The South Bend Common Council revised its goals for hiring minority- and women-owned contractors on Monday. That’s after an error was discovered last year in the disparity study that helped set the council’s original goal.
Members of the local Black Lives Matter chapter opposed the changes, saying the existing program had not been implemented well enough and that the new ordinance would be even harder to enforce.
Councilmembers Lori Hamann and Henry Davis Jr. also initially opposed the ordinance, until the council added amendments that made the program plan legally enforceable and required the city’s Diversity and Inclusion Officer to notify the council of any changes to the plan.
Council President Karen White said among the constituents she’d talked to, even those who were concerned about the bill agreed that a clear program needs to be in place to help minority and women-owned businesses.
“There’s a commonality here that it is needed, and I think that there’s too much resting on this council and this city to get it right,” White said.
The measure ultimately passed 8-1.
Contact Gemma atgdicarlo@wvpe.orgor follow her on Twitter at@gemma_dicarlo.
If you appreciate this kind of journalism on your local NPR station, please support it by donatinghere.
