The State already maintains a list of minority and small disadvantaged businesses, and has “MBE/EDGE certifications [1]” for such.
It would seem that once again, Dayton taxpayers are being asked to foot the bill to reinvent the wheel:
City staff is reaching out through letters and e-mails to businesses statewide in hopes of finding minority-owned shops that can be certified and put in a database. The city plans to use the database to award contracts to those businesses, said Thomas Wahlrab, executive director of the city’s Human Relations Council.
The article also includes a major typo:
Certified business criteria
1. Potential certified businesses must have a personal net worth of at least $750,000.
2. Owners must have principal place of business within the state.
3. At least 51 percent of the business’ interest must be held by one or more disadvantaged owner(s).
4. Must be a legal U.S. citizen.
Number one should read of under $750,000 and the State standard is $250,000 for EDGE only.
The Federal Government and at least 14 states are now recognizing Service Disabled Veteran Owned Businesses as qualifying for set asides. The State of Ohio and the County and the City do not. It is one class you can enter by actually serving your country and giving something up. I believe more Americans would support this protected class than that of Asian Indians Immigrants or Hispanics who came to this country willingly.
From MBE:
“The State of Ohio developed the program because it is committed to making all state contracts, services,benefits and opportunities available without discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age or ancestry.”
“MBE eligibility:
From MBE:
“The State of Ohio developed the program because it is committed to making all state contracts, services,benefits and opportunities available without discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age or ancestry.”
“MBE eligibility: In order to be certified as a MBE, the business owner(s) must be members of one or more of the following groups: Blacks, American Indians, Hispanics and Asians.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA……we do not discriminate based on race, but these races get preferential treatment!
Not only do our tax dollars go toward the establishment, enforcement and maintenance of this entity, but we intentionally limit the supply pool so that we can drive costs up! INGENIUS GOVERNMENT, tax me double, I am white!
Wikipedia’s legal definition of racial discrimination:
the term “racial discrimination” shall mean any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.
Good job Dayton, never let a bad racist idea go without duplication. I also get to pay people to come up these ideas. I am continuously amazed!
What? No minority set asides for one-armed paper hangers or red-headed stepchildren? The shock and the shame. As Mr. Vigh so succinctly demonstrates, only government can in one paragraph express its’ devotion to policies of non-discrimination and in the next graph start listing who is being pushed to the front of the line for taxpayer financed loot…
Yes, that is brilliant! Instead of looking for the most qualified firm to do the job most cost effectively, we should just look for the firm that fills the right bubbles out on the application. Asking for a set aside is admitting that you are not good enough to compete with others.
What happened to people working hard for their keep? The only thing that programs like these do is point out that the government thinks that minority owned businesses are not good enough or capable enough to compete in an open bidding process.
If I were a “minority” I would be insulted to think that I need a ‘head-start’ in the race to possibly win. Is Tiger Woods a successful golfer because he hits from the ladies’ tees? No, it is the hard work he puts in day in and day out to perfect his craft. It baffles me that the same people who decry racism are the ones who have thought of thousands of racist government programs to keep minorities thinking that they need a leg up to make something out of themselves. It may be a novel idea…but let’s give a shot at treating everyone the same and reinforcing the teachings that success takes hard work. If you truly want to make something of yourself go out and design and build a better mousetrap; offer the best services at the best rates; go to sleep later than the other guy and wake up before him; invest your time and money wisely. The only thing you must not do is buy into the rhetoric that, because of a label that someone else has placed on you, your worth will never be on par with everyone else without a half-dozen government program applications filled out correctly.
Bring back common sense! Then again; if it were common, I guess more people would have it.