Councilmember proposes procurement resolution to collect demographic and contract-size data to boost small and minority-owned business participation

Councilmembers heard a staff briefing and discussion of a proposed resolution asking the mayor to direct the Department of Purchasing and Contracting to collect and report data on city contracting to better measure participation by small, minority-, women- and veteran-owned firms.

The draft resolution, presented by Councilmember Alex, directs the department to collect data disaggregated by contract size and by race, gender and federal veteran status, to develop an outreach or inclusion plan to identify barriers and opportunities, and to produce a yearly report to the council. "It asks the mayor to direct Department of Purchasing to, collect data, be able to disaggregate by size of contracts we're contracting it with, and then also break it down by race, gender, and federal status," the presenter said.

Councilmembers emphasized the need for broad stakeholder engagement and better promotion of contracting opportunities beyond the city website. One councilmember said local trade groups and business associations should be included; another asked that the outreach list include organizations with high membership among potential bidders.

The presenter said the resolution grew from ongoing feedback and a recommendation in the 2021 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy to expand public contracting opportunities for BIPOC-owned businesses and to address procedural barriers. The resolution would also ask for an inclusion plan and an annual report to track progress and identify actions to improve access to city contracting.

Committee members asked how a data-driven inclusion plan would intersect with the city's lowest-bid procurement system and whether the resolution would lead to downstream policy changes; the presenter characterized the resolution as a first step that would provide information the council could use to consider policy adjustments later.