Public commenter alleges WBE pass-through on El Paso Street project; commission opens inquiry

At the July meeting of the Equal Opportunity Review Commission, a public commenter said a prime contractor did not use a listed women‑owned business enterprise (WBE) on the El Paso Street project and that the city’s compliance office had not resolved the issue.

Nicole Zelich, who identified herself during public comment, said Independent Enterprise was awarded the El Paso Street contract and that the commission had approved Pittsburgh Mobile Concrete as the subcontractor responsible for a 7% WBE participation goal. "Independent did not utilize Pittsburgh Mobile at all for 1 circumstance in this project, and it remains unclear who they decided to use as an alternative," Zelich said.

The allegation prompted discussion among commissioners and staff about enforcement steps and the office’s ability to sanction primes. A staff member said the Office of Business Diversity has issued an alert letter to the prime and is "working internally to figure out where our steps are here." The staff member also explained that some sanction options in city code require an updated disparity study before they can be applied.

Zelich and Lisa Zales, identified in the meeting as president of Pittsburgh Mobile, said audits and a direct message to the compliance reporting system had flagged that Pittsburgh Mobile was not used on the job. Zelich urged more direct communications to WBEs — "monthly letters, phone calls, emails, and other forms of communication" — so certified firms know whether they were actually used on projects.

Commissioners and staff described the office’s existing audit work and said it will now be paired with the newly available "enhanced compliance" process. Staff said the El Paso Street project appears to be complete and that, based on that timing, the contract is no longer active; the office issued the alert letter and is investigating whether payments or scope changes explain the discrepancy. According to discussion during the meeting, funds that had been identified for Pittsburgh Mobile were reallocated to another subcontractor, identified in the record as Cougar Trading, described there as an MBE.

Commissioners asked staff to provide routine updates on alert letters and compliance tests at future EORC meetings. One commissioner said the office should also check whether the prime has other active city contracts to determine whether the same pattern recurred. Staff said monthly audit work is ongoing and that the alert generated for this prime is already in the office’s process.

Commissioners asked whether the commenter had submitted her remarks in writing; staff said no written testimony had been left at the meeting but that they would check whether the speaker could email her statement to the commission for recordkeeping.

The EORC did not take a formal sanction at the meeting; staff said the next steps are internal investigation, follow-up communication with the prime, and routine reporting of alert findings to the commission going forward.