Garland ISD showing disparity in contracts awarded to minority- and women-owned contractors

by Staff of North Dallas Gazette

There appears to be unfairness with the awarding of project bids to minority- and women- owned contractors by the Garland Independent School District (GISD). It may be us, but considering the 2000 census report shows approximately 50 percent minority population in Garland, and GISD population statistics indicate approximately 70 percent minority population, expenditures to minority businesses for the last couple of years were disproportionately low.

Minority- and women-owned businesses can register for certification as an Historically Underutilized Business (HUB). By state law, state agencies must make a good faith effort to utilize HUBs in their bidding and awarding of projects. But something is not adding up with the figures in GISD. For the 2006-2007 fiscal year, only 7.7 percent of GISD's total purchase order spend went to HUBs. That increased slightly for 2007-2008, with 11 percent going to HUBs.

Considering there are minority trade associations in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, including the Black Contractors Association, the Hispanic Contractors Association and the Asian-American Contractors of Dallas, with a combined membership of around 1,000 companies, there certainly is not a lack of HUBs available to bid on projects. So we find it perplexing that GISD spent so few dollars with these companies.

In fairness to GISD, the North Dallas Gazette attempted to contact its elected trustees by phone. We were seeking to understand why HUBs were receiving so few of the purchasing dollars - were they not bidding on projects, were they not qualified for the projects, or were they over pricing themselves? But our calls to the trustees were not returned.

We tried contacting the Purchasing Director, Mark Booker, he responded via a form letter and directed us to contact the Communications Department, with no additional response from his office. Booker has either been ordered to not talk to us, or is conveniently hiding behind the Communications Department in an attempt to defend these abysmal statistics.

So we still do not know why only 11 percent of GISD's purchasing dollars went to HUBs in 2007-2008, when the minority population in Garland is around 50 percent. But we believe it is time for GISD to include all members of the community in its projects. There are many renovation and addition projects, and new building projects coming up in GISD. If we can hold the school district accountable, maybe more HUBs will be awarded some of these projects. So far though, GISD does not seem to want to be held accountable.

For a school district in a major city, and a city that has just re-elected its first African-American mayor, the GISD purchasing department has fallen behind the times. The people of the city said yes to progress with the election of the mayor, but GISD seems to be saying no, and it does not appear to be apologetic.

If any of our readers have concerns, or if you have had interaction with GISDs purchasing department - positive or negative - please write us so we can share your comments. You can reach us via Twitter at http://twitter.com/NDGEditor or via email at editor@northdallasgazette.com.