By Gregory Korte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Cincinnati's vice mayor is pushing for an "aggressive" race-based policy for city contractors, despite a report from city lawyers saying such measures may be unconstitutional.

Councilwoman Alicia Reece said recommendations from City Manager Valerie Lemmie don't go far enough to help minority- and women-owned firms get city contracts. She has asked the city's lawyers to come up with stronger race-based preferences.

LEMMIE'S PROPOSALS

City manager Valerie Lemmie has proposed reforms to the city's purchasing and contracting practices that she said would be race-neutral but help all small businesses. • Allow more small businesses to qualify for special assistance by raising the net worth limit from $325,000 to $750,000. • Cut red tape for small-business certification. • Require the city to get three phone quotes from eligible businesses for small purchases. • Improve notice to bidders by e-mailing registered small businesses. • Require contractors to subcontract at least 10 percent of the project on projects larger than $200,000. • Speed up payments to vendors. • Revise surety-bonding requirements. • Penalize contractors who discriminate in hiring practices.

Ms. Reece said she supports many of Ms. Lemmie's proposals to "level the playing field" but believes more must be done to include African-Americans in the city's economy - even if it means quotas and set-asides.

"We've been operating under a quota system for years," Ms. Reece said. "The quota has been zero."

Ms. Reece said specific proposals may come as soon as Tuesday.

Mayor Charlie Luken says he supports Ms. Reece's efforts. He said: "We should not be discouraged from doing the right thing because we might be overturned."

The city's affirmative action program was overturned in 1998 after a lawsuit by the Ohio Contractors Association, which said race-based preferences were unconstitutional under the U.S. Supreme Court's 1989 decision City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson Co.

Cincinnati conducted what has come to be known as a Croson study to seek statistical evidence of disparities and discrimination in city contracts. That study, finally released last month, found that minority firms weren't getting their fair share of city contracts and pointed to a "perception of discrimination" by the city and its contractors.

The Atlanta law firm that wrote the report, Griffin & Strong, recommended strong anti-discrimination laws, but cautioned that a "race and gender conscious program under the current legal environment brings uncertainty."

Kevin McDermott, a lawyer for the contractors association, said any contracting policy that mentions race would likely be challenged in court.

"A disparity does not equal distcrimination. In fact, at the very end, the city's report makes that exact point," he said. "The city would be well advised to listen to the legal counsel they retained."

When the city did have a race-based affirmative action program, minority firms actually got more city contracts than their numbers would warrant, according to the Croson study.

But some minority contractors said stronger action is necessary because the big construction companies use a number of subtle business practices - including slow payment and predatory business practices - to keep minority-own firms "handcuffed and shackled."

City Council is considering a 2003 budget that would eliminate the Office of Contract Compliance, the city agency responsible for enforcing affirmative action.

E-mail gkorte@enquirer.com