Committee refers disparity-study draft after contractors warn COEP technical-assistance gap threatens small firms

The Labor and Workforce Development Committee on Aug. 14 heard extended testimony from contractors, trade organizations and city officials about gaps in City of Portland technical-assistance services funded through the Community Opportunities and Enhancement Program, or COEP, and referred a draft ordinance on disparity studies back to the sponsor’s office for revision and a proposed resolution.

COEP is run under an intergovernmental agreement administered by Prosper Portland; Donnie Olivera, DCA for Community and Economic Development, told the committee the current IGA is in its final year and that staff are discussing short-term adjustments and additional resources to address immediate needs.

"We're working right now on how can we, in the short term, for the remainder of this IGA, provide some additional resources to meet that gap that he's daylighting," Olivera said.

The discussion followed long public testimony from contractors and trade groups who said COEP-funded technical assistance has not been sufficiently project-specific or easy to access for subcontractors working on large city projects. Maurice Ramming, who identified his firms as O'Neil Construction Group, O'Neil Electric and…