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Hey, Gang Let’s Have a Disparity Study! Why Does Onondaga County Legislator Tom Buckle Want to Study the Wrong Thing?

How does Buckle emerge as a spokesperson for Minority Interests in the Democratic Caucus?

Who did he consult before making a decision that could impact the entire MWBE program statewide?

I’m familiar with Minority and Women Business Enterprises aka MWBE’s first, having worked as a Minority Business Enterprise Specialist under Mayor Tom Young’s administration. Our department was responsible for monitoring and enforcing the MWBE Contract Compliance and Equal Employment Opportunity provisions in construction projects, in addition to requiring minority and women participation in the workforce, per the city’s legislation.

We were responsible for monitoring those numbers. Due to past issues with non-minority persons “fronting” businesses to make them appear minority owned and operated the city created its own MWBE Certification process. We would review applications and site-visit each applicant. There were companies operating as MWBE’s, however the documents on file indicated that the “minority or woman” had no real control of day-to-day operations. Those contractors were eliminated from the list.

At the time we were relatively toothless, no enforcement power we just held nice meetings with contractors asking,” gee, can you find a minority to employ? Are you sure there’s nothing you can subcontract to a minority or women owned business?”

The construction community tried everything to avoid compliance. Usually, we were handed a pile of certified letter receipts and phone logs stating they contacted 80 of the 120 MWBE’s on the list. Names of contractors would be listed; by the end of the project few minorities were included on the actual construction project. Consistently, “majority” contractors would refer to minority companies as “not being capable” or were doing similar work and “we’re not going to sub, something we already do”.

On small contracts we were more successful, and if you were an MWBE with a good reputation, the sky was the limit. Under Mayor Young, contractors were given credit for helping an MWBE, there were loan funds setup tied to the contract to enable the movement of Working Capital. It was clear, even from my low rank in government that Tom Young was eager to do something constructive and lasting.

City of Richmond v. J. A. Croson Co

Then came City of Richmond v. J. A. Croson Co., 488 U.S. 469 (1989) where their laws creating set-a-sides for minority and woman opportunities came under scrutiny by the U.S. Supreme Court. In their decision, the court said that there has to be a proven record of “disparity” to justify the existence of this law. In order for municipalities to maintain these programs, a study of disparities between minority and women businesses was now required. “JUSTICE O’CONNOR, joined by THE CHIEF JUSTICE and JUSTICE WHITE, concluded in Part II that, if the city could identify past discrimination in the local construction industry with the particularity required by the Equal Protection Clause, it would have the power to adopt race-based legislation designed to eradicate the effects of that discrimination.”

It became known as The Richmond Decision; as a result municipalities began conducting those disparity studies to legally justify the continuance of MWBE program legislation in the awarding of public contracts.

Under the progressive leadership of then Mayor Tom Young, Syracuse immediately contracted with KSR to conduct the study. Their task required pouring over data, measuring contract opportunities in the City of Syracuse where there’s an ordinance, and comparing those numbers to Onondaga County, where there was no ordinance.

The results were staggering, where there was an ordinance in place, there were measurable numbers of MWBE participation in both contract and employment opportunities.  In Onondaga County where there was no MWBE Ordinance, there were clear disparities between minority and women in both employment and subcontracting opportunities. In Onondaga County there was no legal obligation to extend those opportunities through their EEO hiring or MWBE subcontracting practices. The numbers showed an abysmal level of minority participation, once you leave the City of Syracuse and enter suburban Onondaga County.

The city proactively complied with the Supreme Court’s ruling, the study became the framework for a revised MWBE Ordinance which is what the Syracuse Common Council voted to enact. This was all based on a disparity study.

Did Onondaga County Legislator Tom Buckle Consult with any “minorities” before introducing this legislation?

I’m shocked and dismayed that in 2018 that a member of the Onondaga County Legislature would call for a new, “disparity” study.  Onondaga County Legislator Tom Buckle in a Syracuse.com published  MWBE Program Commentary  used his years as a lawyer, to call for a new disparity study to justify Onondaga County’s MWBE program.  Using an example of companies ready to sue, Buckle believes now is the time to revisit something that was settled decades ago.

Did Onondaga County Legislator Tom Buckle consult the African-American members of his own caucus? And if so, did he listen to their advice?

If Buckle had inquired to those who monitor and enforce these programs, he wouldn’t be promoting a study that could place the entire State of New York’s MWBE Program’s in jeopardy. But, like the progressive he is, liberal white men know more about the minority community and what’s good for “them” than elected representatives coming from those impacted areas.

From what I understand, he was clearly asked not to take this route and it’s absolutely condescending to those legislators, and the African American Community not to listen to those with intimate knowledge of the problem. The citizens didn’t elect a lawyer, they elected a representative.

Has Tom Buckle spoken with Herman Howard with Onondaga County who has to pour over these plans and documents confirming that they’re complying with the terms of these contracts?

Has Tom Buckle spoken with MBE’s who no longer respond to inquiries from Onondaga County area construction companies, because many hours are spent in fake negotiating sessions only to end with a waiver request ?

Tom Knows Best?

Has Tom Buckle spoken with African American elected officials? As Tyler Perry’s, Madea would say, “Heller?”

Syracuse Poverty Map by Block Group

All he has to do is open his eyes and look around this area, our national list topping poverty rates, maps that show gaping holes in income and opportunity. Those pockets of poverty have spread like a cancer over the City of Syracuse. We have large swaths of our city engulfed in hopelessness, concentrated poverty levels that were unheard of 20 years ago.

In a career that spans over 30 years, I’ve been an MBE in Contract Compliance, bidding jobs in Onondaga County and beyond, monitoring projects as small as a medical office building to conducting a Contract Compliance review of the CDBG budget expenditures for the City of Rome, New York.

I’ve even developed Contract Compliance digital tools that can keep compliance figures and EEO numbers to the penny.  I’ve certified businesses, decertified businesses and monitored government and private compliance efforts. The largest individual project monitored has to be the Midland RTF that cost over 120 million dollars. I sat in that trailer for 4 years counting every employee, documenting every payroll, reviewing every cancelled check. We had to keep every contractor in compliance by reviewing their EEO and MWBE numbers weekly.

Midland Regional Treatment Facility

There was a time at the Midland RTF project when I had a prominent Syracuse based company that refused to comply with Equal Employment Opportunity provisions of their contract with Onondaga County.

I pulled out the contract and showed them the provision that said, and I paraphrase, if you cannot find a minority from a Union you’d have to provide a letter from that union indicating no minority was available. The next week the contractor presented a Certified Payroll with a minority male included.  That was just an example on one contractor on a project that included dozens, depending on which phase was being worked on.

Contractors whined and complained to Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney, about how Herman Howard was doing his job as Contract Compliance Officer for Onondaga County. They didn’t want the oversight; they didn’t want to be held accountable. With millions of dollars set to be spent on paving, these contractors are now looking for any way to avoid doing business with or hiring minorities to work in their operations.  Onondaga County Legislator Tom Buckle is giving the program’s opponents a vehicle to unravel the entire New York State MWBE program.

Poverty Map of Syracuse

Are there disparities? Yes. Look at a map of impoverished Syracuse. Overlay the 40 projects Onondaga County and City of Syracuse Economic Development agencies have allowed for Property Tax Exemptions. Add up the millions and millions of dollars not flowing to a cash strapped city.

Then, examine how the areas impoverished are being pimped for Economic Development funding, now that’s where a Disparity Study is needed.

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