A departing trustee criticized information-sharing practices and alleged disparaging remarks toward Black board members and disparate treatment of Black-owned vendors, calling for transparent, equal procurement.

Deputy City Manager Monica Croskey briefed council on a 45‑initiative Focus Action Plan and progress in EMS staffing, community engagement and attainable housing. Staff and consultant presentations recommended issuing an RFP for Kempsville with design safeguards, and BBC Research urged reintroducing project goals to address disparities in city contracting.

I 43 expansion project finishes under budget with 96% of funds awarded to local companies.

Senate Bill 6170 would raise the dollar thresholds for state forces and emergency contracting (from $60K to $100K normal, and $100K to $160K emergency) to give WSDOT more flexibility; labor and DOT witnesses supported the change while committee members discussed indexing for inflation and equity safeguards.

Debate highlights risks of race neutral policies for minority and women-owned businesses in Columbus.

Deputy directors Beth Comer and Andrea Ledger told the Budget & Finance Committee that HERO's investments in staff and communications produced measurable gains: outreach events rose from five to 51, procurement RFP cycle time dropped from 136 to 74 days, and labor-standards recoveries increased. The department proposed modest staffing rebal-

Met Council analysis reveals 9% of contract dollars went to minority and women-owned businesses.

Report highlights barriers faced by minority-owned firms in public sector contracting.

Council discusses utilizing past disparity studies to improve minority contracting in Portland.

Senator Vargas advocates for Senate Bill 311 to require listing minority women owned businesses for contractors.

Disparities in procurement contracts for minority businesses and improvement strategies discussed in Metro Nashville.