incl
Stat D c rti Ii
B.H .. Empir
7 Ii rms
. co ntractor
Terry y
LANS G - The . chigan Depart-
ment of Transportation (DOT) through
it monitoring proce found ven
fum claiming to be minority or woman­
owned ere not so' ality, ccording
to DOT document .
id-City Excavating, th con ruction
company laying wen and r urfacing
Empire Avenue in Bentn Harbor' one
of the firm "decertified" by the tate,
documentation reveals.
Decertification mean the ven firm
cannot enjoy th funding t ide
e rmarked by th federal and t t
go mment for minority and worn n
owned enterprise .
Information bout th t te's dec rti-
fication of the en compani w
disco ered by T Citizen usin th
Freedom of Information Act. Th
Citizen obtain d th document follow­
ing reque t by this P per for an inve ri-
gation by the DOT into id-City's
claim to be a oman-owned busine .
The Citizen request carne when no
women or minoritie could be seen ork­
ing day to day on the S 1 million Empire
Stre t project.
ccording to DOT records, rs.
Deloris oodruff i listed as pre . dent
of id-City, 3122 E t Ichigan Blvd,
ichigan City.
In recinding id-City's tat a
oman-owned enterprise ooT liason
Officer Larry Leatherwood not d, " ...
your fum fail to m t the fol1owing
eligibility andards:... The owner­
ship and control by minoritie or omen
be real, ubstantial, and continuing
and II go beyond the pro forma
ownership of the firm reflected in its
o ner hip document ... "
Leatherwood continued, "The minor-
ity or worn n owner all I 0 po
the po er to direct or cau the direction
of management and policie of the firm
to m th day-to-day well major
decision on matters of man g ment,
policy, and operations."
"DOT compliance Section an ger
James A. S tc I conducted the investi­
gation into id-City Exca tin, accord­
ing to documentation.
Satchel found, "The nonrninority
m m e all t m �or deci 'om for
the firm ch : estimating job , quoting
bids, major field decision, negotiate
contr ct , hire and fir employees, 'go
p yroU chec s."
tchel 0 reported, in the OOT
documents,' TS. oodruff is re 'dent
of Br denton, Florida, where she con­
tinues to be ctively employed in her
hu bands's con ruction company which
h it largest office located there."
rs. WoodrufT'sattomey responded to
tchel' findings, DOT documents re-
ve 1. TS. oodruff claimed to "pos
th to direct all policies and
m n gem nt from Florida vi the tele­
phon.
Satchel's report Iso tated, '711 ub­
jcct firm (Mid�ity Excavating) purcha d
nd rented majority of their equipment
from nonminority family m mber."
Satchel noted Mid-City h d purchases
and equipment renta of 182,500 and
2 .s00, re . cri • f' rb t'
TN 'E 'NO DIED FOR THE RIGHT
TO VOTE
'het will Blae
do Election Day
Tuesday, Auga t 7
voters
25e
o
p
to
I
Lawle ness governs Benton Harbor
city. The example are many:
-City commission hired commi -
ioner' brother. When citizen pointed
to the charter ban again n potism,
the commission . d the brother am't
n emp oyee,ju a "con ltant."
- Th 'co ultant" hired friends and
rei ti int job with no dvertising
or po Ing of th job and required
qualification .
-The city . currently hiring ne
in pectora with HUD funds. Th job
ha not been dvertised or po ted.
One of the fin I candidate for th job
Co· on e 6
and Son, Inc. Al 0 Mid-City owned
oodruff and Sons 270-] 87, Satchell
reported. He noted both id-City and
oodruff and Sons, Inc. '11 ve share­
holders in common."
Other ichigan firms decertified by
the state during the 1983-84 fi al y ar
with the amound of DOT contract
involved include:
Lover Lane, Portage, $4008.00 (a a
WBE).
- onterry Con truction Company,
267 Roosevelt Place, Gro Pointe,
SI 26,673.50 ( a MBE).
Under th t . de program, th DOT
reported the following doll r value of
contract awarded from October 1, 983
through arch 31, 1984: (Th figure
in parenthesi repre ent contract amount
included in the total but m de to firms
which have been ince decertified:
38 Blac firms S8.5 million (on de erti­
fled with a 1.4 million contr ct ;
25 Hisp nic firms 4.7 million one
decertifi d with ] 26 637 con ct);
11 ative Ameri n firm $2.2 million
(one decertifi d 733,995); 3 n
firms, S234,525 (non decertified); 51
fernal owned fir 7.4 million (3
d rti!i d,�1391J4).
-Kelly Con truction company, 460
Bo tt Road, Ravenna, S52,696.72 (a
WBE) and $1,370,886.36 (a a MBE).
- efo E erprises, Inc., 1] 790 White
Cree Ave"', Cedar Spring, S18O,
703.70 and S733,995.85 (as a WBE).
- ulti ontr cting, Inc. 2314 Mill r
Road, Kalamazoo,. 25,853.00 (
BE) (1982-83).
=Bert's Asph It & Con truction, 1642
Whitfield. S.E., Grand R pids, $1,106
636.45 (a a MBE).
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