THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 28, 1995 TAG: 9503010663
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
Two new ordinances to be considered by the City Council today would encourage city contractors and department heads to spend more money with minorities.
No quotas or guidelines are in the ordinances, supporters say, just information about the status of spending on minority contractors and an acknowledgment that it should be higher.
The measures would establish a five-person Minority Business Council to advise the staff and the council on ways to increase purchasing from minority-owned businesses. They are designed to ``serve as a forum for the discussion and development of minority awareness of the procurement process,'' according to one of the ordinances.
Louisa M. Strayhorn, co-sponsor of the measures with Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf, said she hopes the ordinances will encourage city staff and city contractors to use minority firms more often.
``This is not a set-aside,'' Strayhorn said. ``It is not giving anyone a special privilege over anyone else. . . This, to me, would heal a lot of old wounds if we show that this city is together and that we're being very progressive about this.''
According to the 1990 Census, about 20 percent of Virginia Beach residents are African American, Hispanic, Asian or from some other minority group.
This year, nearly 30 percent of the city's construction contract dollars have been paid to minority firms.
But only 3 percent of the goods and services bought by the city - which range from the pencils used in the city manager's office to the guns carried by police officers - were purchased from minority-owned firms. And that's an increase over last year, when minority-owned firms got less than 1 percent.
Rick D. Berry, the city's purchasing agent, said he thinks these numbers undercount participation by minority firms. The city doesn't always know whether firms it uses are headed by minorities, he said, adding that he is trying now to come up with a better count.
``By creating a more aggressive approach to getting the word out that we're interested in minority contractors, I think the numbers will go up,'' Berry said. ``There's room for improvement, and a lot of it is just an awareness issue.''
The figures for subcontractors are something to be proud of, Berry said.
Council member Nancy K. Parker said the proposed ordinances are trying to solve a problem that really doesn't exist.
``Tell me what's broken, because it makes it sound like Virginia Beach is not a very friendly place to do business for minorities,'' she said.
Parker said she thinks the measures send the wrong message to the city's business community. The city doesn't just want minority-owned businesses to hold more contracts, she said, it wants all local businesses to hold more city contracts. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
CONTRACTS
Minority subcontractor awards on 1994-95 capital construction
contracts:
The dollar volume awarded to minority firms: $6,644,000
Percent of dollar volume of total awards: 28.75 percent
Minority subcontractor awards on nonconstruction contracts:
Number of solicitations mailed to minority firms:
1992-93 222
1993-94 266
1994-95 106
Number of responses from minority firms:
1992-93 5
1993-94 12
1994-95 18
Dollar volume awarded minority firms:
1992-93 $349,220
1993-94 $555,905
1994-95 $828,664
Percent of dollar volume of total awards to minority firms:
1992/93 0.78 percent
1993/94 0.65 percent
1994/95 3.23 percent
by CNB