OCII review finds McCarthy met some outreach requirements but schoolyard SBE participation remained under 6%

The Commission on Community Investment and Infrastructure received an update Jan. 7 on the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) Mission Bay school project that found small-business participation for schoolyard work was “just under 6%,” far below OCII’s 50% SBE goal.

The memo and presentation from OCII contract compliance staff reviewed the contractor McCarthy’s outreach and procurement steps for schoolyard-related bid packages and measured them against OCII’s SBE policy. "OCII's SB policy establishes a good faith effort 50% contracting goal," said Maria Picot, OCII senior contract compliance officer, during the presentation. "Based on the bid tabs and outreach materials provided, OCI staff determine McCarthy satisfied five of the good faith effort standards, was partially compliant in convening pre-bid meetings, and was deficient on contract size and monitoring."

Why it matters: commissioners and community members said the findings point to a failure to protect local contractors and planned economic benefits for neighborhoods adjacent to Mission Bay. The school and schoolyard are part of long-standing redevelopment commitments and the schoolyard is the portion OCII agreed to reimburse; low SBE participation raised concerns about whether OCII’s policies and oversight protected local small businesses and local hire objectives.

Details of the review: Picot said OCII examined nine policy elements, including whether the prime contractor unbundled work into smaller scopes suitable for…