After the Fall: A Report Card on Spitzer and Paterson's MWBE
Campaign Promises
Did Spitzer's administration live up to their pledge to enact MWBE
reform?
From 1985 to 2006, New York State's Minority and Women-Owned
Business Enterprises (MWBE) program suffered from inefficiency and
neglect. Under Governor Pataki's Republican leadership, the MWBE
program became virtually nonexistent and, by the end of his last
term in 2006, MWBE's received only three percent of the total $11
billion of state contracts.
Despite the Pataki administration's lack of focus, the rejuvenation
of the MWBE program became a central issue in New York's 2006
gubernatorial race. During then Governor-to-be Eliot Spitzer and
then Lieutenant Governor-to-be David Paterson's campaign, the two
Democratic candidates adamantly professed commitment to revamping
the program, assuring voters that the issue would be at the top of
their agenda if elected.
"If Eliot Spitzer and I win in November, we are going to break down
the barriers to opportunity for MWBEs and change the culture of our
government. I am absolutely committed to developing MWBEs in New
York after a twelve-year period of abuse and neglect," Paterson said
in a speech during the campaign.
In the same address, Paterson outlined the Spitzer-Paterson
campaign's plans for the MWBE program in detail. They promised to
provide leadership at the executive level, enhance the capacity of
MWBEs to participate, provide focus on creating market
opportunities, create effective management systems, and commission a
disparity study that will provide guidance for future MWBE policies.
Now, just over a year after their election into office, DBE
Goodfaith will examine, evaluate and review Spitzer and Paterson's
success in fulfilling their MWBE campaign promises. Just as
importantly, we will examine the potential for continued reform in
light of former governor Spitzer's the recent scandal and subsequent
resignation.
EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP
Promises: In their plan, the two candidates
declared that once in office they would:
- Issue an executive order
outlining their commitment to support New York's Minority and
Women Owned Businesses;
-
Establish guiding principles for MWBE utilization;
-
Urge the compliance of state agencies with existing legislation;
- Support the establishment of
an Executive Leadership Council to monitor the state agencies in
their MWBE program participation; and
- Support Community Benefit
Agreements, which promote economic development and provide
opportunities for MWBE participation in economically stagnant or
depressed communities.
Actions: Spitzer and Paterson hit the ground running,
issuing Executive Order No. 8, which created the Executive
Leadership Council and a Corporate Roundtable, only a month after
assuming office. The Executive Leadership Council is responsible for
identifying best practices for state agencies to promote MWBE
business participation. The Council is also charged with identifying
regulatory obstacles that are counter to the goals of the MWBE
program, recommending policies that will facilitate
inter-governmental cooperation, and assisting state agencies with
their efforts to achieve the goals of the program.
The order also establishes the Corporate Roundtable, which will
review the MWBE program and its implementation. It will make
recommendations regarding the use of technology in facilitating and
tracking MWBE contracting and set the MWBE utilization goals. These
goals are very important to contractors and businesses that do
business with the State of New York; these goals are used by state
agencies that require contractors to find and utilize MWBE firms in
their project bids and RFPs submitted to the state and local
government. Other roles that the Roundtable may assume include the
supervision and tracking of MWBE participation in state contracts
for statistical purposes and the training of state procurement
officers to ensure that they abide by the MWBE program's guidelines.
Assessment: Even though Spitzer issued this
executive order, he never got around to writing a comprehensive plan
that outlines the details necessary for executing these policies. By
founding these two councils, however, he has created organizations
that are able to authoritatively recommend policies and provide
guidance for future reforms to New York's MWBE program.
At the end of 2007, the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC),
which is the quasi-public agency responsible for implementing the
MWBE program, reported that they had received from the Executive
Leadership Council and the Corporate Roundtable a document detailing
a number of recommended best practices. The recommendations have
been well received - Executive Director of the Division of Minority
and Women's Business Development Michael Jones-Bey expressed his
confidence that these practices will be adopted.
Grade: A-
The four remaining Spitzer-Paterson campaign promises are
reviewed on DBE Goodfaith's website. To continuing reading the
article, please
click here.
Who is Governor David
Paterson?
On Monday, former New York Senate Minority Leader and Lieutenant
Governor David Paterson was sworn in as the state's new governor
after Eliot Spitzer, the previous governor and Paterson's
gubernatorial running mate in 2006, resigned in the wake of a
prostitution scandal last week. While Paterson has spent the past 20
years in public life, little is know what type of leadership he will
bring to the governors office and how he, as a Democrat, will be
able to pursue an agenda when his second in command is Republican
Joseph Bruno, formerly the Senate Majority Leader. According to New
York State law, in the event that the position of lieutenant
governor becomes vacant during a term of office, the state Senate
majority leader assumes the position.
Various sources confirm that Paterson
and Bruno maintained a cordial, working relationship when they were
their party's leaders in the state's senate. However, some go even
further, arguing that Paterson often acquiesced to the higher
ranking Bruno when confronted with certain issues in the past.
"Mr. Paterson has been criticized as being too eager to please the
Republican Senate leader, Joseph Bruno. Democrats griped when their
leader agreed to serve on a Medicaid reform panel that Mr. Bruno
assembled, lending it a bipartisan sheen," reported The New York
Observer during the 2006 gubernatorial campaign. "By all accounts,
he and the equally frank and charming Mr. Bruno get along easily,"
Now that the two have swapped roles - Bruno is now subordinate to
Paterson - it is unsure whether the new governor will stand up for
the issues he and former governor Spitzer championed, such as
Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) program reform
and the $1 billion Revitalization Plan for Upstate New York. Despite
avowing cooperation, it is also unknown whether Bruno will act in
unison with the Governors policies or attempt to undermine them.
"We partnered on a great number of different things and we have an
excellent relationship," Bruno said regarding Paterson the day of
Spitzer's resignation. "I'm looking forward to a positive,
productive relationship as soon as possible."
Republicans in the legislature have also said recently that
progressively-minded Paterson has cultivated a lot of political
goodwill over his past 20 years in Albany and are optimistic that
their past relationship with the new governor will provide fruitful
results.
"The state needs to heal, and I think he can do that," said state
Sen. Martin J. Golden, a Brooklyn Republican. "The Assembly and
Senate want to see him succeed. We're the laughingstock of the
nation and need to get this state back on a firm footing."
With the New York Republican party behind him, Paterson may be able
to continue his work on less controversial issues like MWBE program
reform while navigating the dangerous waters on more divisive topics
such as the death penalty and abortion. However, the begging
question is whether Paterson will exchange his focus on less public
but important issues like MWBE program reform for more high-exposure
issues that the media often uses to define political leaders.
Paterson's past provides evidence that he will continue to work for
the welfare of the New York State's minority communities despite his
prominent position.
"David Paterson's leadership is a story of commitment to civil
liberties and human rights. He believes in equality and justice for
all New Yorkers and has demonstrated this time and time again--in
both words and actions," Alan Van Capelle, head of the Empire State
Pride Agenda, said
The many uncertainties that surround Paterson's governorship will be
answered in the coming months and DBE Goodfaith is committed to
keeping contractors informed. We will continue to track the
governor's office on its performance with MWBE program reform and on
other issues relevant to New York State contracts. We will also
provide periodical news updates on the status of New York's DBE and
MWBE programs.
What is DBE Goodfaith?
DBE Goodfaith Inc. is an outreach
assistance firm dedicated to providing a web-based service solution
for construction and other firms seeking socially and economically
disadvantaged business (DBE/DVBE/WBE/SBE/MBE/HUB) participation on
government funded projects.
With the help of our services, businesses can comply with the Good
Faith Effort requirements of state and local government agency
disadvantaged business programs. By placing subcontracting
opportunity ads on our website and directly soliciting disadvantaged
business firms via email, fax, and telephone, we help take the
stress of out the Good Faith Process and allow your firm to
concentrate on the business of providing the most competitive bids
on their projects. To ensure that all disadvantaged businesses are
included in our outreach procedures, we maintain an up-to-date
database of all registered disadvantaged firms in California,
Nevada, New York, and Texas. When customers are searching our online
database they can easily find disadvantaged businesses by their
location and/or by the type of goods and services or work they
provide.
Even more, in an effort to inform and educate the community on
procurement, construction, and other pertinent topics, we send out
electronic newsletters at no cost throughout the year. In our
e-newsletter, businesses can find in-depth discussions on procedures
and regulations effecting disadvantaged business programs, analysis
of current events, and valuable resources such as events listings.
We also offer construction trade and focus information on our
website related to the DVBE, DBE, MBE, WBE and other programs.
For more information on our services, please visit our website at:
http://www.dbegoodfaith.com/
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