The Bobster
Senior News Editor since 2004
5
http://www.nbc10.com/news/3016359/detail.html
Report: White Men Given 96 Percent Of City Contracts
Mayor Pledged To Increase Diversity In Government
UPDATED: 3:59 PM EDT April 18, 2004
PHILADELPHIA -- Firms owned by white men were given 96 percent of city contracts from 1998 through 2003, a new city report found.
The overwhelming majority of the city's $2.78 billion in contracts for construction, goods and services were awarded to white men despite a pledge from Mayor John Street, who is black, to increase diversity in the government.
Minority-owned businesses received 2.3 p
rcent of the contracts and 1.8 percent went to firms owned by women. Street was elected in November 1999 and was in office for four years during the study period.
Administration officials have said
r
r
the
long-standing problem would take time to fix. They plan to
use the report to reorganize the Minority Business Enterprise Council, the city agency that implements, monitors and enforces the city's contractor-diversity laws, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported in its Sunday editions.
A. Bruce Crawley, chairman of the African-American Chamber of Commerce in Greater Philadelphia, called the report's findings "outrageous." Crawley, a one-time political ally of Street's, has been criticizing the mayor of late, claiming he has not done enough to help minority businesses.
Earlier this month, Street appointed Michael Williams, a former deputy director of Community Legal Services, to head the Minority Business Enterprise Council.
"This is why I'm here -- to ch
ange these numbers," Williams said. "I know that we can do a better job."
The report comes a year after a study was released that examined local government spending from 1983
to
19
95 and sugg
ested women and minorities had lost millions in contracting opportunities. Atlanta-based D.J. Mille
r & Associates conducted both reports.
http://www.nbc10.com/news/3016359/detail.html
Report: White Men Given 96 Percent Of City Contracts
Mayor Pledged To Increase Diversity In Government
UPDATED: 3:59 PM EDT April 18, 2004
PHILADELPHIA -- Firms owned by white men were given 96 percent of city contracts from 1998 through 2003, a new city report found.
The overwhelming majority of the city's $2.78 billion in contracts for construction, goods and services were awarded to white men despite a pledge from Mayor John Street, who is black, to increase diversity in the government.
Minority-owned businesses received 2.3 p
rcent of the contracts and 1.8 percent went to firms owned by women. Street was elected in November 1999 and was in office for four years during the study period.
Administration officials have said
r
r
the
long-standing problem would take time to fix. They plan to
use the report to reorganize the Minority Business Enterprise Council, the city agency that implements, monitors and enforces the city's contractor-diversity laws, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported in its Sunday editions.
A. Bruce Crawley, chairman of the African-American Chamber of Commerce in Greater Philadelphia, called the report's findings "outrageous." Crawley, a one-time political ally of Street's, has been criticizing the mayor of late, claiming he has not done enough to help minority businesses.
Earlier this month, Street appointed Michael Williams, a former deputy director of Community Legal Services, to head the Minority Business Enterprise Council.
"This is why I'm here -- to ch
ange these numbers," Williams said. "I know that we can do a better job."
The report comes a year after a study was released that examined local government spending from 1983
to
19
95 and sugg
ested women and minorities had lost millions in contracting opportunities. Atlanta-based D.J. Mille
r & Associates conducted both reports.