Pa§e6_____________ 1$) Minority & Small Business Week_______
September2%2010
Minority Contractors Assured Input
Evaluation
panel brings
transparency,
more bids
J ake T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
by
You might not be able to fight
City Hall as the old adage goes.
But because o f a new program
instituted last year by the Port
land City Council, previously
m a rg in a liz e d m in o rity and
women owned businesses now
have a say in how the city spends
its money.
The ordinance, which was
adopted in December o f last
year, was enacted in response to
long-standing complaints that
minorities have been left out o f
lucrative city contracts. It re
quires at least one minority on
each panel that evaluates and
awards contracts with any city
bureau where goods and ser
vices are not based solely on the
lowest bid. The Portland Devel
opment Commission, the city's
development arm, passed a simi
lar resolution a month later.
The idea behind the program,
which is one o f the city's efforts
to provide more work opportuni
ties to minorities, is that the pro
cess that evaluates city contracts
will be enriched by getting people
involved who have previously
been relegated to the sidelines.
Another selling point for it is
that it demystifies how the city
awards contracts, and people
who serve on it will walk away
with a better o f understanding o f
how Portland, the so-called “City
that W orks” works.
“You do the same thing, you
Tiffani Penson
get the sam e re su lts,” said
Tiffani Penson, coordinator o f
the city's M inority Evaluator
Program, o f the rationale behind
making the change.
They city awards many con
tracts for goods and services
based on the evaluations o f pan
els consisting o f city employees
and citizens who have some sort
o f knowledge o f the field. The
panels are used when a project
is o f a certain dollar value. Com
panies vying for the contracts
are evaluated on various factors
like w ork h isto ry , p ricin g ,
sustainability, and previous work
with minority contractors.
The panels vary in size, de
pending on the size and scope o f
the project, and can range from
less than five to 11 and up. The
resolution establishing the M i
nority Evaluator Program en
sures that roughly a third o f the
panel are minorities.
The city draws on participants
from a database provided by the
Alliance o f Minority Chambers,
which partnered with the city for
the program, o f over 200 indi
viduals interested in serving on
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the panel. They are assigned to
a evaluate bids in their area o f
expertise and provided training.
So far there were 68 requests
for minority evaluators on vari
ous panels since the program
was established the program, and
75 m inority evaluators have
served on panels, according to
Penson.
The PDC has had three pan
els with minority representation.
Linda Andrews, PDC operations
manager, said that the PDC does
less contracting than the city,
which is why there are fewer
contracts.
Melissa Wijetunga, who is o f
Sri Lankan heritage, serv ed on a
small evaluator panel for the dis
bursement o f funds for the Port
land Children’s Levy last March.
Wijetunga, who works as an
officer m anager for O regon
State Parks and Trust, had vol
unteered to be an evaluator after
meeting Roy Jay, a local busi
nessman and head o f Portland’s
African American Chamber o f
Commerce and advocate for the
program, during a networking
function.
Wijetunga admits that she was
slightly taken aback when she
received the evaluator materi
als, but by the end o f the process
she walked away with a better
understanding o f the process.
“It’s not as intimidating a£ you
think it is,” said W ij etunga o f the
city procurement process.
She added that for projects
like the Portland Children’s Levy,
it’s important that they are evalu
ated by a diverse group o f people
so that they can serve the entire
city. Wijetunga, who has a back
ground working with low-income
children, was able to underscore
the importance that organiza
tions that receive the money were
culturally competent.
Andre Baugh, the president
o f the consulting firm Group
AGB, Ltd., served on a panel
that evaluated the bids for a law
enforcement records manage
ment contract.
He d escrib ed the overall
evaluation process as a positive
one that brings more inclusive
ness to the city’s procurement
process, and gives a voice to
points o f view that had previ
ously been absent.
“I think it’s unique that the
city’s inviting this diverse group
o f people to come and partici-
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