STREET PEPPERED WITH QUESTIONS ON MBEC TACTICS (Phila)

IN HIS FIRST City Hall scrum with the media since his impressive re-election win, Mayor Street yesterday was dogged with questions related to the on-going federal probe of alleged municipal corruption.

How, for example, does a successful female, African-American physician, married to a wealthy lawyer, become certified by the city's Minority Business Enterprise Council as a "disadvantaged business enterprise"?

Of course, there was nothing hypothetical about this. The physician in question is Aruby Odom-White, the wife of Ron White, who is one of Street's closest confidants and whose law firm has earned more than $1.5 million in city-related work.

Odom-White, through two of her companies, has interests in two lucrative Philadelphia Airport concessions - one that controls seven newsstands and another that has five bars.

Speaking generally, Street said a wealthy person should not be certified as a disadvantaged business. "That shouldn't happen," he said. "It's my understanding that there are caps and once you get beyond a certain point, then you are no longer a disadvantaged business and no longer qualify."

But Odom-White holds a $175,000 full-time job as medical director at DelCare Magellan Behavioral Health in Newtown, Bucks County. How, reporters pressed, does she get to be a disadvantaged business?

"You can have a job and be a disadvantaged business," Street said. But then he added, "I don't know about that."

Street then asked, "Are you saying that a person who is a physician can't qualify as a disadvantaged business?"

After complaining about hypothetical questions, Street conceded, "I don't know how much wealth she has and I'm not going to comment on her case. I don't have any of her information in front of me. I don't know whether she has a lot of wealth or a little bit of wealth."

MBEC Director James Round- tree said later that under his agency's rules, a socially and economically disadvantaged individual must have net assets under $750,000 for the business to be certified as disadvantaged.

But, Roundtree said, this MBEC cap doesn't apply in the award of airport concessions and that's because regulations from the U.S. Department of Transportation and not MBEC are in place at the airport. "There is no net-worth test. It's an exception when it comes to concessions," he said.

Odom-White's selection has also been questioned on the basis of her full-time medical position. An MBEC staffer concluded that she would be "in charge of the day-to-day operation of the business" even though she documented no prior experience in the food or concession business and has a full-time job.

Street repeated his critique of his administration's performance in providing city work to disadvantaged businesses owned by minorities, women or the disabled.

These small businesses, roughly 1,100, have been certified by the city, "are not doing as well as they probably should do, and I think we owe a higher responsibility to make it happen," he said.

This year the administration has pumped about $1 million more into MBEC, authorized a one-third increase in staffing to 22 and has hired consultants to help reorganize the office. Only recently, he said, has the city started to monitor the actual hiring of disadvantaged businesses. "We now have the capacity to check," he said.

Thanks Randita!

These small businesses, roughly 1,100, have been certified by the city, "are not doing as well as they probably should do, and I think we owe a higher responsibility to make it happen," he said.

The hits just don't stop coming with Big John, do they?

Owl_Eagle

”Guns Before Butter.”

3 posted on 12/12/2003 6:27:38 AM PST by End Times Sentinel ("You white rednecks... this is what my momma taught me!"- Nathaniel Jones Former Cincinnati Resident)

How, you ask? Simple: "the brothers and sisters are runnig the city now!"

But Odom-White holds a $175,000 full-time job as medical director at DelCare Magellan Behavioral Health in Newtown, Bucks County. How, reporters pressed, does she get to be a disadvantaged business?

"UNBELIEVABLE" BUMP

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