City of Seattle to Contractors: No White Males Need Apply?


An interestingly-written PowerPoint presentation from the City of Seattle caught our attention recently. As Seattle moves forward with the Mercer mess construction project, a multi-year and multi-stage project to basically re-make the South Lake Union neighborhood, it has set up rules and regulations in concurrence with federal and state regulations for working with contractors and subcontractors.

Some of the money set aside for the Mercer Corridor Project comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, aka the "stimulus package" President Obama signed into law in early 2009. As stipulated by federal requirements, the city must set aside a certain amount of work for disadvantaged business enterprises (DBEs) -- these are businesses owned and operated by women or minorities -- and certified by the state's Office of Minority and Women's Business Enterprises.

The state DOT says, "The purpose of the MWBE program is to provide maximum practicable opportunity for firms owned and operated by minorities and women in public works projects and procurement."

The city of Seattle recently hosted a pre-bid meeting to let contractors and subcontractors ....
http://washingtonpolicyblog.typepad.com/washington_policy_center_/2010/06/city-of-seattle-to-contractors-no-white-males.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WashingtonPolicyCenterBlog+%28Washington+Policy+Center%27s+Blog%29