Page 3 - Florida Sentinel 10-21-16 Online Edition

Feature
Groups Put City On Blast For Lack Of Spending With Black Businesses
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
At Thursday, October 20th City Council meeting, Council members reviewed a draft pre- sented to them by their Legal Department on an ordinance for all City of Tampa contracts to include language that re- quires actual spending with MBE’s.
The ordinance is also sup- posed to address evidence with actual spending with MBE’s, and should any contracts come before City Council without that language, that contract should not be approved unless there is no availability with MBE’s to provide needed goods and services.
The Tampa Organization Of Black Affairs and representa- tives with the Saturday Morn- ing Breakfast Club went before the Council to address the dis- parity in city spending with Black-owned businesses.
James Ransom, who spoke for the groups, told Council members there’s no need for another study.
“The numbers are what they are. We need someone to stand up for the 2% not getting any
work.
“We also think there should
be consequences to companies for failing to follow the correct procedures. Part of the prob- lem is, Council doesn’t review or approve contracts.”
Ransom said a system needs to be in place to track this process, and they must see actual spending and what the MBE’s are doing.
“We need to have this infor- mation verified. The language needs to change, and we have to do something to help the people being left out.”
Hillsborough Branch NAACP President, Bennie Small, ad- dressed the Council and he supports the Council’s efforts to address the problem with an ordinance, and he just wants them to be fair in the disburse- ment of funds for projects.
Businessman, Michael Reeves, addressed the Council and said he blames Mayor Bob Buckhorn for the city’s problems with its MBE pro- gram.
“This is a problem that must be resolved, and it needs to happen now. This is my home town, and I should be able to get work. I just pulled my name
off the city’s registry, because I wasn’t getting any work.”
Councilman Frank Red- dick said he met with the City Attorney Wednesday to ad- dress the disparities.
“It’s under review, and I’m trying to see how we can get the language changed to make the process fair for everyone. I’ve asked that an ordinance being used in Denver, Colorado be applied here, and I’ve asked
this to be resolved in the next
month.”
Item 61 on the Council’s
agenda read: “Legal Depart- ment to appear and present a draft ordinance for all City of Tampa contracts to include language that requires actual spending with MBE’s; evidence with actual spending with MBE’s; and should any con- tracts come before City Coun- cil without that language, then that contract should not be ap- proved unless there is no avail- ability with MBE’s to provide
needed goods and services.”
The original motion was initi- ated by Councilmen Red- dick and Guido Maniscalco on October 6th.
The Council Chair, Mike Suarez, did not allow the ordi- nance to be discussed before press time, and was unavail- able for comment.
Chart provided to the Florida Sentinel by the groups represented at City Council.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 3-A