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Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's racial set-aside program is corrupt, it is racially discriminatory, and it doesn't work! Pittsburgh's racial cronyism is as despicable as any other form of corruption. |
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Commentary: The use of racial and gender set-aside programs in Pittsburgh invites corruption, dishonesty, and lying about one's race, or about the racial makeup of one's business, in order to benefit from city contracts which are awarded upon the basis of the race or sex of the bidder. Like hundreds of other cities, Pittsburgh's racial quotas are simple and bald-faced "racial cronyism". No one, least of all Pittsburgh's leadership, should be surprised by the corrupt, dishonest outcome. Readers are also encouraged to see Additional Reading, below.
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Pittsburgh Race, Gender Set-Asides Aren't Working in
Stadium Contracts Nor in Education |
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| NEWS Coverage: Newest First Pittsburgh: [Set-Aside] policy lacks oversight, council hearing told (06/28/00) "Business owners and city and county government officials at the afternoon meeting [of the City Council] all acknowledged problems with the set-aside programs, from sham contracts to haphazard certification procedures. But few knew a sure-fire way to correct them, noting the programs have been deeply flawed for years. "Allegheny County Executive Jim Roddey suggested the city and county start with a study of minority-owned and women-owned businesses in the region to discover just how many there are. The city-county percentages set for contract participation -- 25 percent for minority-owned and 10 percent for women-owned businesses -- could be unrealistically high, Roddey noted, "inviting abuses" of the process. "Yesterday's meeting was called by City Councilman Jim Ferlo on the heels of a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation of participation in Plan B contracts." [Plan B is the umbrella name for the construction of stadiums for the Pirates and Steelers and expansion of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. --Editor] "[The Post-Gazette investigation] showed that at least a third of the $117 million in stadium and David L. Lawrence Convention Center contracts that went to the minority- and women-owned businesses was passed on to firms owned by white men, or to companies that no longer qualify as disadvantaged under the certification process the city-county Sports & Exhibition Authority uses. "Minority and women business owners complained that oversight of set-aside policies is confusing, and some prime contractors keep them from growing by holding payments for services they've completed and by pressuring them to take payoffs. "City and county officials said their oversight is constrained by conflicting laws and certification procedures: City, county, state and federal rules on the programs all differ in some ways. "Stephen Leeper, executive directory of the sports authority ... admitted some difficulty with knowing how much minority- and women-owned firms are being helped by Plan B, but still said "there are a lot of firms getting a lot of business [at the stadiums] that are legitimate minority businesses."
"Murphy's communications director, Doug Root, said the mayor has consistently tried
to improve [minority] participation in contracts since taking office in 1994, and last
year coordinated an effort to enroll and train thousands of city residents in building
trade jobs." (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 06/28/00, by Timothy McNulty) Pittsburgh: Plan B minority hiring falls short
(06/22/00) "Of the $354 million in Plan B contracts awarded, minority-owned firms have received only 20 percent of the targeted 25 percent goal. Plan B is the umbrella name for the construction of stadiums for the Pirates and Steelers and expansion of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. "The lagging minority participation comes as the FBI investigates the Allegheny County Minority, Woman and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise office (MWD-DBE), one of the agencies that certifies minority businesses. County Executive Jim Roddey asked the FBI to investigate the agency's certification process after finding alleged improprieties. "Conversely, women-owned firms have received 14 percent of all contracts awarded - above the 10 percent goal set for those companies, Sports Authority documents show. The contract data is accurate as of May 15 and was posted on the authority's Internet site. "The [Pittsburgh Sports & Exhibition] authority adopted city of Pittsburgh guidelines for awarding minority- and women-owned businesses 25 percent and 10 percent of public construction projects, respectively. [The Pittsburgh Sports & Exhibition Authority does not guarantee minimum contract participation by white, male-owned firms and in fact specifically excludes white, male-owned contractors from both the 25% minority-owned contractor target as well as from the 10% woman-owned contractor target. No similar exclusions are applied to minorites or women. --Editor.] "Three of the four local companies - Contract Management Services, Anlyn Corp. and CFC-3 Management Services, hired to oversee minority participation in the Plan B projects - did not return telephone calls seeking comment. "Eustace Uku, owner of Exico, the company overseeing minority participation in construction of the Steelers stadium, said his project's minority participation levels are "around the goal ... a little above." [Uku did not offer any observations regarding participation by white, male-owned contracting firms. -- Editor.] "Authority documents show about a 22 percent participation rate for minorities and a 16 percent rate for women for the Steelers stadium. "Gilbert Berry, a consultant for Global Consultants, an Irwin-based construction management company certified as a minority contractor, said he has not been informed of job openings on the Plan B projects or informed of potential work opportunities. The companies hired to oversee minority participation are supposed to notify [minority] contractors of opportunities to work on the Plan B projects. Aside from the Steelers project, Contract Management Services oversees the PNC Park project, Anlyn Corp. oversees the convention center expansion and CFC-3 Management Services was hired by the authority to oversee all of the projects." [Apparently, no company has been hired by Pittsburgh to oversee non-minority, white male participation in the Plan B projects. -- Editor.] "[Authority spokesman Greg Yesko] said the authority is awaiting the results of a study headed up by city Councilman Sala Udin of the availability and qualifications of minority firms in the region. It also is looking forward to improved minority participation in projects after the proposed merger of the city and county's minority enterprise offices, he said." [Apparently, no one from the authority is monitoring the availability and qualifications of firms owned by white males.]
"A spokesman for Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy said the city is committed to improving
efforts to reach minority and female contracting goals." [No similar goals were
mentioned regarding non-minority or white, male-owned contracting goals.]
"A spokeswoman for county Executive Jim Roddey declined comment because the executive
had not yet seen the authority's numbers." (From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review,
06/22/00, by Christopher Davis, Jim Ritchie and Dave Copeland) Pittsburgh: Merger to create new [racial]
review commission (06/22/00) "Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy and Allegheny County Executive Jim Roddey have announced plans to merge the city's Office of Business and Employment Opportunities with the county's Minority, Women and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise office. City Council members approved Pittsburgh Works on Tuesday. The legislation calls for the creation of the Equal Opportunity Review Commission, which would replace the mayor's minority and women review committee.
"The commission is supposed to oversee the Pittsburgh Works and make recommendations
on what to do to companies that don't comply [with racial and gender contracting goals].
The Pittsburgh Works legislation mandates that firms who enter into contracts greater than
$200,000, in which the city is a party, must provide 35 percent of the jobs to city
residents. Out of that 35 percent, the legislation encourages a goal of 25 percent
minorities and 10 percent women." [Pittsburgh offers no similar job or
contracting guarantees to white, male-owned firms.] (From the Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review, 06/22/00) Pittsburgh: Board won't vote to back minority
jobs item (06/21/00) "Some [Pittsburgh school] board members opposed the resolution because, they said, the district already has a policy that mandates minority participation in construction projects and the board should not favor one labor organization over any other. "Our job as board members is not to be getting work for people, but educating the children," board member Darlene Harris said. "I don't remember this ever being done for any organization," Harris said. "But school board member Randall Taylor said the resolution would have required the district to do nothing more than support the inclusion of black workers at school district job sites. Nothing in the resolution would have required contractors to hire members of the union, Taylor said. "I think that minority and low-income workers should be working in this city and maybe this will spark that bigger debate," Taylor said. "Existing school district policy requires that 15 percent of workers on construction sites be minorities and that 2 percent be women, said Curtis Walker, director of the district's office of equity, compliance and community relations." [The school district offers no similar percentage guarantee to white, male-owned workers. --Editor.] "Contractors that do not comply [with the district's race and gender goals] are barred from bidding on future projects, Walker said. "I believe our oversight in the school district is every bit as lax as the oversight in the city, around the stadiums," Taylor said. "The school district may possibly have to be a pioneer in correcting what is going on." "Taylor referred to alleged pass-through schemes involving contractors hired to build the new baseball and football stadiums on the North Side. In the purported pass-through schemes, jobs are awarded to minority- and women-owned businesses. Those businesses don't perform the work but take a percentage of the contract in exchange for passing the work on to other contractors that do not meet affirmative-action goals..." [Note that other contractors that do not meet affirmative-action goals are typically white, male-owned businesses who do not hire the racially-correct number of minorities and/or women. --Editor.]
"Calvin Clinton Sr., president of the African American Workers Union ... [said that]
in a district where a majority of students are black, more black workers should be hired
on district construction sites..." (From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review,
06/21/00, by Jonathan Potts) Pittsburgh: Contractor audit
gears up - Disadvantaged certification is focus (06/20/00) "Two weeks ago, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that federal agencies were investigating whether contractors working on PNC Park, the new Steelers stadium and the David L. Lawrence Convention Center violated the law by using sham companies to meet set-aside goals aimed at giving minority and women-owned businesses an opportunity to work on the projects. "... the Post-Gazette reported that at least a third of the $117 million in contracts that went to minority and women-owned businesses for the stadiums and convention center through March was passed through to firms owned and managed by white men or to companies that no longer qualified as disadvantaged under certification rules.
"... the Post-Gazette series included an interview with Cheryl Williams of Swissvale,
a former employment opportunity specialist with General Services. She claimed she lost her
job after complaining to superiors that there were few checks and balances in the
certification process to ensure that women- and minority-owned businesses were
legitimate." (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 06/20/00, by John M.R. Bull) Pittsburgh: Footloose, fancy-free shilling for affirmative action (Posted 06/29/00) (dead link) " ... Inquiring minds want to know if the awarding of stadiums work to women and minority contractors employed improper sleights of ``pass-through'' hands. The real issue, however, is that such preferences have no business in the business of public works projects. "... Not only do these practices, in the guise of ``affirmative action,'' increase overall costs and the likelihood for manipulation, machination and just plain skullduggery, they are the antithesis of the meritocracy for which preference pimps so compassionately say they are pushing. ... One of the more egregious examples can be found in the Ford Foundation's 1999 annual report. So proud is this philanthropic leftist of the missive ``We Need Affirmative Action,'' it has extrapolated the tome into an 11-page booklet being distributed nationwide this month. "It is a classic case of liberals playing footloose with basic facts and shilling for a fancy-free and revisionist interpretation of American history. ``How does society ensure fairness where much unfairness reflects longstanding, systemic discrimination?'' asks Ford Foundation President Susan V. Berresford. Affirmative action is her answer. Never mind that the wildly perverted program, spawned by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, was expressly designed to address specific past acts of discrimination and not be a blanket ``remedy.''
"... Three ``beliefs'' shape her view: ``First, affirmative action is consistent with
U.S. values and ideals.'' ... ``My second belief is that societies need to explore and
understand the origins of inequality and address them with long-term and evolving
affirmative action in different sectors,'' ... offers her third ``belief'': ``Affirmative
action often works best when it includes incentives, goals and time frames.'' ...
" (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review / TribuneLive.com, posted 06/29/00, McNickle) Pittsburgh:
NAACP's Stevens
calls 'pass-through' pacts 'a sham' (06/13/00)
...[S]aid Stevens, 'we cannot allow minority-owned brokers and supplier companies to
simply pass along contracts to white-owned businesses.' ... " (Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette, by Ervin Dyer, 06/13/00) Pittsburgh:
Failing
county certification, [minority] firm gets OK from state (06/09/00) "Certification Consultant Carl H. Brown said the company's owner, Donna M. Altavilla, was not eligible. 'I have determined that woman-owners did not demonstrate the knowledge, education, and/or experience to conduct the day-to-day management of the firm,' wrote Brown. "Donna M. Altavilla and Kim Altavilla were listed as president and secretary-treasurer of the firm, but Brown determined it was, in fact, operated by Frank Altavilla, a 40-year veteran iron worker who was listed as superintendent of the jobs the company did. "The women -- Altavilla's wife and daughter-in-law -- had no experience in the rebar business, Brown said. "In an appeal, the company expressed "severe disappointment and frustration" over the denial and said both Donna and Kim Altavilla had day-to-day management responsibilities for the company, sometimes working 10-12 hours a day, sometimes without pay, to make the company work. "On Aug, 29, 1997, an Allegheny County Certification Appeals Board upheld Brown's findings, stating neither Donna Altavilla nor Kim Altavilla have real and substantial control of Tri-City Steel Inc. "Yet on the Steelers and PNC Park jobs, Tri-City has re-emerged. It has contracts totaling $2,624,432 for rebar and related work. All of it is credited toward the Pittsburgh Sports & Exhibition Authority's woman business enterprise goals on the job. "... Two-and-a-half months later, John R. McCarty, deputy secretary of administration at General Services, reversed the denial "on a condition that the male signature be removed as an authorized signer for your company bank accounts."
"So Tri-City finally got its certification, even though almost nothing of substance
had changed from application's earlier denials." (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,
06/09/00, by Bill Moushey) Pittsburgh:
FBI to look at stadium
contracts (06/08/00) "Roddey said the alleged improprieties were uncovered after he took office in January and named Cameil Williams to succeed Kendrick as director of the Minority, Women and Disadvantaged Business Program. 'She wasn't sure it was all legitimate,' Roddey said of the certifications the office had issued. "Kendrick, who was fired in December, claimed he lost his job because he was a supporter of Roddey's Democratic opponent for county executive, Dr. Cyril Wecht. "Roddey yesterday would not pinpoint which companies or individuals he asked the FBI to review, but he said the federal agency has opened "an active file," thereby starting an investigation of the office of Minority, Women and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise. "We found that there were a lot of things that we thought were improper," Roddey said. "We're really not at liberty to say because we thought these things could be criminal. We're going to let the FBI determine that." "Kathleen Kerr, the owner of a Coraopolis-based steel fabricating company, said she was contacted by U.S. Postal Service inspectors after she filed state and federal lawsuits claiming she lost out on work building the city's two new stadiums after she refused to take part in a so-called "pass-through" scheme. In a pass-through scheme, which authorities say is illegal, a female- or minority-owned company is paid not to work on a project, but is listed as a contractor or subcontractor.
"Shortly after taking office in January, Roddey said he found the county program was
not following rules and procedures for awarding minority certifications. It also lacked
proper record keeping and controls and did not visit job sites to ensure that minority-
and woman-owned companies were actually doing the work they were hired to do."
(Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 06/08/00, by Dave Copeland and Christopher Davis) Pittsburgh: Officials may scrutinize [minority]
venue construction contracts (06/08/00) "State legislators are especially concerned about the possible misuse of contracts associated with the expansion of the state-owned David L. Lawrence Convention Center and two new sports stadiums. The Sports & Exhibition Authority will own the stadiums, which are benefiting from $150 million of state construction money. "Allegheny County Executive Jim Roddey said yesterday he asked the FBI to investigate the county's office of Minority, Women and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise. "Kathleen Kerr, the owner of a Coraopolis-based steel fabricating company, said she was contacted by U.S. Postal Service inspectors after she filed state and federal lawsuits claiming she lost out on work building the city's two new stadiums after she refused to take part in a so-called "pass-through" scheme. "In a pass-through scheme, a female- or minority-owned company is paid to do no work on a project, but is listed a contractor or subcontractor.
"The office of Minority, Women and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise certifies
companies as being owned by minorities and women, making them eligible to compete for work
on public projects that is specifically set aside for such firms. Roddey said he found
apparent irregularities in the office after becoming county executive in January."
(Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 06/08/00, by Jim Ritchie) Pittsburgh: Suit
claims sham work on stadiums (06/07/00) "The investigation apparently was spurred by state and federal lawsuits filed in February against the Pittsburgh Sports & Exhibition Authority and two steel companies with whom the authority contracted to build the stadiums, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. "Kathleen Kerr, owner of Industrial Fabricating Systems Inc. of Coraopolis, claims in the lawsuits that the companies, Hirschfeld Steel Co. of Irving, Texas, and Wilhelm and Kruse Inc. of Rankin, Pa., demanded that she participate in an illegal pass-through scheme. "In such a scheme, a minority-or woman-owned subcontractor agrees to take a token payment and takes public credit for doing a certain portion of construction work that is actually done by another contractor.
"Kerr claims the pass-through schemes were a ruse to make it appear that the
authority had met its goal of using minority contractors for 25 percent of the stadium
work and women-owned companies for 10 percent." (The Philadelphia Daily News,
06/07/00, via Associated Press) Pittsburgh:
How to Hire Racial Numbers
for City Construction (03/21/99) "Unfortunately, if current patterns hold up, not many of them will be Pittsburgh residents and not many will be African Americans. Yet, in this city (as in most others), unemployment is higher than in adjacent communities. "Four years ago, the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Social and Urban Research released a study that described a depressing situation for black workers. It reported that blacks in Pittsburgh have among the highest unemployment rates and the lowest labor-force participation rate of 50 of the nation's largest cities."
Absent from this study, and from the policy discussions in Pittsburgh relating to job
guarantees for minorities, is any discussion of qualifications, prior experience, or other
legitimate business reasons that minorities are not "well represented" in the
trades in this city! Nor is there any serious mention of the assumed rationale that
successful, white, male contractors should bear the brunt of bringing these inexperienced
trad workers "up to speed"! (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 03/21/99) 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) Pittsburgh:
1/3 of Pirates and Steelers Stadium Contracts for Minorities (01/26/99) (dead link) " 'We have an opportunity to kick the door down and open it up for all [racial] groups that have not been included in Allegheny County history,' said county Commissioner Mike Dawida, advocating the inclusion of minority contracts in the stadium development.
"Clarence Curry, of CFC3 Management Services, has been hired by the Pittsburgh
Stadium Authority to oversee the $809 million plan to build new stadiums for the Pirates
and Steelers and expand the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. As part of
resolutions crafted by the redevelopment and stadium authorities, Curry will see to it
that 25 percent of the work on the stadiums and convention center goes to minority
business owners, and that 10 percent is awarded to women-owned businesses, Birru
said." (Tribune-Review, 01/26/99, by David R. Eltz) Pittsburgh:
White Male
Contractors Excluded from $200 Million in Contracts The racial guarantee represents 25% of the total project budget. Women-owned firms are guaranteed at additional 10%, or $80 million, in contracts. White, male owned firms are restricted to competing for the remaining $520 million. The minorities and women are free to compete for any or all of the $800 million in contracts! Pittsburgh has offered no similar competitive protection to white, male owned construction firms.
Pittsburgh's man in charge of buying the stadium sites and demolishing the old buildings
is Stephen Leeper, who has publicly gone on record promising 25% of the work to
black-owned firms. Clarence Curry, former head of the city's Minority Business
Enterprise Review Committee, is in charge of ensuring that $200 million goes to
blacks. Leeper and Curry publicly depend upon the NAACP, the African-American
Chamber of Commerce, and the Black Contractors Association for advice and guidance in
awarding the contracts to black-owned firms. No mention has been made of seeking
advice from any organizations representing white contractors. (Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette, 01-13-99, by Tom Barnes) Additional Reading - Racial Cronyism: Pittsburgh's racial quota mania has been under fire for years due to the racial cronyism and corruptinon the race-based program invites. But the State of California leads all other states in its intransigient efforts to enforce racial quotas in spite of passage into law of Proposition 209 which which mandates an end of racial preferences. (See Sacramento and San Francisco, below.) On top of that, the U.S. Civil Rights Commission has released a report which strongly encourages states such as California, Washington State, and Pennsylvania to continue their use of dicriminatory racial quota programs regardless of applicable state law, democratic voter initiatives, or the rampant corruption that such programs invite. (See U.S. Civil Rights Commission, below.) Sacramento Utility Sued for Racial Contracting Set-Asides (June 20, 2000) San Francisco Set-Aside Corruption Investigated by FBI (March 16, 2000) U.S. Civil Right Commission Tells States to Continue Racial Set-Asides (April 12, 2000) End Contract Set-Asides - Pittsbgurgh, PA Make another contracting selection,
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