods and services be better defined. Kareemah Fowler suggested simplifying the opportunities for minority enterprises to do business with the City. This might include better communication of opportunities as well as opening the door to non - state certified businesses. Sam Centellas and Tom Capers agreed. They both said an effort to increase awareness, to match opportunity with capacity, break down barriers and to simplify the process was vital. Valerie Schey, the City Council liaison, suggested the City might bid for professional services as well as goods and services. With that President Summers asked the board to focus on section 1 of the current ordinance with specific attention to definitions. Carrie Kosac suggested the material provided by Council Attorney Cekanski - Farrand dated March 18th helped clarify some contradictions in the ordinance. In the roundtable discussion that followed several clarifications of definitions and points of emphasis to better delineate and measure goals were identified. Among those were, as previously mentioned a tighter definition of "good faith," and a clarification of the designation local business enterprises (LBE). Verification of ownership and certification documentation was discussed in terms of who, how and why information would be collected and verified. Sam Centellas brought up the notion of using certification criteria other than, the state certification Carrie Kosac pointed out that an alternate certification had been suggested in the Trinal study. Eric Horvath said perhaps a "grace period" allowing non - certified businesses to qualify for work prior to meeting certification would help nurture smaller providers. Having identified work that needed to be addressed in section 1, Mr. Summers shifted the discussion to section 2 of the ordinance affecting board makeup and protocols. He began by noting his dissatisfaction with the lack of "due process" in the removal of someone from the board. Could a member be removed by their appointing entity, Mayor, Council or Chamber in a seemingly arbitrarily manner? For better or worse the answer was deemed to be yes; though it was agreed there was dissatisfaction without some level of "due process ". A variety of other deficiencies or challenges were noted in the current ordinance. Specifically, Jan Hall, the City's Diversity Compliance Officer, wondered about the reference to achieving "federal goals ". This led to some discussion of legislative intent and the need for measures to determine progress toward achieving goals. George King, responding to Carrie Kosac's question about training, said training referred to training for department heads in the city to attune them to fostering minority business access to contracting for goods and services. Eric Horvath felt the reference in the ordinance to (MOU's) Memorandums of Understanding between contracting parties needed to be better defined. This went hand in hand with Valerie Schey's query about whether a builders affidavit is adequately defined by either the Board of Public Works or the DUB, suggesting both be the same. Regarding the establishment of goals Cheri Peate asked about an earlier reference to the need for a "disparity study". Because of the time and expense involved in commissioning a study, Mr. Summers felt goals could be set and measured in a more timely, effective method without one. In summing up, James Summers thanked board members for their commitment to this tough, often thankless task. He noted before the meeting was adjourned at 6:30 that the next meeting would be May 19th with a focus on Trinal's report to the DUB.