A member of an Oregon Department of Transportation advisory committee responsible for guiding the agency’s policies on equity in construction contracting has been dismissed for making inappropriate comments related to race and gender.
The comments were made in an internal survey that agency staff circulated among committee members; the survey sought feedback on policies aimed at remediating historical harm caused by discrimination in the awarding of transportation construction contracts.
The situation unfolds as Oregon lawmakers consider a $200 million workforce development package aimed at helping the state’s most economically disadvantaged find new careers. The state is also preparing to invest more than $1 billion dollars in a project to renovate and cap Portland’s Rose Quarter stretch of Interstate 5 to help with revitalization of the Albina District, the city’s former Black urban core which was destroyed when the freeway was originally built in the 1960s.
The I-5 freeway is seen through the fencing at the back of Harriet Tubman Middle School in North Portland, April 9, 2021. That stretch of freeway is at the center of an ODOT project to help revitalize Portland's Albina District, the city’s former Black urban core destroyed when the freeway was originally built in the 1960s. At the same time, ODOT recently dismissed a member of an advisory committee for racist and sexist comments.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
The comment accused the state transportation agency of being racist by engaging in programs intended to uplift disadvantaged business enterprises. These are small businesses within the transportation construction sector seen as being on unequal footing because they’re owned or operated by people from historically marginalized communities.
“The DBE program is just a racist (by definition) scam to gift work to people who either lack the performance to earn it through their own merits, or who happen to be the correct/chosen sex or skin color for a handout,” the now-dismissed committee member wrote.
ODOT is not releasing the name of the committee member or the company they represent until the committee meets again this Thursday, Feb. 10 at 11:30 a.m. when they’re expected to address concerns regarding those comments.
The owner of the company the commenter represented was swiftly notified of the comment by ODOT staff. The owner agreed to attend Thursday’s meeting to discuss the statements with staff and committee members.
State transportation officials said they are not aware of any disciplinary action taken by the company against the commenter, but said the agency’s concerns were “well received.”
‘A tough conversation’
Members of the committee brought attention to the comments during a Feb. 3 meeting at which survey results were presented by Maria Ellis, ODOT’s economic equity manager.
“There was a response… that I felt was very hateful and disrespectful to this process,” said Twauna Hennessee, a committee member who represents the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters.
The comment was omitted from the presentation Ellis compiled for the meeting. She said it was left out because she felt it was “not in line with ODOT’s values.”
“I purposely did not highlight that question,” Ellis said. “I was shocked by it myself.”
Hennessee said she understood Ellis’ decision to omit the comment from her presentation, but she felt state officials needed to address it.
Maurice Rahming, committee member and president of O’Neill Electric, said he’s concerned that it took someone from the committee bringing it up for the comments to surface publicly.
“ODOT needs to empower their employees that when faced with hate and hate speech, they shouldn’t need to run it up the flagpole to stand up to bullying, harassment, racism and discrimination,” he said.
Other members of the 65-person advisory committee present on Feb. 3 were more incensed by the comments, calling on the person who wrote it to step forward and accusing them of cowardice when they refused.
The following day, committee members received an email from Cooper Brown, ODOT’s assistant director of operations, addressing the agency’s position on the inflammatory statements.
“The comments that were made by this advisory group participant are in no way condoned or supported by ODOT. They are unequivocally in contrast with our agency’s values,” the email said. “Advancing social equity is a pillar of ODOT’s Strategic Action Plan, with one of our primary goals being to specifically promote economic opportunity for Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC)- and women-owned firms on ODOT contracts.”
Ellis said ODOT felt it was important to engage the owner of the company represented by the dismissed committee member to let them know these comments could be seen as a reflection of their organization.
“We believe that their willingness to come and have what is going to be a tough conversation, but we think will be a good one, hopefully will result in some positive change for them,” Ellis said.
Although the agency has touted its strategic plan for a focus on equity, the transportation department has received strong criticism in recent years for how that plan has actually been applied. In 2020, the nonprofit Albina Vision Trust walked away from the Rose Quarter project, with its leaders saying their suggestions to infuse racial equity into the project were falling on deaf ears.
Ozzie Gonzalez, a member of the contracting advisory committee representing LatinoBuilt, a trade association for Hispanic contractors, said he wasn’t surprised to see gender and racial bias crop up in Oregon. He was, however, surprised to see them written down as part of the official record collected by a state agency.
“I come across this perspective often,” Gonzalez said. “What’s unique about this is that we get to see it in a public conversation. It shows how systemic, or embedded these perspectives are.”
Gonzalez said he doesn’t know what to expect from Thursday’s conversation between committee members and the business owner. He said he hopes ODOT uses this as an opportunity to show some leadership in holding the industry it oversees accountable to values such as equity and inclusivity.
“The formation of this committee is one more step of this agency saying, ‘We take this seriously, we want to address it,’” he said. “Well, here’s a chance to actually address it.”
Brown said he agrees with Gonzalez, stating that ODOT has a responsibility as owners of this process to address the issue in a way that supports the social growth of the state’s construction industry.
“We’re looking at tools that can advance equity, that can help us build a skilled workforce that is as diverse, inclusive and equitable as possible,” Brown said.