Board to set diversity goalMinority-owned businesses would benefit By Diette Courrégé (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
The Charleston County School Board plans to set a new goal for the percentage of minority- and women-owned companies with which it will do business. Board members delayed making a decision Monday night because they had a number of questions that could not be answered immediately. Most members seemed supportive of the concept. The board adopted a policy six years ago that the district should set annual specific goals to measure performance on this issue, but board Chairman Hillery Douglas said he didn't think that was happening. The school district doesn't have a good record on its percentage of contracts for small, minority- or women-owned businesses, he said. A meaningful goal needs to be set, and 10 percent isn't good enough, Douglas said. "I think we need to go with 30 percent, and the administration can come back with their plans for reaching that 30 percent," he said. Read about Charleston County's minority outreach effortsMinority outreach a 'debacle'; Effort to be transferred back to county staff The district didn't submit annual reports on its contracts with minority business in 2004, 2005 or 2006, according to a procurement audit, but it does have figures for 2007. Those were not available on Monday. Officials said updated figures would be brought to the board soon. Board member Brian Moody said diversity and equal opportunity are worthy goals, but he didn't want to make a decision before knowing where the district stood with its contracts for women- and minority-owned businesses. "I need to know what we're signing on for," he said. Other local governments have set goals for the amount of business that will be done with minority- and women-owned companies. Charleston County's goal is 20 percent, and the city's goal is 20 percent for construction projects. The issue has made headlines throughout the Lowcountry. The Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments is raising money for a study to explore ways to increase the local presence of minority- and women-owned businesses, and Charleston County Council and the city have created programs to help minority and women business owners land more contracts. The school district does make efforts to recruit minority- owned companies for its work. Bill Lewis, the executive director of the district's building program, said construction projects include a request that bidders describe their plans on involving minority-owned businesses. If a firm doesn't commit to at least trying to meet a district goal of 10 percent, that makes them a less-competitive bidder, Lewis said. Board member Gregg Meyers said the board might find that it can set an even more aggressive figure than 30 percent once members know more about where the district stands. "I'm certainly not opposed to boosting it," he said. "We should be paying attention to it." Reach Diette Courrégé at 937-5546 or dcourrege@postandcourier.com. |
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Comments
This article has 9 comment(s)
Posted by Cid95 on September 23, 2008 at 2:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Idiocy. I want my tax dollars spent on selecting contracts with companies that offer the best mix of competitive price vs effective services / products. It's called business and it's ruled by common sense not racism (since race affects their decision, it's racism). I don't care what the race is of the owner of the bid winning company.
Posted by 10216340 on September 23, 2008 at 6:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I used to work for a company that bid on state and local contracts for products. A bid we submitted was not accepted but given to a minority owned business. Because the minority owned business was small and had no way of getting the items from a manufacturer, they bought the item from us and then resold it (for a much higher price than our original bid) to this government agency.
This was all done so that the agency could fulfill it's goal of doing business with a certain percentage of minority businesses.
On top of that I've know several businesses that put the company in the wife's name so that it can also qualify for minority owner status.
Your taxpaper dollars at work. The system is broken. Use the best company possible and leave it at that.
I also seem to remember that a few years ago there was a bunch of money dumped into a company that was supposed to help minority businesses grow and become more competitive so they could get ahold of some of these government contracts out there. If memory serves, the program was stopped because of lack of participation.
Posted by cwmcpa on September 23, 2008 at 7:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Are the number of white male teachers at 30% in Charleston County? Hillary Douglas shows his real self a democrat civil rights wanna be. Preferences were his ticket to advancement at CNSYD. The contract should go to the lowest bidder period. That is his and every Charleston County School Board members responsibility to the tax payer;.
Posted by mlm on September 23, 2008 at 7:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Too often a so called minority owned business isn't. Who's checking to see if a business or contractor is genuinely inclusive or if it is just window dressing for the duration of the contract with the public agency? Just like with the composition of the Charleston County School Board and CCSD's administration, substance matters and appearances deceive.
Posted by charleston21 on September 23, 2008 at 9 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree with all of the above. When did it become a goal of any agency/business to purchase goods and services based on the sex or race of the owner(s)? This is assinine and a major reason as to why production and service is declining over all. The best qualified and best service companies should prevail, not meaningless quotas and stipulations based on racism and sexism.
What a waste of time and money. I wonder how many tax dollars have been wasted studying the need for increasing minority and female business share in the marketplace? I would gladly support these aforementioned businesses if they produced the best service or products but to conduct business with them just based on their inate qualities of race or sex is just wrong.
It is just as equally wrong as conducting business with a company because is has a white, male owner.
Posted by shoelaces on September 23, 2008 at 10:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This is simply affirmative action/political correctness at work.
I wouldn't go with the lowest bid for a job done on my home. Why should the district? To me, low bid often equates to low quality.
I also don't care what the race of the owner/owners/workers of the company is. If they do what they say they are going to do when they say are going to do it then they are qualified for the job.
Give me a break!!! I guess the school board has all the REAL issues solved if THIS is what they are working on....
Posted by commonsence on September 23, 2008 at 10:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
CCSD - Charleston County SCHOOL District. How about spending time discussing how to improve the education of our children? Since we once again have MORE unsatisfactory schools on the annual report card than last year, how about discussing that? Geez, this makes me ill!
Posted by majorjohnson on September 23, 2008 at 12:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Why stop at 30%? Lets just go for 100%! The heck with financial responsibility. Why would you choose 70% on merit and 30% on color or sex if you get the same value with both?
Posted by UberSCwasp on September 23, 2008 at 6:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
So, the "Colored People" (as represented so often by the NAACP) get more quotas? Legalized racism, discrimination, etc.
If the colored people need a quota, they should probably do better work. At least as good as the work of the illegal mexicans.