ST. LOUIS 鈥 City officials have floated a plan to repeal a program that sends some city contracts and building projects to minority and women-owned businesses, then replace it with a 鈥渞ace-neutral鈥 initiative focused on small businesses of all stripes.
City leaders, watching carefully as the Trump administration works to stamp out racial diversity, equity and inclusion work across the country, have already paused the city鈥檚 minority contracting program.
On Friday, they pitched the repeal to city contractors and minority hiring advocates.
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to come up with a program that鈥檚 best for the city,鈥 Otis Williams, the city鈥檚 development chief, said afterward.
Advocates balked. Several urged the city to restart the existing minority program and work with contractors to figure out how to protect it.
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The struggle, set to continue this week when advocates meet with Spencer, has the city in a difficult spot as it weighs threats by the feds to to pull grants from any institution that defies its crackdown on affirmative action. Officials say they want to promote minority-owned businesses, but they rely on Washington for tens of millions of dollars for their budget each year.
And right now, they鈥檙e counting on federal aid to rebuild in the wake of the May 16 tornado, which hit Black neighborhoods the hardest.
Williams, the 果酱视频 Development Corp. chief whose agency oversees compliance with minority hiring goals, said officials have not made any final decisions and plan to have many more discussions before they do. Mayor Cara Spencer has said she will be guided by where the community lands.聽鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to build some consensus,鈥 she said at a news conference last week.
The city鈥檚 minority contracting efforts date back to the 1980s, when then-Mayor Vincent C. Schoemehl Jr. issued executive orders setting initial goals for Black and city resident participation for contractors doing business with the city. They did not go over particularly well.
A Post-Dispatch investigation found contractors repeatedly failed to meet city standards. A minority contractors association sued, saying the city was engaging in racial discrimination. In 1990, the city settled the lawsuit by agreeing to set goals on new construction projects of at least 25% for Black and Hispanic subcontractors and 5% for companies owned by women.
Black elected officials have since called for higher goals. Black contractors have complained of white contractors skirting requirements. And the most recent study on the topic commissioned by the city, covering the years 2016-21, found that minority- and women-owned firms were still getting shorted.
On a level playing field, the study said, the firms would have gotten 43% of city contractor dollars. They got 29%. And on contracts exempt from minority hiring rules, they got 19%.
But on President Donald Trump鈥檚 first day in office, he of federal racial diversity efforts. His administration gutted offices and and put research grants linked to diversity on the chopping block.
Then in May, the Justice Department saying it could use a law intended to punish corruption to go after anyone else getting public money while engaging in so-called diversity, equity and inclusion programs. That memo landed just three days after the tornado swept across north 果酱视频, causing an estimated $1.6 billion in damage, well beyond the city鈥檚 ability to handle without federal resources. City lawyers took notice.
On July 18, the Post-Dispatch reported that the city program certifying businesses as minority-owned was telling applicants that processing was on hold. And last week, officials said all enforcement of the hiring standards .
Minority contractors and advocates demanded answers. They got a meeting with Williams, the SLDC chief, and Michael Garvin, the city鈥檚 top lawyer, on Friday.
The officials passed out a document, labeled as a draft, outlining a race-neutral program promoting small businesses. Its aim, the draft document said, would be 鈥渢o create fresh legislation standing up a Small Business Enterprise program that is more responsive to the existing capacities of the City and SLDC.鈥
But advocates urged officials to reinstate the existing program and work with contractors and outside lawyers to figure out a defensible path forward. Carr, the flooring contractor, said he had already lost a job on a hospital project in the wake of the pause.
And in an interview after the meeting, Yaphett El-Amin, executive director of the Mo-Kan Construction and Contractors Assistance Center, said there would be more pain coming without the program.
鈥淭his is bread and butter on families鈥 tables,鈥 she said.
Aldermanic President Megan Green, who was also at the meeting, had a similar take. The city, she said, shouldn鈥檛 ditch a decades-old program just because of a letter.
Adolphus Pruitt, the longtime president of the 果酱视频 NAACP chapter, was more cautious. Ending the program would hurt Black contractors, and a race-neutral replacement probably wouldn鈥檛 fill the gap, he said.
But, he said, 鈥渘obody wants FEMA and Washington saying you can鈥檛 get the tornado aid. It may not be the smartest thing in the world to cut off my nose to spite my face.鈥
