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Virginia Beach mayoral candidates respond to disparity study results

The results of a disparity study show women and minority-owned businesses are not being treated equally during the contracting process.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WVEC) — On Wednesday, the two Virginia Beach mayoral candidates responded to the results of a disparity study, both agreeing there’s a problem in how the City of Virginia Beach awards contracts to businesses.

The outcome of a year-long disparity study has painted a harsh reality for the City of Virginia Beach. The results revealed the city is lagging when it comes to giving women and minority-owned businesses equal opportunity. The $424,000 study, conducted by BBC Research and Consulting from Denver, found less than 20% of the city's contracts went to businesses owned by minorities, women, and veterans. The research company said that number should be closer to 25 percent.

READ MORE: Disparity study results revealed to Virginia Beach City Council

Virginia Beach councilmember and mayoral candidate Bobby Dyer said the results are a wake-up call.

“We learned from this,” said Dyer. “I think we’ve gotta realize that we have the perception in the city that it’s very tough to do business.”

His opponent, candidate Ben Davenport said he wasn’t surprised by the results.

“This is endemic of what’s happening all over the united states right now,” said Davenport.

The disparity study was brought to the forefront by NFL Hall of Famer Bruce Smith. He said he was passed over for his Oceanfront development proposal. After he spoke out, conversations sparked around the largest city in the commonwealth. While city leaders initially refrained from having a disparity study conducted, it later agreed to have one conducted.

Both candidates acknowledged the city needs to improve when it comes to how it awards contracts to businesses. Dyer believes the current issue is that there’s a culture of favoritism.

“Some businesses: cronyism. They get carte blanched. Other people have to jump through hoops,” said Dyer. “We’ve gotta level the playing field, that’s the objective.”

Davenport said city leaders have a long road ahead of them before they can improve.

“We’ve got work to do, but we also have to make sure that whoever wants to do business with the city has the capacity to do business with the city,” said Davenport. “I believe the final draft is going to give us some very specific instructions on what we can do to engage minority and women-owned contractors in the region to make sure that we are being equitable.”

Dyer said he and other city leaders must continue working closely with the Minority Business Council in order to improve.

“Going forward, whatever means it takes for us to engage every business with ‘Small Businesses are Big Business’ (SWaM), but don’t forget it’s women, minorities, it’s disabled. We’ve gotta get these folks equal access to everything and that’s the direction I would proactively move to,” said Dyer.

Wednesday evening, City Manager Dave Hansen wrote a letter to Mayor Louis R. Jones and City Council members.

The letter stated:

“Through the study, we are learning how disparity is measure and how our performance compares to federally accepted standards. We remain committed to being a diversified and welcoming city where all businesses can compete fairly. The staff is already working on innovative approaches for future contracting opportunities.”

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