Part One: Minnesota Department of Transportation’s Good Faith Effort or an invocation of “White Privilege”

“We declare our right on this earth…to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary.” ~Malcolm X

By Donald W.R. Allen, II – Editor in Chief IBNN and USA Radical Black

“To do something the same way over-and-over again with the same results is insanity.”

.Minneapolis/St. Paul (IBNN/January 4, 2009)…For more than 17 years, Minnesota’s Department of Transportation (MnDOT) has become an institution unto itself, excluding, obstructing and replacing Federal Regulations as it pertains to doing business with minority-ethnic contractors in exchange for internal policies producing the same results that send a clear message: “We (MnDOT) don’t know how to fix it.”

On Monday, December 28, 2009 at meeting was held at the Minnesota Department of Transportation headquarters in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

The DBE (Disadvantaged Business Enterprise) meeting was to address (in this group) -MnDOT’s, “Good Faith Efforts and Objectives Measures.”

For the past year (2009), MnDOT point persons have been meeting behind closed doors to figure out the process of inclusion as it pertains to hiring people of color on contracts that are awarded to prime and general contractors for construction on Minnesota’s roads and highways. In an attempt to “solve” the 17 year old issue, MnDOT has created several “work-groups” to look at issues and come up with “suggestions” on how to fix an almost two-decade old problem.

In handouts distributed at the December 28th meeting (some seen for the first time, but never used), showed a heinous exception to federal regulations written to avoid such issues of non-compliance and exclusion. MnDOT has virtually ignored regulations in favor of internal policies and a one-sided bureaucracy, reminiscent of some Minnesota educational institutions and most non-profit agencies when it comes to the development, enforcement and capacity building for DBE’s.

The current face of a minority-ethnic contractor doing business with the Minnesota Department of Transportation is a White woman.

One of the most significant handouts that show MnDOT’s blatant disregard for the law titled, “Good Faith Effort Summaries or GFES.”

The GFES showed factual and documented contract information on contracts circa 2009 that have been awarded and signed-off on with ZERO compliance what’s so ever.

Examples of blatant disregard for Federal Regulations:

1. On July 7, 2009 “Company Four”- (a real contractor), was awarded $1,475, 995.55 – with O% goals and 0% goals achieved.
2. Listed as “Company Three” – (a real contractor), on August 17, 2009 over $7 million dollars was awarded to Company Three with O% goals and 0% goals achieved.

(These are just two examples of many MnDOT highway heavy contracts signed off to prime and general contractors without any DBE or WDBE goals met or enforced.)

What message is MnDOT sending to mostly White prime and general contractors when they say “go ahead with the project, regardless of minority-ethnic participation?”  A  text book example of White Privilege.

In a request for information sent to MnDOT by IBNN, we asked the following questions regarding MnDOT’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program (DBE):

Q: How many DBEs or WDBEs have be created from Nov. 2008 to Nov. 2009? A: Sixty-four DBEs have been certified for MnDOT work under the Unified Certification Program (UCP).  There is not a WDBE program – this is all covered under the DBE program.

(Note:  This does not mean the 64 are Black contractors.)

Q: Is the following statement true or false – “Minority-Ethnic contractors have to be qualified as a DBE to do business with MnDOT?”  A: The statement is false.

(*Y-T-D, there are 11 DBE applications pending certification with MnDOT according to Sue Stein of MnDOT.)

There’s a flip side to this challenge: MnDOT has replace DBE contracts to minorities-ethnics (Blacks, Hispanic-Latino, Asian, and African) with White male and female’s doing business as DBE’s. Understanding that the goals will never be met with White males and females, we have to look further into the systemic problem with MnDOT; it’s Civil Rights Departments to include past and present employees and a well written Federal Regulation (CFR 49, Part 26 Goals) from the Office of the Secretary of Transportation that has been virtually dismissed by MnDOT, its commissioner and contractors who do business with the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

In report supplied by MnDOT to IBNN titled, “Uniform Report of DBE Awards or Commitments and Payments – Federal Dollars Awarded,” shows 231 DBE’s with only 11 DBE listed as Black, receiving less than 2% in federal dollars in federal fiscal year 2009.

This is where the problem begins with a perpetual clock of non-compliance, lack of goal setting, enforcement and total disregard for the law.

In response to MnDOT’s lack of legal “E’s” Springboard Development Corporation has started an online petition – A Call to Action Petition – Separate Goals for African-American Contractors from Minnesota Department of Transportation. ” Black contractors were award less than 1% of $600 Million on highway heavy projects. The petition goes on to say, “Minnesota Department of Transportation has awarded less than $1 Million in contracts to African-American Contractors of the $600 Million in Federal Transportation Stimulus Contracts.”

The petition goes on to say, “African-American contractors and other minority contractors have not received an equitable share of the contracts awarded by MnDOT under DBE regulation 49 CFR Part 26. White Women contractors, considered minorities by MnDOT, have received over 99% of all contracts awarded to DBEs.  African-American Contractors are not participating in the stimulus money job creating opportunities.”

President Obama would frown at the way MnDOT has used Federal Stimulus dollars and not engaged minority-ethnic contractors in Minnesota.

We also have to look at Minnesota lawmakers for an answer to this problem.

The Law says:

TITLE 49—TRANSPORTATION/SUBTITLE A–OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION – PART 26–PARTICIPATION BY DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS ENTERPRISES IN DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS

Subpart A-General – Sec. 26.7 What discriminatory actions are forbidden?

(a) You must never exclude any person from participation in, deny any person the benefits of, or otherwise discriminate against anyone in connection with the award and performance of any contract covered by this part on the basis of race, color, sex, or national origin.

(b) In administering your DBE program, you must not, directly or through contractual or other arrangements, use criteria or methods of administration that have the effect of defeating or substantially impairing accomplishment of the objectives of the program with respect to individuals of a particular race, color, sex, or national origin.

IBNN attests that MnDOT has excluded and denied benefits, based on race, color and sex. This statement is in order based on the documents received from MnDOT that can be viewed here.

In the case of Minnesota Department of Transportation’s DBE Program we should ask a federal grand jury to investigate the process that has obstructed Black, Hispanic-Latino, Asian, and East Africans the opportunity to build capacity for their firms by MnDOT’s heinous disregard for Federal Regulations.

White Privilege has overlooked the fact that MnDOT must do what is right, regardless of what they feel, or think, or want.

Part Two: The Solutions…

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