Biased contracting under scrutiny


Portland’s City Council is considering updating a study on public contracting discrimination.

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An $831,000 plan is being considered by Portland’s City Council to update a study on public contracting discrimination, which was first done 13 years to create more minority opportunities.

Commissioners will vote during their regular meeting at City Hall on awarding a contract to BBC Research and Consulting of Denver to update the 1996 contracting disparity study. The company will study public contracting and awards to minority-owned companies between July 1, 2004, and June 30, 2009.

The original study, which took more than a year to complete, was done for about $600,000 by Mason Tillman Associates of Oakland, Calif., in response to a January 1989 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down public contracting set-aside clauses requiring prime contractors to subcontract specific amounts of their work to minority- and women-owned companies.

Read the full story at the Portland Tribune.