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TO: Mayor Richard C. Irvin
FROM: Alex Voigt, Deputy Chief of Staff
Jolene Coulter, Director of Purchasing
DATE: January 3, 2020
SUBJECT:
A Resolution approving the release of a Request for Proposals (RFP) for an "Availability and Disparity Study" on behalf of the City of Aurora.
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this item is to receive City Council approval for the release of an RFP that will allow the City of Aurora to receive proposals to conduct an Availability and Disparity Study on our behalf.
BACKGROUND:
In 2010, the City Council approved R10-111, "A Resolution Expressing the Commitment of the City Council to expand opportunities to do Business with Minorities, Women and Disabled Persons" (Exhibit A), which included a sixteen step "Action Plan". In 2011, a "Procurement Development Program" was created based off of R10-111 (Exhibit B). Elements of both documents are still utilized, but a majority remain outstanding.
In 2018, the State of Illinois introduced legislation proposing to amend the Motor Fuel Tax Law (MFT), restricting distributions to municipalities, counties and road districts receiving $1M or more that do not have a Business Enterprise Program (BEP) with specific goals for minority, Veteran and female-owned businesses. Aurora, as a municipality that receives more than $1M in funds from the MFT fund annually, would be impacted by this change and began looking at options to create and implement a program.
Working with our lobbyist, the city began exploring the possibility of creating a partnership with the other units of government impacted by the change to create a "model ordinance" and share costs. Aurora convened a meeting, inviting representatives from municipalities and counties who would be impacted by the $1M in annual funding threshold to learn more about the process. The meeting, while well attended, showed an overall lack of interest in a program unless required by the State.
The Corporation Counsel engaged attorneys Kate Trag...
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