The Committee of Contract Compliance of the Cook County Board of Commissioners voted on Feb. 11 to reject an ordinance that would have eliminated the office that manages the Minority Business Enterprise and Women Business Enterprise programs.

The ordinance, sponsored by Commissioner Liz Gorman (17th district), proposed moving the duties of the Office of Contract Compliance to the Office of the Purchasing Agent in an effort to increase efficiency and to save money, Gorman said.

The MBE and WBE programs were created in 1993 to ensure minority and women-owned businesses had a fair chance at getting Cook County contracts, said Commissioner Roberto Maldonado (8th district). Taking away the independence of the office, which is charged with monitoring the program, could hurt women and minority-owned establishments doing business with the county, he said.

The hearing, which took place in the Cook County Board Room, 118 N. Clark St., was packed with minority and women business owners who came to hear commissioners discuss the issue.

Betty Hancock-Perry, director of the Office of Contract Compliance, gave testimony at the hearing. Perry said the budget for her office is less than 3 percent of the overall Cook County Budget, therefore eliminating her office would offer little in savings and hurt the ability of women and minorities to get county contracts.

Commissioner Tony Peraica (16th district) pointed to two examples-Crucial, Inc. and Faustic Industries-where the system was abused.

The Office of Contract Compliance has a relatively small staff of 11, Hancock-Perry said. They look at about 500 applications per year, each of which requires an incredible amount of paperwork.

Hancock-Perry said one of the reasons why some things aren’t always caught by her office is because of the outdated methods used to process the certifications and applications. The office requested a new software system that would make much of the process automated, but that expenditure was cut from the county budget.

The ordinance was voted down by a five-to-one vote. Commissioners Maldonado, Steele, Sims, Goslin and Peraica all voted against it while Gorman, the ordinance’s sponsor, voted in favor.

Many of the women and minority business owners who attended the hearing were pleased with the outcome of the vote.

“They responded well with the motion because I think whenever you start combining too many departments together you get a lot of bureaucracy,” said Eric Ridgeway, owner of Ridgeway Painting and Decorating.

Ridgeway said it already takes too long to get paid from the county, and adding more bureaucracy would only make that worse.

“When you prolong this, and add this, then you end up with more bureaucracy and a longer period of time for payment,” he said. “So in the end, the taxpayer ends up paying for it.”

Beth Doria, executive director of the Federation of Women Contractors, said the ordinance was misguided, but she thinks Commissioner Gordon was trying to do the right thing in making the process more efficient. This ordinance, however, as written, was not the right way to go about it.

“I take people at their word,” Doria said. “And [Gorman] said she wanted to make it a more open process to get more women and minorities participating in these projects.”

Doria said she agrees with many of the speakers at the hearing that there are improvements that could increase efficiency, but that the Office of Contracts and Compliance has done a good job with the limited resources that they have.

“When your budget is constantly being reduced, you have to work with what you have,” Doria said. “And unfortunately that is the reality for a lot of state governments and municipal governments-it’s just a matter of dollars.”