President Biden’s nominee for Labor secretary, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, is facing criticism over his city’s record on awarding contracts to Black- and Latino-owned firms.
Three community groups last month filed a federal complaint against the city of Boston, alleging discrimination in its public contracting practices. The action came after a city-commissioned study found that 1.2% of $2.2 billion in city contract and procurement dollars between July 1, 2014, and June 30, 2019, were awarded to Black- and Latino-owned businesses.
Boston has “created and maintained a public contracting system that disproportionately funnels taxpayer dollars into an exclusionary system that shuts Black- and Latinx-owned businesses out of contracting opportunities almost entirely,” the complaint said. It alleges the city’s contracting practices violate federal civil-rights law and asks for a formal investigation by the Justice and Transportation departments, among other remedies.
The complaint, filed with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C., comes as Mr. Walsh awaits Senate confirmation for a cabinet role in an administration that hasin its policies and practices. Mr. Walsh’s nomination advanced easily from the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on an 18-4 vote. A full Senate vote hasn’t yet been scheduled.
Mr. Walsh, who became Boston mayor in 2014, commissioned the contracting study in 2018, and it was conducted by an outside consulting firm. Along with the study’s release, Mr. Walsh signed an executive order changing the city’s contracting policies by setting goals for how much in contracting funds should be directed toward women- and minority-owned firms.
Curious as to how the Mayor of Boston determines contracts for the State Just asking WSJ ?
Remember when nominees used to be vetted ?
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