CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / L.A. COUNTY

County supervisors ordered a review Tuesday of whether the county is failing to meet its goal of awarding 25% of contracts to local businesses owned by minorities, women, veterans and the disabled.

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas proposed the inquiry after the county’s Office of Affirmative Action and Compliance was unable to tell his staff whether the county was meeting its goal, set years ago.

“We wouldn’t be doing this if we thought the program was in tip-top shape,” he said.

He added that the responsibility for meeting the goal does not rest solely with the Office of Affirmative Action, but also with the Internal Services Department and county counsel, which monitor contracting.

Tom Tindall, director of Internal Services, said his department has made an effort to reach out to small businesses, breaking up large bids to make them more accessible, sponsoring workshops on how to navigate the bid process and notifying eligible businesses of new projects by e-mail.

Still, he acknowledged that out of hundreds of eligible contractors registered with the county, often only a dozen successfully bid on and receive contracts. “We obviously need to do a better job of getting the word out,” he said.

-- Molly Hennessy-Fiske