Photo Courtesy of Comptroller Stringer’s Office
“We’re not giving minority- and women-owned businesses a fair shot at doing business with the City, and it’s creating an unbelievable disparity,” Comptroller Stringer said.
By Forum Staff
A broad coalition of small business owners, and civic and faith leaders joined City Comptroller Scott Stringer on Thursday on the steps of City Hall to urge the City Charter Revision Commission to install a Chief Diversity Officer in City Hall and every City agency through revisions to the City Charter.
According to Stringer, the CDO would play a critical role by expanding opportunities for minority- and women-owned business enterprises who seek to do business with the City, helping the City attract and retain diverse talent, and bringing attention to disparities that impact women and people of color in local government and the NYC economy.
The comptroller’s proposal would establish a CDO position inside City Hall, reporting directly to the mayor, and within each City agency to function as the City’s executive level diversity and inclusion strategist. A CDO for New York City would drive the inclusion of people of color and women across government, track and oversee the City’s M/WBE programs, and determine whether the agencies’ daily practices are equitable.
Enshrining the CDO in the City Charter would help ensure their success and sustainability, Stringer said. As the City’s constitution, the charter is a statement about the priorities of the local government and a foundation for its policies. By grounding oversight of the M/WBE program and executive employment disparities in the mayor’s cabinet, and doing the same at each agency, these reforms would demonstrate the importance of women, people of color, and other historically disadvantaged groups having a seat at the table and provide a single venue for New Yorkers to hold City officials accountable for meeting their goals, the comptroller added.
City agencies spend almost $20 billion a year on everything from pens and paper to consulting services and construction—yet less than 5 percent of those contracts are awarded to M/WBEs, Stringer noted. In 2018, the City received a “D+” grade in the comptroller’s annual Making the Grade report which evaluates City agencies on their spending with M/WBEs—for the third year in a row. According to Stringer, this thwarts the City’s ability to fully invest in its businesses, build wealth in local communities, and foster competitive procurements that ensure taxpayer dollars are spent efficiently.
“New York City is one of the most diverse cities in the world, but our own government is stuck in the status quo of exclusion. We’re not giving minority- and women-owned businesses a fair shot at doing business with the City, and it’s creating an unbelievable disparity. That’s why we’re calling on the Charter Revision Commission to write equity into our City’s constitution and create a Chief Diversity Officer in City Hall and every City agency,” Stringer said. “To build a truly five borough economy where every community is growing, we need someone at the top to deliver real results. We cannot perpetuate a system that fails to build wealth in communities that have historically been left behind. We need this change from the Charter Commission, now.”
