Sharing the convention wealth
PUBLICLY, Boston is trying to put its best and most diverse face forward as it plans for the upcoming Democratic National Convention. Behind the scenes, the ability of the same old old boy network to land the big money is creating some of the same old discontent.
For example: When local organizers of the Democratic National Convention awarded a no-bid contract some estimate to be worth $250,000 to Robert Walsh, a longtime friend and adviser to Mayor Menino, they triggered a new round of complaints from the city's nonwhite business community.
In a January letter to David A. Passafaro, president of Boston 2004, the convention host committee, Leonard C. Alkins, president of the Boston branch of the NAACP, said of the no-bid contract award to R. F. Walsh Co.: "Make no mistake about it, this is business as usual; this contract-awarding procedure is unacceptable."
In a follow-up letter, Passafaro defended the no-bid contract to the mayor's friend, writing that "R. F. Walsh, a local firm with the necessary skill set to advise us in all construction project oversight matters, offered their services at a greatly discounted price."
In response, Alkins wrote: "It never ceases to amaze fair-minded people how some white decision-makers offer `deep discount' and other meaningless excuses for contracting with white firms, yet they are hard-pressed to be creative when it comes to providing the same opportunities to African-Americans and other people of color who are qualified to provide the same services."
His point is worth contemplating. People in power do find creative ways to do business with their friends; their willingness to do so does perpetuate business as usual. Breaking the pattern requires a fresh outlook about who else can provide the services and what it takes to hire them. The July convention gives Boston an opportunity to do just that. How well the city is doing depends on whom you ask.
Juan Cofield, president of the New England area conference of the NAACP, gives Boston 2004 "A for rhetoric. D for performance."
E. Macey Russell, a lawyer who serves on the business liaison committee set up by Boston 2004 to promote convention business diversity, says the committee did a "fairly good job of identifying available minority businesses." But Russell worries, "if you use this committee to get minority businesses in a data bank, then you give the real money to the usual suspects, it's the best world for you and the worst position for the rest of us."
Clayton Turnbull, who cochairs the Boston 2004 business liaison committee with Paul Guzzi, president of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, insists: "We're ahead of where we were for any other event in Boston for this type of minority participation. . . We have set a good precedent."
Measuring success is difficult. According to Russell, "On the surface there have been some minority contractors hired, but when you look at the dollar values, the biggest amounts have gone out to white contractors." And the difficulty in finding qualified minority-owned businesses that can provide needed services points to a basic, underlying problem. The Boston population is diverse. But "92 percent of the businesses are white-owned," according to Russell.
Yesterday Menino announced some 30 local businesses chosen to host parties on behalf of the city for state delegations. On the list is the Dancing Deer Baking Company in Roxbury, whose president, Trish Karter, says, "Mayor Menino and the host committee deserve real credit for showcasing the city by bringing the delegate parties to the neighborhoods."
But there is no question the large no-bid contract to R.F. Walsh is an unwelcome symbol of business as usual and a reminder that the biggest and best business contracts in the city often go to the mayor's closest friends. There is also no question that organizations like the NAACP see opportunity in making public their dissatisfaction with that historic Boston reality.
Is that unfair leveraging or legitimate questioning about sharing the wealth? You be the judge.
Joan Vennochi's e-mail address is vennochi@globe.com.
