BY LISA DONOVAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
While the city of Cincinnati ponders whether to sue Hamilton County over the lack of minority and women-owned businesses building Paul Brown stadium, county officials are calling on the city to look in its own backyard.
A report issued by planners on the city-run overhaul of Fort Washington Way shows that minority, women and disadvantaged businesses have received only a small piece of the pie.
Last week a study revealed that the county has awarded 7 percent of its contracts to women and minority-owned businesses -- short of the 15 percent goal set in a city-county agreement.
The same groups have 2.9 percent participation in the overhaul of Fort Washington Way.
Neither city nor county figures include subcontracting work, which will boost minority participation on both projects.
"At the end of the day our numbers look much better than the city's on the Fort Washington Way project," Hamilton County Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus said last week. "But the reality is neither one of us is doing as good a job as we'd like to do."
On Monday, Councilman Tyrone Yates said: "This shouldn't be a matter of we're doing better or they are; this a matter where both should be working hard to meet these important public project goals."
Representatives of the Baptist Ministers Conference are dissatisfied with the numbers on both projects.
"I want to know what the county's dragging their feet about on the stadium," said The Rev. William Land, chair of the conference's social action committee.
He pointed to the unemployment and poverty rates in the city, particularly in African American communities, and said these million-dollar projects would not only help individuals, but also communities. The stadium is costing roughly $400 million, which includes land acquisition. The cost to overhaul the downtown expressway will be $146 million. City officials say there is a clear distinction between the county and city numbers. They point out that the city will meet its mandate of 10 to 12 percent, while the county simply refers to a goal of 15 percent.
During the campaign to convince voters to increase the sales tax to finance two new sports stadiums, the city and county agreed on a goal of awarding 15 percent of contracts to minorities, women or small businesses. They said preference would be given to local companies.
After the Ohio Contractors Association filed suit against the city for its minimum 20 percent set-aside levels, the city was forced to lower the rate to between 10 and 12 percent.
In awarding contract work for Fort Washington Way, guidelines include:
Setting aside 5 percent of the contracts for disadvantaged, minority and women-owned businesses. As a partly state-funded project, it must include 7 percent subcontracting work from that same set.
Because federal funds are involved, 10 percent subcontracting work must come from minority, disadvantaged and women-owned businesses. In the stadium and expressway projects, about half the contracts have been awarded, and officials say they are committed to meeting their goals and beyond.
"This isn't simply a goal, it's a mandate and we'll do whatever we can to go beyond that," said Deputy City Manager Richard Mendes.
