Albany City Commission votes to OK disparity study

ALBANY — In what Ward III Commissioner B.J. Fletcher described as “a sad day for minorities in our city,” the Albany City Commission voted 5-2 Tuesday to fund a disparity study to determine if minority contractors are being discriminated against in the awarding of city contracts.

Fletcher had offered a motion to hold off on the disparity study and instead use funding to work, “one-on-one, if it takes it,” with minority, women and small business owners to help them qualify for city-funded contracts.

“We’re going to spend $300,000, $400,000, $500,000 … whatever the lowest bid is … to fund a study that’s pretty much going to tell us the same thing that the last three disparity studies did, that there might be some ‘passive’ discrimination but not enough to warrant a race-conscious policy,” Fletcher said. “Why wouldn’t we hold off on that study and use taxpayer money to help our taxpayers?”

Ward II Commissioner Bobby Coleman rebutted Fletcher’s remarks while calling for the disparity study.

“I don’t need anyone to tell me what a disparity study is. I know, I talk to people out on the streets,” Coleman said. “If we’re going to worry about spending taxpayer money (in this instance), let’s worry about that all the time. I say let a disparity study run its course and tell us what we need to do.”

Ward VI’s Tommie Postell criticized the findings of a 2008 disparity study, which was funded by the city, Dougherty County, the Dougherty County School System and the then-independent Water, Gas & Light Commission and conducted by BBC of Colorado.

“We need to be careful who we get our information from because the funds are lopsided,” the Ward VI commissioner said. “The money is going all to white males, we’re still omitting black contractors. Black people are moving here looking for jobs, and they’re not being given jobs. I think a disparity study will help eliminate some of the racism in the community.

“That last study, where they included women, the wives of big contractors just applied for funding. That’s not fair. That’s where we’re throwing our money away.”

City Manager Sharon Subadan acknowledged that there should be more opportunities for minority contractors in a community that has a majority minority population, but she said there is no discrimination in awarding city contracts.

“Our procurement process is not discriminatory,” she said. “And we do take opportunities to talk with and educate our contractors. And while there should be more opportunities for minorities in a community with a large African-American population, I must say that we’ve struggled to find minority contractors who are certified and qualified.”

The board voted 5-2 to move forward with the disparity study, with Fletcher and Ward V Commissioner Bob Langstaff voting against it.

Also at the meeting, the board approved previously discussed funding requests for Albany Transit software ($144,033), credit card services at the Albany Utility Board ($175,000) and rehabilitation costs for one of the city’s wells ($48,950).