Trying to drum up minority votes, Richard Phelan, the Democratic candidate for Cook County Board president, said he would create a contract review committee and take other steps to give minorities and women a larger share of county business. Less than 2 percent of county contracts have gone to minorities, an ”abysmal” record, Phelan said.
At a news conference Thursday, representatives of four contractor groups- Black Contractors United, Hispanic-American Construction Industry Association, African-American Contractors Association and the Association of Asian Construction Enterprises-gave their endorsements to Phelan.
He vowed to give firms owned by minorities and women at least 30 percent of all construction and white-collar contracts along with half the contracts for repairing Provident Hospital. He also promised to help minorities obtain bank credit lines and timely payments from the county and to appoint a minority to a cabinet-level post handling contracts.
Such programs would be ”a major change,” said Peter Martinez, president of the Hispanic-American Construction Industry Association.
