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1993 Minority Enterprise Development Week
Minority Subcontractor Participation
On Walnut Park Project
Higher Than Expected
Portland Mayor Vera Katz Say» Project Represents City’s Commitment to do Things Right
Saying that work on the W al-
ut Park Project represents a num-
er o f positive steps tow ard im-
iroving the C ity’s record o f hiring
ninority co n tra c to rs, P o rtlan d
4ayor Vera Katz today announced
hat the project would include 31.7
»ercent m inority su b co n tracto r
»articipation as part o f the venture.
Fhat num ber increases by five fold
he C ity’s average o f 6 percent
ninority participation.
“ We tried some new things on
his project th at w orked,” said
vlayor Katz. “The 6 percent num-
>cr was one ou r attorneys felt would
>e legally defensible, but it’s not
:nough. When we met with prime
:ontractors, we were encouraged
,y their interest in exceeding that
¡tandard ”
As o f Tuesday afternoon 17.5
Krcent o f the subcontractors signed
ip to work on the project were
ninority contractors. As a result o f
ingoing negotiations between City
ifficials, the prim ary contractor,
m d minority subcontractors, that
luinberjumped 14.2 percent shortly
ifter 6:00 p.m. The C ity’s Bureau
i f General Services estim ates the
:ost o f the W alnut Park Project at
S3.8 million. Koll C onstruction’s
bid came in at $3,449,700, making
it the low bidder, and winner o f the
construction project.
“Wc intend to set an example for
the rest of the contracting commu
nity,” said Steve Lilly, Senior Project
Manager, and Director of Business
Development of Koll Construction.
“If there is a willingness to ac
tively pursue and become involved in
and develop relations in the minority
contracting community, that these
people who in the past have not had
an opportunity to participate at this
level will be able to go out and enter
into, not only the public arena, but the
private arena of the construction in
dustry,” said Lilly.
In planning for this project, the
City embarked on a new program to
encourage minority participation dur
ing construction.
The bidding period was extended
for six weeks, twice the normal time
for a project of this size. The extra
time allowed minority firms the op
portunity to work with prime contrac
tors to submit bids.
Special technical assistance has
been available through the Portland
Development Commission to assist
minority firms in bidding, project
planning and financing. In addition,
subcontracts werebroken into smaller
units, allowing greater access to mi
nority firms which tend to be smaller
operations.
“This is a great opportunity for
us to demonstrate that people in Port
land are willing to work with each
other, especially in the contracting
community, which is historically
based on old aligned relationships,”
said O.B. Hill, President of the Port
land chapter of the National Associa
tion of Minority Contractors. “Those
old relationships can no longer re
main if we are to all be citizens of
Portland working in cooperation, and
in the spirit of brotherhood.
BGA also estimates that Afri
can-American contractors would re
ceive approximately $644,792 of the
$1,022,895 going to minority con
tractors through Koll. Hispanic con
tractors will receive approximately
$291,721, and Native-Americans will
receive approximately $86,376.
The W alnut Park Project is a
renovation o f the form er Fred
M eyer complex on the com er o f
N.E. M artin Luther King Blvd.
andN .E. Killingsworth. When com
pleted it will house the Portland
Police B ureau’s N orth Precinct
office, a Boys and Girls Club, re
tail space, and a public plaza.
Construction is scheduled to be
gin in October. Police are expected to
move in May, 1994. Retail develop
ment will take another year or so to
complete.
“Our work with the Walnut Park
P roject
dem o n strates
this
adm inistrations’s commitment to
north and northeast Portland is more
than a commitment to just focus re
sources on north/northeast,” said
Katz. “Our commitment is far greater
than that. It is a commitment to do
things right.”
Immigration Undermines Support
For Affirmative Action
by George R. La Noute
In recent years opinion polls
have show n in creasing public
skepticism toward affirm ative ac
tion. O ne reason is that, as the
num ber o f groups benefitting from
affirm ative action have constantly
increased, the program s have lost
their m oral legitimacy.
The drive toward gaining pub
lic acceptance o f affirm ative ac
tion really began w ith Lyndon
Johson’s Commencement Address
at H ow ard University in 1965.
The President declared, “You do
not take a person who, for years
has been hobbled in chains and
liberate him , bringing him up to
the starting line or a race and then
say ‘you are free to com pete with
all the others ’ and still believe you
have been com pletely fair.”
This pow erful im age obvi
ously referred to the nightm are o f
slavery and segregation that had
afflicted A frican-A m ericans. It
was the moral energy stem m ing
from the desire to erase those na
tional stains that led Johnson to
issu e E x ec u tiv e O rd e r 11246
which becam e the fram ework for
affirmative action in em ploym ent
and elsewhere.
It was clear to all concerned
that blacks w ere to be the princi
pal beneficiaries o f such program s
because they had suffered the
greatest injustices. But, with al
m ost no debate, many other groups
were added to the protected affir
mative action in em ploym ent and
elsewhere.
It was clear to all concerned
that blacks w ere to be the principal
beneficiaries o f such program s be
cause they had suffered the great
est injustices. But, with alm ost no
debate, many other groups w ee
added to the protected affirm ative
action, blacks have becom e a m i
nority o f even the racial and ethnic
groups included in the programs.
In 1970, blacks were 66% o f all the
racial and ethnic m inorities cov
ered by affirm ative action. Tw enty
years later they were only 49% and
the num bers are dropping rapidly.
B etween 1970 and 1990, the black
population grew by 33% , while
Hispanics and Asian-A m ericans
grew by 144% and 380% respec
tively. O verw helm ingly this in
crease is from legal and illegal
im migration. In 1990, 42% o f all
the Hispanic population was bom
abroad, as was 62% o f all the
Asian-Am erican population.
Increasingly, Americans who
were inclined to support affirm a
tive action for those w ho truly had
a history o f discrim ination in this
country are opposed to extending
those benefits to groups com posed
o f new or recent immigrants. In
Atlanta, Richm ond, Jacksonville,
and other cities, minority business
i? -3 ’ •
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A. -
programs have eliminated non
black groups from coverage. On
the other hand, Dade County (M i
ami) has a black-only programnow,
but is spending a large sum to
justify the addition o f Hispanics,
even though that group is almost
all recent immigrants and now
m a k es-u p a m ajority o f th e
County’s population. In Ohio, the
legislative black caucus mounted a
successful campaign to have Asian
Indians, a recent immigrant group
among the best educated and most
affluent ethnic groups in the coun
try, excluded from the State’s mi
nority business program.
Still black businesses receive
only 32% o f the contracts under the
federal 8[a] affirmative action pro
gram. Joshua Smith, the success
ful black businessman who headed
the U.S. Commission on Minority
Business, concluded that the per
centage o f black businesses in the
minority business category was
falling so fast that in ten years they
“w on’t make a difference.”
Whether affirmative action sur
vives will depend in large part on
whether its benefits can be focused on
truly deserving groups. Surely it will
be hard to defend a concept when
millions o f new immigrants are
granted favored status in business,
education, and employment over fami
lies who have been in this country for
generations.
B L A C K C O N T R A C T O R S A L L IA N C E
2808 NE MLK Blvd, Portland, OR 97212 (503) 335-3092
Specialty
Company
Phone Numbers
Specialty
Company
Phone Numbers
Bill Suell-Painting/Contractor
Bill Suell
1020 N. E. 3rd Ave, Suite 12
Portland, OR 97232
Office (503)284-1167
Mobile (503)781-3945
Fax (503)235-9661
Painting
Scott’s Masonry
Walter Scott
4552 N. E. Jarrett
Portland, OR 97218
Concrete
Office (503)287-8577
Office (503)281-1874
Beeper (503)555-8704
Fax (503)287-0552
Gro-Jac Wall & Ceiling System
Grover Jackson
4631 N. Albina Ave
Portland, Or 97217
Office (503)288-5850
Pager (503)294-4521
Fax (503)284-1656
Drywall/
(Wall & Ceiling)
Riggins Remodeling
Herschel Riggins
2739 NE Alberta
P. O. Box 11591
Portland, OR 97211
Office (503)284-3285
Mobile (503)880-0455
Remodeling
S.G. Minor & Associates
Shirley Minor
1020 N. E. 3rd Ave, Suite 12
Portland, Or 97232
Office (503)235-9655
Pager (503)299-7321
Fax (503)235-9661
HVC/
Plumbing
Courtesy Janitorial Service Inc.
Floyd N. Booker, Sr.
1705 N. E. Alberta
Portland, OR 97211
Office (503)287-7354
Fax (503)298-6521
Janitorial
Services
J Boyd Lawn Landscape & Maint
James Boyd
2808 NE MLK Blvd
Portland, OR 97212
Office (503)335-3092
Fax (503)335-0395
Landscaping
Reid Construction
Elliott Young
1020 N. E. 3rd Ave
Portland, OR 97232
Office (503)
Pager (503)790-1470
Carpentry
Kline Masonry & Remodeling Inc
Harrison Kline III
536 N.E. Failing
Portland, OR 97212
Office (503)287-2114
Pager (503)299-7972
Fax (503)282-5341
Concrete
Brick Laying
Remodeling
Holefield Construction
Darnell Holefield
P. O. Box 11433
Portland, OR 97211
Office (503)286-6571
Beeper (503)286-3284
Fax (503)870-8127
Paving
G.C. Brown Construction
Greg Brown
Office (503)730-3860
Fax
(503)762-2046
General
Contracting
Portland, OR 97236
A-Mar Electric Inc
Greg Martin
George Christian
1020 N. E. 3rd Ave, Suite 11
Portland, Or 97232
Office (503)281-5528
Pager (503)299-7863
Home (503)335-3901
Lampkin’s Construction
Ray Lampkin
516 S. E. Morrison Suite 705
Portland, OR 97214
Office (503)235-5954
Mobile (503)320-8813
S u p p o rt P eo p le
C arl F lip p e r
O ffic e
Hom e
Fax
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5 0 3 2 8 6 -7 6 4 2
5 0 3 2 2 8 -5 1 2 6
D a rrell S im m s
O ffic e
Fax
(5 0 3 )8 2 3 -7 2 0 3
(5 0 3 )8 2 3 -6 9 9 5
G e o rg e C h ris tia n
Hom e
(5 0 3 )3 3 5 -3 9 0 1
S te p h a n ie B ro w n
Hom e
Fax
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J e a n D rew
O ffic e
O ffic e
Fax
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5 0 3 )3 3 5 -3 1 1 8
5 0 3 )3 3 5 -3 5 5 4
Electrical
General
Contractor
M U ■» *
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