All right, good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

I will call uh the meeting of the budget and government efficiency committee uh to order.

Quorum is present, consisting of all of our committee members.

Uh we will jump right in uh with our approval of committee actions uh from the September 14, 2016 meeting.

Those will be approved by unanimous consent unless pulled for discussion.

Any requests?

None.

We will go right along to non-agenda public comment.

This is an opportunity for members of the public to address the committee on items of interest not on today's agenda.

We have, I believe, just one member of the public who wishes to speak.

And she will have two minutes.

Ms.

Winstead, come on down.

I will give you three.

How about that?

I am feeling charitable.

I'm on my last few days here, Ms.

Winstead.

So thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

Umstead.

I am here today as I was at Council last week to establish a public record regarding issues of importance to San Diego's African American community in particular and the broader community as well.

I am the principal of a consultant firm that was a member of the construction management team selected for the clean water program nearly two decades ago.

My firm assisted the city in implementing a Department of Lagor Labor mega construction initiative designed to address the underrepresentation of minority group members and women in the construction trades.

The project involved the participation of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program, apprenticeship training providers, community-based organizations, and other local and federal stakeholders.

The outcomes of the three-year effort were documented in the City of San Diego mega construction oversight committee report issued in early 1998.

The project provided some compelling insights into the local construction industry, its practices and its influence on how the city conducts its business.

Since 2007, numerous public record act requests have been initiated that generated a body of data of the outcomes of the city's effort to collect and report accurate contracting and EEO data, and to implement various initiatives proposed to increase opportunities for firms seeking to do business with the city.

PRAs were required to assess the extent to which the city has enforced provisions of the public contract code and the code of federal regulations were applicable.

Independent audit requests regarding the city's subcontracting outreach program, the purchasing and contracting department were also initiated and generated consistently disturbing outcomes.

In addition, numerous recommendations contained in the city's 1996 disparity studies are yet to be implemented.

One, identify funding and authorized commissioning of a disparity study targeting construction contracting only in the next fiscal year.

Two, assure vacancies on the Citizens' Equal Opportunity Commission or field in an expedited manner by individuals with no conflicts or of interests, thus no lobbyists, as has been the case in the past.

Expedite recruitment of an EOC manager with prior significant contract compliance and construction industry experience.

Four, report the results of the SLBE program to the full council as soon as possible.

The last report in November of 2015 indicates Caucasian male-known firms are the beneficiaries of the program.

Five, explore strategies to remedy the underrepresentation of all groups but Caucasians and Latinos in the construction trades on city projects.

Ms.

Winstead, final comment?

Final sentence?

Yeah.

Well, let me just say Mr.

Chair.

I I uh in closing, I believe that racism is alive and well uh in San Diego, and that there is increasing activism on the part of African Americans with regard to policing practices and economic equity.

Uh I think.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh uh Ms.

Winsted, thank you for those comments.

Uh she actually provided a copy of these in advance uh to the committee.

What I would like to do is refer this to the mayor's office for a written response.

Would that be acceptable, Ms.

Lewis?

With the five uh items that Ms.

Winstead mentioned.

Yes, we will certainly take a look at that.

And just is one of the requests, but I am interested to know with regard to the EOC manager recruitment.

Do you have a status on filling that vacancy?

I don't have a status, but I can get back to you.

Okay.