Are black businesses and their representatives respected by the city Administration? The leaders of the Black Chamber of Commerce say no, while the Monroe Chamber of Commerce leaders praised city leaders and encouraged them to continue in its present direction.
The issue came to a head Tuesday night as the city debated whether to allow the mayor to hand-pick contractors for city projects less than $250,000 without any conditions to ensure that black businesses would not be approved.
At present, the city must follow state bid laws which require advertisements and other rules to ensure fair play. The city limits the mayor’s cherry-picking power to purchases of materials under $30,000. The new plan expands the mayor’s cherry-picking powers to include capital projects below $250,000 and purchases and materials to up to $100,000.
The Black Chamber urged Black council members to negotiate conditions that would ensure that the city not only has goals to include minorities but contracts awarded without bids would require minority participation or not get paid.
Roy Heatherly, president of the Monroe Chamber of Commerce, said, “It’s a beautiful day in Monroe” and that the Monroe Chamber saw no problems with lifting the cap. He said the governor visited the city and expressed his satisfaction with the growth underway in Monroe.
Sonya Jacobs, president of the Black Chamber, tried to articulate the views of black businesses, but Kema Dawson, the chairwoman, limited her time to present the Chamber’s objection to only three minutes.
When councilwoman Juanita Woods yielded her time to the Black Chamber to fully speak on behalf of the Black business community, Dawson refused to allow the Black Chamber President to speak.
Dawson pushed the issue to a vote, and she broke with other Black Council members and voted for the spending increase without consideration of the full concerns of the Black Chamber.
Not a one-time increase
Wednesday, Jacobs said the Black Chamber wanted the council to know that the ordinance is tied to a state law that does not lift the cap until February 1, 2025, but will increase automatically every year thereafter based on the Consumer Price Index.
“This was not a one-time vote,” said Jacobs, but the cap will be continually raised each year starting February 1, 2025, without a vote for the council. The Black Chamber council members should have locked in provisions to this perpetual increase that guarantees that black vendors and contractors are included in the cherry-picking process.
“Mr. Heatherly from the Monroe Chamber said it’s a beautiful day in Monroe, he’s right it is if you are at the table and included in the process,” said Jacobs. She said the Black Chamber lobbies on behalf of the Black business community, for the “Black community, it’s not a wonderful day in Monroe.”
Councilman Carday Marshall and Juanita Woods pushed for Black business concerns, but without Dawson’s support, they were left alone.
Dawson voted with Doug Harvey and Gretchen Ezernak to approve the perpetual cap increase.
Prior to voting for the increase, Dawson said no one has complained to her about any of the city’s initiatives, and her district is happy with the direction of the movement. She said “certain people” want her to vote by politics, but she only votes for measures she thinks will be beneficial to the city.
The money trail
While Dawson said she does not play politics, she often ignores public appeals of Southside voters to support Northside interests. Last year many politicians close to the Mayor held a fundraiser for her and raised thousands of dollars for her re-election campaign. Her frequent votes against public protests of Southside residents are paying off as people outside of her district cough up money to show their support.
According to state campaign finance records, Dawson is the only council member who has benefited from political donations on the council. They include Micheal Echols, $500; Ben Marshall, $250, Fred Bennett, $250; Daryll Berry, $250; Mayor Friday Ellis, $500; Joe G. Holyfield, $500; Land 3 Architects, $500, Martinez Chiropractic $250; Jason Pleasant, $250; George Sims, $100, City Attorney, Angie Sturdivant, $150; District Attorney Steve Tew, $250; School Board member Bill Willson, $100; Plugged In Creative, $500; Boles Shafto, LLC, $500; Rev. James Johnson, $100; MKS Twins, $200.00; Misti Cordell, $350.
Others on Dawson’s campaign list included: Sheriff Jay Russell, $900.00; Susan Weaver, $500; Christian Creed, $750; Gray Stephens, $250; Benjamin Peters, $250; Steve Taylor, $500; Terrance Tugwell, $500; Kenneth Wilson, $450 and a District 5 resident, Anthony Washington, $100.
Two weeks after Dawson’s fundraiser, she cast the deciding vote for Micheal Echols to get $2.5 Million TIF from the city to build his Hilton Hotel in Downtown, over the protests of Southside residents.
Dawson said, “During my time on this council, I have definitely been accused of neglecting my district because I don’t play politics and I don’t vote according to what certain people want but what’s beneficial for the city and my district as a whole.
“I ran for this city council, I’m putting this on record, because I want to make a difference in our community and in this city, and I know I have.”
“This city has so much positive growth right now, and I want to keep this momentum going. We got a lot of stuff that we are trying to do. Since this time, since we had the last meeting, I haven’t heard from any DBEs saying they have been neglected.
“I have not heard any negative comments from anyone in my district. Actually, I’ve gotten a couple of phone calls a while back saying they are ready for the movement to continue; they like what they are seeing. They don’t have a problem with the movement being going on because it should have been going up previously,” Dawson said.
