Post by Logan on Jun 21, 2016 3:55:04 GMT -6
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration has awarded $407 million in water main construction and sewer-lining contracts to a company once certified as minority-owned at a time when its African-American president had acknowledged his white business partner ran the company’s day-to-day operations.
The four water main construction contracts — for Districts 3, 4, 5, and 6 — were awarded to Benchmark Construction on June 13 and 14. On May 23, Benchmark was also awarded a $29.2 million sewer-lining contract.
That once again makes Benchmark the largest beneficiary of Emanuel’s plan to double water and sewer fees over a four-year period and impose annual rate hikes tied to the inflation rate to replace Chicago’s crumbling water mains, 900 miles of them a century old.
The Department of Procurement Services had no immediate comment when asked why one company once accused of masquerading as minority-owned to get a leg up on city set-aside contracts was such a big beneficiary of the gravy train of contracts tied to the rebuilding of Chicago’s aging water and sewer system or why City Hall has not made a greater effort to spread the largesse around.
Read more: chicago.suntimes.com/news/company-once-accused-of-being-minority-front-gets-407m-more/
The four water main construction contracts — for Districts 3, 4, 5, and 6 — were awarded to Benchmark Construction on June 13 and 14. On May 23, Benchmark was also awarded a $29.2 million sewer-lining contract.
That once again makes Benchmark the largest beneficiary of Emanuel’s plan to double water and sewer fees over a four-year period and impose annual rate hikes tied to the inflation rate to replace Chicago’s crumbling water mains, 900 miles of them a century old.
The Department of Procurement Services had no immediate comment when asked why one company once accused of masquerading as minority-owned to get a leg up on city set-aside contracts was such a big beneficiary of the gravy train of contracts tied to the rebuilding of Chicago’s aging water and sewer system or why City Hall has not made a greater effort to spread the largesse around.
Read more: chicago.suntimes.com/news/company-once-accused-of-being-minority-front-gets-407m-more/