Following is a letter sent Sept. 14 to Mayor Willie Brown by the Coalition for Economic Equity.

Dear Mayor Brown:

The Coalition for Economic Equity hereby adds its collective voice to the expressions of outrage that have been mounting concerning the noose incident at the San Francisco International Airport. The intensity of the individuals involved in this action is obvious and cannot, in any way, be condoned by City officials. An immediate investigation should be initiated under local, state and federal laws which prohibit discrimination, condemn all forms of harassment in the workplace and/or specifically address the insidious nature of hate crimes--a category which this incident might well fit.

It is particularly embarrassing to the City that the incident involves a major employer who has been awarded who has been awarded a multi-million dollar contract at the San Francisco International Airport and who has admitted taking no action when the incident occurred because it was perceived as a joke. None of our affiliates has found the situation funny and we are all deeply concerned about the cavalier attitude displayed by some City contractors about compliance with the equal opportunity mandates of federal and local laws, including our M/W/LBE legislation as well as Titles 6 and 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended. We endorse the NAACP's call for an immediate investigation into this specific matter. Since so many prime contractors on the myriad construction projects underway in the city are not local businesses and may not be aware of how seriously our residents take compliance with civil rights laws, it may well be necessary to amend our contracting procedures to underscore the City's concerns.

We have four issues to call to your attention:

1) The Coalition reiterates its earlier call for an investigation into the allegation that the M/W/LBE program has been compromised by fronts which skew the data and contracting. Nearly one years ago, the Coalition formally requested an investigation by the Human Rights Commission into seven joint ventures which we believe are illegally utilizing fronts in qualifying for City contracts. A copy of our letter was also forwarded to your office and to the director of the San Francisco International Airport. To date, in spite of our follow-up inquiries, we have received no indication that the investigations have even been initiated, much less completed.

2) We have also received numerous complaints from our affiliates that some City Departments are ignoring the requirement that public notice be given on contracting opportunities. The result is that minority, women and local entrepreneurs are excluded from contracts they could perform or the same minority, women or local entrepreneurs become part of the new old boy network and get special preference. Neither of these approaches satisfies the requirements of 12(d).

3) We have been informed that the City intends to extend the concept of project stabilization agreements to all construction activities performed with public money. If this information is correct, we want to go on record as opposing such a policy.  We have been monitoring the results of the agreement at the San Francisco International Airport for many months and we are convinced by the data we have received that the policy does not benefit our City, local businesses or local residents. It makes absolutely no sense to expand a program, which has been such a dismal failure, to other construction projects. You will recall that, in the early days of your administration, we provided you with our detailed analysis of the PSA in which we predicted what has come to pass. It gives us no satisfaction to be proved right, but it horrifies us to hear rumors that, despite the failure of the program to benefit local businesses and workers, steps are being taken to extend its reach.

4) We have reviewed the M/W/LBE legislation which is now before the Board of Supervisors and find it seriously flawed. We are also meeting with members of the Board to express our concerns, to encourage that the ordinance be amended and to urge that hearings be held, if necessary. The thrust of our proposed amendments is to strengthen the enforcement of the ordinance by clarifying the powers and responsibilities of the departments and the Human Rights Commission in the public contracting process. We do not need a repeat of the spectacle of City agencies battling each other in public over who has the power to do what. The ordinance should provide those ground rules and we believe our recommendations accomplish that. And, because existing court decisions rely heavily on data to sustain or abolish equity programs, we absolutely demand that the system for gathering, analyzing and reporting relevant statistical information be specified in the ordinance, with appropriate penalties for failure to follow through.

Our affiliates have authorized the Coalition to take a strong stand on the issue we have raised. They are acutely aware that now is the time to be more aggressive and creative in seeking an equitable share of the lucrative public contracting opportunities from which they have been excluded so long. In facilitating that process of inclusion, the City must commit itself to strong and creative policies, and we count on you, as the Mayor and a strong proponent of equity, to be the most creative and the most insistent on compliance. Otherwise, nooses at the worksite will become the new mantra for the "City that knows how."

We look forward to your support in addressing the issues we have raised. On behalf of the Coalition, I am

Sincerely yours,
Aileen C. Hernandez, Chair