Q&A
Council Member Williams questions Comptroller Lander on MWBE utilization and pension investments
0:45:46
·
4 min
Council Member Nantasha Williams engages in a Q&A session with Comptroller Brad Lander, focusing on MWBE utilization, pension investments, and efforts to increase diversity in city contracting and investments. Lander discusses recent reports, challenges in improving MWBE participation, and strategies for increasing diversity in various areas of city finance.
- Lander reports modest growth in MWBE participation in pension investments, from 11.68% to 12.86%, with plans to reach 20% by 2029.
- Discussion on potential changes to local law to include nonprofit subcontractors in MWBE requirements.
- Exploration of alternative delivery methods for construction projects to create more opportunities for MWBE subcontractors.
- Efforts to diversify boards of private companies in which pension funds invest, including through shareholder resolutions.
Nantasha Williams
0:45:46
Hello.
0:45:48
You released a report, I think, a few months ago about MWB utilization.
0:45:52
And outside of the report, is there anything else, that you think your office or respective offices in the mayor's administration could be doing differently to address the low percentage rates?
Brad Lander
0:46:08
Yeah.
0:46:09
Yes.
0:46:10
You know, so we put out actually, we do 2 different reports each year.
0:46:13
1 is on MWBE and Citi purchasing, and that one, you know, has found that you know, found this year that while, under, Michael Gardner's leadership, a lot of effort is underway.
0:46:26
The numbers have just not moved that much.
0:46:28
Still roughly 5% of overall city procurement to MWBEs and less than 15% even of the procurement that's subject to local law the local law, that covers it.
0:46:40
The other report is looks at our pension investments because we wanna make sure that on what we control, we're doing better.
0:46:46
And there, I'm pleased to say we grew from, you know, still too low, but 11.68 percent to 12.86%.
0:46:53
That was $2,700,000,000 more in the hands of black and brown and women asset managers, and we've got plans that we anticipate will get us to 15% next year and hopefully 20% by 2029.
0:47:06
We laid out a bunch of ideas in that report, and I'll give you just a couple of them, and you and I have talked about some of these.
0:47:12
The local law exempts nonprofits because and therefore mostly most of human services because they're nonprofits.
0:47:20
They don't have owners.
0:47:22
But much of what those folks are doing with city contracts is subcontracted to for profits for cleaning and food and transportation, security.
0:47:30
So there might be some ways to, change that so that that business would be covered by, MWBE requirements.
0:47:40
Subcontracting in general is a big area of opportunity, but our systems for just seeing who the subcontractors are are pretty woeful.
0:47:49
So there is a lot.
0:47:50
I mean, it's a big complex system, but then, of course, if you're, you know, an MWBE and you just want, where's the portal where I can find an opportunity?
0:47:58
Even that doesn't exist.
Nantasha Williams
0:47:59
Does your office have the ability to, encourage agencies to debundle contracts?
0:48:05
Because sometimes they have, like, these really large contracts that make it really hard for smaller or MWBE businesses to go out for them and compete.
Brad Lander
0:48:15
So two things I'll say here, and there's not exactly so there's some new and good incentives.
0:48:20
The growth of what's called the noncompetitive small procurement threshold for MWBE is to 1,500,000,000.
0:48:28
We track we started tracking that specifically in the report to say, our agency's using this new tool, and some are better than others, and hopefully, they wanna do better on the list next year.
0:48:39
We're also working with the administration in Albany on alternative delivery methods on capital process reform legislation for construction, and some of the alternative delivery methods, Centimeters Centimeters Build, especially, makes more opportunities for subcontracting rather than sort of the one big prime contractor.
0:48:59
And we're talking a lot with DDC, and I know commissioner Foley.
0:49:03
That's something that he cares a lot about.
Nantasha Williams
0:49:05
And I know you mentioned pensions.
0:49:06
I know you and I spoke about this, but also just wondering, any efforts, and I know some of this predates you around, like, diversifying the boards of the private companies that we are investing in through the pension fund.
Brad Lander
0:49:22
Absolutely.
0:49:23
Yeah.
0:49:23
And we actually have some shareholder resolutions this year.
0:49:26
This is an area where, some, you know, some meaningful progress has been made.
0:49:33
You know, we there's 2 things we do.
0:49:35
We ask companies to, disclose a board diversity matrix so you can see board diversity, and also make public their EEO one statements.
0:49:45
That's really about their staff diversity.
0:49:47
Mhmm.
0:49:47
And both of those things have gone from less than 20% of sort of Fortune 500 companies to much higher percentages of folks doing them because of the shareholder resolutions that we and others are bringing, and we'll we'll keep going on that.
0:50:01
I can get you more detailed information.
Amanda FarÃas
0:50:03
Okay.
0:50:04
Thank you.
Brad Lander
0:50:04
Thank you.
