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(5) North Dakota thru South Dakota: City Contractors suffer "reverse discrimination" due to racial set-asides and racial quotas! |
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| By State and City: Ohio: Most Recent News & Special Reports - Ohio
(Cincinnati): More Stadium
Minority Set-Aside News (02/06/99) Stacy Smith, who has an interest in a "disadvantaged woman owned business" in the area helped organize the meeting of 30 minority businesses. She apparently did not invite any white male business owners. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Ms. Smith said "We need to come together as a group to work toward getting the contracts that are due minorities and women" as racial and gender set-asides. "[However, Ms. Smith and other quota supporters are working against] a ruling by U.S. District Judge James Graham that minority set-asides were unconstitutional..."
"U.S. Magistrate David Perelman of Cleveland ruled in a separate case that anyone who
tried to enforce minority set-asides would be in violation of the U.S. Constitution."
But quota supporters keep trying to guarantee their set-asides, at the expense of
competive bids from firms owned by white males. (Cincinnati Enquirer, 02/06/99, by
Allen Howard) Ohio
(Cincinnati): Stadium
Minority Watchdog Leaves; Proud of Set-Asides (01/25/99) "The $16.4 million in contracts awarded to firms owned by women or minorities is an increase over figures reported in December, when 6 percent of the contracts awarded had gone to such firms." No similar figures are offered by Hamilton County about white-owned firm’s increase or decrease in business. " 'We are particularly proud of the work force,' Hamilton County Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus said" [apparently meaning the subcontract guarantees and gifts to minorities and women-owned businesses]. " 'The county will continue to work on attracting minority- and female-owned companies on this project.' " Bob failed to mention any similar effort at attracting white-owned businesses to the project.
Johnathan Holifield, an officer with the Cincinnati NAACP, said that these racial
set-asides and guarnatees show "there are ‘opportunities’ for employment on
these massive public works projects" meaning his minority consituency looks forward
to continuing to enjoy racial set-asides from the project funded by taxpayers. Mr.
Holifield went on to say that the NAACP is not satisfied with only 7 percent of the
project being reserved exclusively for contractors of the right color. He would prefer
that the figure be 15% or higher. "Mr. Holifield said the group is confident
the African American Chamber of Commerce and Hamilton County will be able to work together
to improve those numbers," implying the threat of racial boycotts, political trouble,
and racial unrest if these set-aside demands are not met. (Based on Cincinnati
Enquirer, 01/25/99, by Lucy May) Ohio
(Cincinnati): City
set-aside plans on hold Ohio
(Cincinnati): City
and County Spat - Which Contracts with MORE Minorities? Ohio
(Cincinnati): Ohio Contractors
Association Settles Reverse Discrimination Suit (dead link) Ohio (Cleveland): Federal Court Voids Ohio's Set-Aside Law (06/02/00) "An Ohio law that channels 5 percent of the state's construction contracts to minority-owned firms was nullified yesterday by a federal court that ruled the 1980 law racially discriminates against businesses controlled by whites. "State building contracts include prisons, colleges, hospitals and highways. They are worth hundreds of millions of dollars each year. State officials adopted the set-aside law in 1980, in an effort to redress prior years of prejudice against minority businesses. "But the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that Ohio had been unable to come up with convincing proof that such racial bias actually existed in the past. The court set aside the law, declaring state officials fell far short of proving Ohio had ever intentionally excluded anyone from sharing in its lucrative construction programs. "A three-judge panel also said it found a major loophole in the law: Recent immigrants from Asia were eligible even though they had not been in Ohio long enough to suffer from discriminatory practices in the building trades. "U.S. Circuit Judge Danny J. Boggs, who wrote yesterday's decision, disparaged the state's attempt to produce evidence of prior discrimination as worthless. "The deficiencies of the data are glaringly clear," Boggs said. "Much of it is severely limited in scope or is irrelevant to this case." "The Associated General Contractors of Ohio, a construction trade group, challenged the law after $10 million of a $50 million Toledo prison project was earmarked specificially for minority firms. The trade group objected, arguing that its members had been barred on racial grounds from seeking state work. Meanwhile, minority firms were free to bid on the $10 million set-aside as well as the other $40 million budgeted to build the new Toledo penitentiary, the trade group said.
"At last count, there were about 1,180 minority-owned firms officially certified by
the state Department of Administrative Services, which handles all Ohio
contracts." (The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Friday 06/02/00 by Bill Sloat) Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh): Pittsburgh's Corrupt Racial Quota Stadium Contracts
(06/30/00) Pennsylvania
(State): Statewide
Guarantee for Minority Set-Asides on Stadiums (01/26/99) "State Rep. William Robinson has drawn support from two minority groups for his efforts to ensure that blacks get a share of the work on any new stadium construction in Pennsylvania. Last night, the African American Chamber of Commerce of Western Pennsylvania and the National Association of Minority Contractors/Black Contractors Association said they were backing Robinson's legislation, which would mandate that blacks be hired for a portion of the work. " 'This is an opportunity for African-American businesses and professionals,' said Doris Carson Williams, president of the commerce organization. 'In the previous Renaissance, African-Americans weren't chosen [to participate] to full capacity. This time, we're looking for more of a role for women and minorities.' "
"Robinson, D-Hill District, and state Rep. Andrew Carn, D-Philadelphia, are
co-sponsoring a package of bills that would attach minority hiring requirements to any
state money for new stadiums. At least $150 million in state funds are being sought for
the two Pittsburgh stadiums." (Post-Gazette, 01/26/99, by Ervin Dyer) Pennsylvania
(Philadelphia): Philly Minorities
Extort Racial Guarantees on Stadiums (02/07/99) "At a forum sponsored by state Rep. Andrew Carn, a Philadelphia Democrat who has been a vociferous critic of public funding for the sports arenas, organizers began mapping plans to ensure that many of the thousands of jobs expected to be generated by the projects go to minority contractors and workers. " 'I would hope the Phillies and Eagles see the benefit of including everyone [but especially minorities and women],' Carn said. 'But given the circumstances, I think we have to force inclusion [meaning racial contracting guarantees], and use our political strength and muscle to make that happen [i.e., to extort racial set-asides out of these people].'
"Carn -- one of only three Democrats who voted Wednesday against providing $320
million for building Pittsburgh and Philadelphia new baseball and football stadiums --
urged citizens to pressure Philadelphia mayoral candidates, City Council members, building
trades officials, and the teams themselves [into guaranteeing set-asides for minority and
women contractors]." (Philadelphia Inquirer, 02/07/99, by Howard Goodman) Rhode Island (Providence): Shopping Mall NOT Being Built by Correct Racial Mix! (no link) End "City Set-Asides (5) North Dakota thru South Dakota" Page |
