Minorities, Women Get Most Quake Contracts : Business: Public Works report shows such companies have received 63% of city spending on debris-cleanup jobs.

A majority of the debris cleanup and building demolition work contracted out by the city of Los Angeles since the Northridge quake has been done by minority and women-run companies, according to a city report released Friday.

The report by the city’s Public Works Department said the cleanup program has paid out about $10.2 million in contracts, or 63% of the total spent so far, to companies owned by minorities and women.

In addition, 78% of the quake cleanup money has gone to firms based in Los Angeles County, according to the report. Nearly half of the contract money went to companies within the city of Los Angeles, the report said.

The report was drafted by Public Works officials partly in response to criticism by some city officials, who predicted the city-managed cleanup program would not employ enough local minority and female-owned companies.

Councilmen Richard Alarcon, Richard Alatorre and Mike Hernandez voted against putting the cleanup program under city management primarily because they believed private firms could manage the program at a lower cost.

But they also argued that because of complex contracting guidelines, the city would probably employ fewer local and minority-run contractors than would private firms.

Still, Friday’s report did not seem to appease the program’s critics.

Alarcon, who represents the northeast San Fernando Valley, said he was not impressed, pointing out that minority firms received an even larger percentage of the cleanup contracts after the 1992 riots. That cleanup program was managed by private firms.

Approximately 90% of the demolition and cleanup work done after the riots was awarded to minority and women-owned businesses.

But Alarcon added that he was pleased to learn that 78% of the quake debris business went to local companies.

At Alarcon’s request, the City Council approved a proposal last week to consider letting private firms oversee portions of the cleanup program. Alarcon said that if adopted, the proposal would show whether private firms could manage the program more cheaply.

When Alatorre was shown the Public Works report on the cleanup program, he simply said, “We could have done better under the other way” and walked away.

Nonetheless, Charles Dickerson III, president of the Public Works Board of Commissioners, said he was pleased with the numbers. “I think we have done an exemplary job at hiring minority firms,” he said.

The manager of the city’s cleanup program, Andres Santamaria, said he is trying to hire as many local and minority contractors as possible. But, he added, the number of minority and women-owned firms that qualify for the cleanup program are limited.

“We are hiring as many minority firms as are applying,” Santamaria said. “I’m not excluding anyone.”

He said the city must abide by federal and local guidelines that prohibit the city from hiring only firms based within the city of Los Angeles and only firms owned by women or minorities.

Whether those same guidelines would have been set for private consultants remains unclear, according to Santamaria.

The Public Works report said the city has spent $16.1 million on contracts for debris cleanup as well as fencing and demolition of severely damaged buildings.

The contracts have been paid out in the following percentages:

*36.9% to firms owned by white males;

*27.6% to firms owned by African American males;

*12.9% to firms owned by Latino males;

*10% to firms owned by white females;

*12.6% to firms owned by Native Americans, Asians, Portuguese and Pacific Islanders.