Farías challenges the point of certification given low Black and Latina contract numbers
Farías asks what the point of promoting MWBE certification is if only one Black woman-owned and one Latina-owned firm out of a thousand receive contracts. She questions why businesses would endure a convoluted application for such low odds.
Yeah, I think we all understand that.
There's a part here that's, I guess, not necessarily connecting.
What is the purpose of any of us promoting MWBE certification if the numbers that we're hearing in this hearing were one black woman company and one Latina?
woman-owned company out of a thousand that are provided or offered.
Sorry, so I wanted to...
Maybe I misspoke.
What I was referencing was not a promotion of certification writ large, but rather providing qualified firms.
I understand that, but I'm saying for us, when we're here and our oversight ability and we're looking at the actual data and you folks are looking at the data, whether you're procuring a list of 20 people to recommend for a $7 million contract.
What is the point, I suppose, for businesses across the city, specifically black women, Latinas, women of color?
They see these numbers, they're hearing these numbers.
Why would they go through this convoluted process, this long application, pay to do all of this?
When they're the likeliness of all of the business, what's the percentage of businesses that are black women owned that we have in the MWBE system?
Do we know the percentage?
Of firms that are certified, Councilmember?
We can get that, too.
We definitely have to.
Okay, for example's sake, let's say 20% of the businesses are black women-owned, 10% of the businesses are black women-owned.
They're hearing the number of one out of 1,000.
What's the point of recertifying if the likeliness of them getting that contract is...
Slimmer to none than anything when they have to do this annually and the likeliness of them getting in.