DEPARTMENT: Economic Development
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Rene Dominguez
COUNCIL DISTRICT(S) IMPACTED: City-wide
SUBJECT: Proposed Amendments to the SBEDA Ordinance
SUMMARY:
A consideration of the proposed amendments to the SBEDA Ordinance, which addresses disparities in contracting with Small, Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (S/M/WBEs) as evidenced by the City's 2015 Disparity Study and related public comment.
BACKGROUND:
The SBEDA Ordinance combines best practices from around the country to create a robust and comprehensive program designed to remedy disparity of S/M/WBEs utilized on City contracts. The SBEDA Ordinance was revised in 2010 to create the Central Vendor Registry (CVR), Goal Setting Committees, capacity building tools such as the Mentor Prot?g? Program, and compliance module. The 2010 SBEDA Ordinance established a narrowly-tailored program, as required by law.
Per the legal standard set by the U.S. Supreme Court case Richmond v. J.A. Croson Co. (1989), a disparity study should be conducted every five years to determine if disparities of S/M/WBEs remain. Therefore, on April 17, 2014, City Council authorized a contract with National Economic Research Associates (NERA) to conduct a new disparity study which was adopted on December 3, 2015. The study indicated the City exhibited progress in utilizing S/M/WBEs on City contracts reporting a near 50% improvement from the 2010 Disparity Study.
However, the study showed that disparity of S/M/WBEs in the San Antonio market area remains. Ultimately, the Disparity Study recommended that the implementation of the SBEDA Ordinance continue with potential amendments explored to strengthen the program.
Since January 2016, City staff has conducted significant outreach with over 20 community stakeholders to review potential amendments. City staff, Franklin Lee (outside legal counsel), the Small Business Advocacy Committee (SBAC), and community stakeholders assisted in the develo...
Click here for full text