Suit: Race, Gender a Factor in Caltrans Deals

More news stories on Anti-White Discrimination

Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, June 12, 2009

An association of contractors accused Caltrans in a lawsuit Thursday of colluding with the Obama administration to flout California’s ban on race and sex preferences by reserving some state road-building contracts for companies owned by minorities and women.

“Caltrans is sideswiping the important principle of equal opportunity by using race, not lowest cost by a responsible bidder, to decide who gets government road and highway contracts,” said Sharon Browne, a Pacific Legal Foundation attorney who filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Sacramento.

The plaintiffs, the Associated General Contractors’ San Diego chapter, seek to overturn the state Department of Transportation’s decision in March to set aside 6.75 percent of federally funded road contracts to minority- and female-owned firms or to require contractors to make good-faith efforts to reach that goal.

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The Schwarzenegger administration adopted the current program in March with the approval of the Obama administration, based on a Caltrans study that found minority- and female-owned companies were persistently underrepresented in state transportation funding—receiving only 2.2 percent of federal contracting dollars, compared with a stated goal of 13.5 percent.

A Federal Highway Administration official told Caltrans in a Feb. 25 letter that failing to take immediate steps to reach that goal could bring penalties that “may include withholding federal funds,” particularly the congressionally approved stimulus funds.

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Browne said the department had unsuccessfully sought federal approval for race-conscious contracting for two years and finally got it after Obama took office.

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Caltrans declined comment on the suit. The NAACP’s state president, Alice Huffman, said the contractor plaintiffs were trying to move the state backward.

“Caltrans needs more equal opportunity in contracting with businesses owned by people of color—not less,” she said.

Original article

Email Bob Egelko at begelko@sfchronicle.com..

(Posted on June 12, 2009)

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Comments

1 — Anonymous wrote at 9:01 PM on June 12:

What could be more equal than giving everyone a fair shot and picking whoever can do the best job? Is the NAACP insane?

2 — Anonymous wrote at 9:53 PM on June 12:

“Caltrans needs more equal opportunity in contracting with businesses owned by people of color—not less,” she said.

Why do they continue to use the term “equal opportunity” when in reality they are demanding “equal outcome”?

as a person of non-color and a contractor I can tell you that the state of california contacts/bidding process is open to all, and the bid process is transparent. It seems like they are demanding quotas (i’m sure “13.5%” wasn’t chosen randomly)so they can avoid the racist competition process, which means the california taxpayer gets the honor of paying extra.

3 — Anonymous wrote at 10:27 PM on June 12:

Every private company and corporation in California is completely free to discriminate against whites all they want. And they proudly boast they do. Isn’t that enough?

4 — Anonymous wrote at 10:43 PM on June 12:

“Why do they continue to use the term “equal opportunity” when in reality they are demanding “equal outcome”?”

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100% correct. The irony is that the bidding process IS all about equal opportunity.

5 — fred wrote at 11:28 PM on June 12:

the racist affirmitive action/quota lottery always tries to play up the WOMEN and minorities angle. i suggest this is a ruse to get white women to support it. but white women do NOT benefit. in fact, i don’t think that minority men benefit that much, either. it is, in fact, minority women who hit the jackpot.

6 — Say It! wrote at 8:49 AM on June 14:

So stupid & unjust. Where did they get this 13.5% ? Always the absurd assumption that any field or business should racially match percent-wise the black proportion of the population. Makes as much sense as punishing major universities because blacks don’t make up 13.5% of their nuclear physics professors.

This is just using taxpayer money for political pay back to blacks for voting Democratic, and blacks expect this.

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