Restler contrasts certification rates with contract award disparities

So I just want to make sure that I'm thinking about things the right way.

Please feel free to correct me if I am.

We'll start with black firms as an example.

About 33% of registered MWB, so we're doing a good job on outreach and reaching black firms across the city, helping to get them registered, certified.

But less than 7% of MWB contracts are going to black-owned firms.

Is that approximately, do I have the right contrast?

I defer to the City Hall colleagues here on the, if we're looking at Local Law 1 or 1NYC, but what we have, the certification numbers is what you're citing.

I'm just looking at the controller's report.

This is what he had in his report for Local Law 174.

So I just want to highlight, 33% of certified MWEs, black, just less than 7% of contracts.

For traditional city agencies going to black owned firms, 19% of contracts of vendors that are certified or Latino owned, and less than 8% of contracts are going to Latinos,

just as examples.

So those are areas where we just clearly have a lot more work to do.

And I appreciate your point, Chief Garner, that

You know, there's been an effort to improve things, but the status where we are today is profoundly unacceptable.

And I just think this has to be a major priority for this administration to start engaging black and Latino firms in particular in a real way because they're not.

We are not achieving the goals of our MWB programs if we're not engaging those firms and contracting with those firms at scale.

I think that my colleagues have asked the questions around what efforts are being made to boost participation, especially of women of color-led businesses, and I just really want to underscore I hope that that is happening on steroids.

I'll do a handful.

Well, let me not overpromise.

I'll keep going until Vice Chair Stevens tells me she wants to jump back in.