Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 4 January 1986 — Page 3

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Indiana minority participation in federal

construction contracts comes under fire

InMu'i record of adndrity participation in federal construction contracts came under severe criticism recently during a congres-

sional hearing.

State Senator Carolyn Mosby (DOary) told the House Committee on Small Business that the state is doing a .dismal Job of complying with a federal statute which requires that _ states encourage 10 percent minority subcontractor participation on federal highway projects. In her testimony last month, Mosby gave the committee extensive evidence of how the Indiana Department of Highways, the state legislature and local funding recipients such as the Northwest Indiana Regional Planning Commission have only made, at best, a token effort at encouraging minority participation. And compared with efforts made by other states represented at the hearing (Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Idaho and Wisconsin) Indiana has a long

way to go. While only Pennsylvania actually reached the 10 percent goal, the other states are fast moving in that direction. Meanwhile, Indiana is merely approaching the five percent

level.

'There can be no celebration over the performance of the Indiana Highway Department,” Mosby said, "because too many black contractors, subcontractors and vendors graphically describe the frustrations of their attempts to win work with the highway department. That’s an understatement, at

best.

The state’s efforts seem to be half-hearted. The Governor’s Commission on .Minority Business Development has produced few breakthroughs in locating qualified contractors in the state. In fact, shortly after Congress passed legislation calling for minority participation, the administration of Gov. Robert Orr appealed to federal

officials for an exemption to the new law. This action came without any attempt by state officjpls to see if compliance was < even possible. Mosby and State Representative Hurley Goodail (D-Munde) convinced Orr that his request wasn’t very prudent. So given the posture of the state’s chief executive, it is not surprising that the state is not among the leading states in the nation when if comes to state contracts for minorities. , It should be noted that the highway departmept has the best record of minority participation among state departments and agencies. Others do not even come close to compliance with the state’s selfimposed five percent goal of minority participation. Why aren’t black contractors and subcontractors able to procure state

contracts?

Mosby said black firms have not been able to build strong reputations and relationships with key state officials, probably to historical tendency to bypass black businesses. Most companies who have strong reputations for their public works performance have had plenty of practice over the years. Since most activities such as road and bridge construction can only be perfected on public contracts, those who developed expertise in the field were those who were favored by state officials. That’s just a part of politics. However, since Republicans have held the reins of power for more than 20 years, and most black legislators are Democrats, a sizeable number of black firms had no one

to go to but for them. Subsequently, they were not able to develop their

craft.

Also, the state requires tough bondi ng and qualifying standardsmuch tougher than most black firms can match on a competitive basis. Those businesses who can meet the standards are usually relegated to being subcontractors, Mosby said, because jof thejfc relative in-

sen formed to review nomiciaes. p oli ' ' i ved an nercent of local The unit, which will conduct ho mSesta 1W bKcloirwS ZX XTL £ - r ^ ^ ™ lab technician, a pathologist, a ^ the v i ( ] eo t a pi n g and the formarepresentative from the Marion tion of the ^pen homicide unit are County prosecutor s office, and, st tQ ensure t j, e | ren d does not

when necessary. outside

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ability to meeT bonding

requirements.

In other states, certain jobs are "set aside” for minority contractors with lower bonding requirements and technical assistance for those companies who need it. Now white companies are engaging in a program to instruct black contractos on how to become more competitive in their bids for state and federal projects. Mosby said this effort has been “moderately successful” in breaking down same

barriers.

However, Mosby concedes, there are forces inside and outside state government which ignore the concerns of black businessmen. It probably will take an extensive lobbying effort by state legislators, and possibly professional lobbyists to effectively bring black contractors concerns to state officials.

when necessary, outside

consultants.

Police Chief Joseph McAfee said •the department also will begin videotaping homicide scenes in order to allow more experts to have a firsthand look at the scene. In reviewing homicides in 1985, department spokesmen said murders committed by strangers account for 41 percent of all slayings, compared with 35 percent in 1984. “Normally there are no witnesses to a homicide, and when detectives attempt to investigate a case they begin with the ’knowns’ in a person’s life,” McAtee said. “It is

continue in 1986.

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