Tighter bidding rules urged

Council members want to contract with more minority- and woman-owned businesses.

By JANET ZINK, Times Staff Writer
Published October 26, 2007

TAMPA - City Council members say they want an ordinance "with teeth" to push the city to contract with more minority- and woman-owned businesses.

At a workshop Thursday, city attorney David Smith outlined for the council a proposed ordinance that would start addressing the problem by focusing on small businesses.

If that doesn't work, he said, programs that target minority- and woman-owned businesses would kick in.

Steps in the ordinance include creating a committee to monitor contracting, accepting bids only from small businesses for small contracts and waiving some insurance requirements.

But council members Tom Scott, Mary Mulhern and John Dingfelder say they want the ordinance to go further.

Among other things, Scott said he wants any committee that monitors minority contracting to include people from the public, and possibly be subject to the state's open meeting laws. And he wants regular reports to the City Council.

The city has been working on an ordinance to address deficiencies in minority contracting for more than a year. That's when a consultant completed a study that showed the city falls short in hiring minority and female business owners for major contracts.

The study looked at city contracts awarded between Oct. 1, 2001, and Sept. 30, 2004, in five categories, including construction, professional services and purchasing material, equipment and supplies.

Among the results: Minority- and woman-owned businesses made up 49 percent of those that could handle professional services contracts worth $25,000 to $500,000, but received 7 percent of available city dollars. They comprised 46 percent of the pool for construction projects worth less than $25,000, but received 14 percent of the work.

Janet Zink can be reached at jzink@sptimes.com or 813 226-3401.

[Last modified October 26, 2007, 01:00:59]