News-Record.com

DATE: Friday, January 28, 2005

GRUMBLES ARISE: MINORITY JOB UNFILLED
A SLOT FOR A MINORITY BUSINESS COORDINATOR IS VACANT, ALTHOUGH THE HIRE WAS AUTHORIZED IN JULY.

At least two commissioners are upset that it has taken more than half a year to hire a minority business coordinator in the Guilford County purchasing department.

"We put the money in the budget in July, and it is now almost February and we still don't have a person on board," Commissioner Carolyn Coleman said.

She said improving the number of minority companies that receive county contracts is a high priority for her.

"I'm sure they would say they're working on it, but it's not fast enough for me," Coleman said.

County Manager Willie Best and Purchasing Director Bonnie Stellfox both said this week that the county was checking references on candidates for the job and hoped to have someone in place next month.

The coordinator would be responsible for helping minority companies negotiate the procurement rules needed to land a county contract.

According to the job description, this person would also help recruit minority companies to apply for county work.

Coleman and Commissioner Melvin "Skip" Alston said that the new hire should also be an advocate for minority businesses in the county.

Asked why it took so long to hire someone for the position, Best said the county's initial job posting drew few responses.

Alston placed the blame for the extended search on the purchasing department.

"I think the purchasing department is intentionally trying to resist that person coming in there," Alston said. "Here it is seven months later, and it didn't take us that long to hire a county manager, and we did a national search for that."

Stellfox said: "Our department here has made a good-faith effort to get this position filled, and we're moving along as expeditiously as we can."

Asked if she had a response to Alston's comments, she said, "No, I don't have a response to that."

Asked if she had current numbers available showing what percentage of the county's business went to minority companies, Stellfox said she was compiling a report for the commissioners.

A similar study last year showed that about 4 percent of contracts issued by the county's purchasing department have gone to minority companies. An additional 5.5 percent went to companies owned by white women.

That does not include departments, such as the county's mental health agency, which do their own purchasing for many of the goods and services they need.

"In all fairness to the present staff, they've tried to do a good job," Coleman said. "But more needs to be done."

Both Coleman and Alston complained that part of the reason it has taken so long to hire someone is that the position was advertised at a lower salary than the commissioners had originally set.

Originally, Best said, the position was advertised at a top salary of $30,000 to $40,000 per year. The commissioners had included $60,000 in the budget for the position.

"I made it clear that what we wanted was a senior-level person," Coleman said. "The one thing that I would think that if there is a priority for the commissioners then that should be come a priority for the staff."

Best said the county has since readvertised the position with a salary of $40,000 to $60,000 and that a person should be hired soon.

Asked whether he thought county staff were intentionally taking a long time to make the hire, Best said: "Oh, no. Absolutely not."