Unequal Opportunity

Russ Reiter of the city's Affirmative Action/Contract Compliance office told the Press in October that one requirement of MWDBE certification is the assurance that a company had previously done the type of work for which it wants to be certified. He added that before his office would grant certification, it would require "support with references" to prove the company had a business address, a work history and clients.

Bayou City apparently met those standards well enough to be certified, but not before the collection contract originally went to Council. The vote was postponed for two weeks, which gave Bayou City enough time to secure its certification. A week after it was granted, the Council voted 10-0 to award the contract to Municipal Collections, with a written clause stating that the MWDBE component go to Bayou City. Judson Robinson III was one of five councilmembers absent that day.

Shackelford argued on Harris' show that Bayou City "brought a certain amount of expertise" to the contract. He later defined that expertise to include making a slight change to a notification form already in use and picking up and "reviewing" the city's computer tape listing scofflaws.

As for why Bayou City contracts out the printing function it was assigned, Davis said his company did not possess the needed equipment -- or the $600,000 to buy it. "This is the 21st century," he added. "It is not uncommon for someone to outsource one particular function of this [contract]."

But is it any way to run an affirmative action program? Lanier seems to think so. He told Matthews that the "critical issue" now is whether Bayou City has supervised the firm that is actually doing the printing and mailing. He does not see the controversy as an indictment of affirmative action, though he thinks there will come a time when such programs aren't needed. Until then, he said, "the idea is that after [minority firms] perform a certain number of subcontracts, then they'll be qualified to move in as prime bidders."

If it didn't make him so angry, Brigham -- who's still waiting for his first piece of MWDBE business from the city -- might find Lanier's optimism laughable.

"This thing is a joke," he says. "It stinks. If this is going to be the bid process, I'll take that minority certification I've got and I'll tear it up on national television.