Aug 6, 2008 8:27 pm US/Eastern
Board Approves $44 Million BWI Shuttle Contract
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) ―
Despite objections from the NAACP and members of the Legislative Black Caucus, the Board of Public Works approved a $44.8 million contract for an airport shuttle service with a company that has drawn complaints for falling short of past minority participation goals.
The debate over awarding the three-year contract to First Transit Inc. at Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall Airport has been a contentious one, and the board's meeting Wednesday was the third time it had taken the issue up.
The board, which includes Gov. Martin O'Malley, Treasurer Nancy Kopp and Comptroller Peter Franchot, voted 2-1 to approve the contract, with Franchot voting against it.
First Transit, of Cincinnati, has been operating the shuttle service on emergency spending approved by the board because of delays in bringing the contract to a final vote.
The delays have stemmed from complaints about the company's failure to reach a 30 percent target goal for minority participation under its previous contract. The target ended up getting reduced to 13 percent, and the state granted a waiver that officials now say shouldn't have been allowed.
"We have taken steps to ensure that that will not happen again," Transportation Secretary John Porcari said. Critics have complained repeatedly that state agencies are neglecting the Maryland Minority Business Enterprise Program, which aims for 25 percent minority participation. The program is written into state law, providing that agencies strive to reach the 25 percent mark.
Marvin "Doc" Cheatham, the president of the Baltimore City branch of the NAACP, urged the board to reject the contract.
"We are about to make a serious mistake if we allow this company to do what they did to us for the last two and a half years, basically slap MBE in the face and say: 'We'll do what we want to do."'
O'Malley, a Democrat, conceded that the first contract "is not a contract that would go into the category of making solid progress in predictable and measurable ways."
However, the governor said his administration is working hard to improve in an area that has proven to be frustratingly difficult to him since he took office 17 months ago. He pointed to more than a dozen transportation contracts at Wednesday's meeting that exceeded MBE goals as an example.
"We're working to put together a more rational and open and transparent process here," O'Malley said. "I understand your frustration. I feel your frustration. I do believe that we can do better every single day we're here on every contract."
First Transit is now exceeding a 28 percent minority participation rate, and he underscored that the state will monitor the company to make sure it stays that way, Porcari said.
Porcari said when the project was rebid in October 2007, there were four companies that bid on the contract, and First Transit gave the best overall proposal, which included safety and customer service.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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