91视频

John Jackley will never forget his third day of employment with the Portland Development Commission. It was on that Wednesday in September 2006 that several hundred people representing the African-American community marched in front of PDC offices to protest the urban renewal agency.

鈥淚t was apparent from the beginning that we were going to need to reconnect with the community,鈥� said Jackley, the PDC鈥檚 business and social equity director who previously served as communications manager for several years. 鈥淎nd what we鈥檝e been able to do over the last five years I am very proud of.鈥�

Jackley works to inform the public, and also to express communities鈥� desires and concerns to decision makers. He acknowledged that a lot of groundwork needed to be laid, but that trust is being rebuilt.

Most recently, Jackley was in charge of the North/Northeast Economic Development Initiative, which led to the proposed expansion of the Interstate Corridor Urban Renewal Area. He also is working to gather community input on the initial draft of a disparity study examining the use of minority, women and emerging small business firms on PDC projects or those it contributes to.

Recently, the 91视频 spoke with Jackley to discuss the study.

91视频: Were there expectations about what would be found in the disparity study? Have the results been surprising?

Jackley: The only thing we were certain of when we started the study is that we knew the world had changed since 1995-96, when the last one was done. Beyond that, we weren鈥檛 sure what it would show, but we know that our own utilization of (firms certified DMWESB by the state) is very high. We鈥檝e averaged over 33 percent the last five years. That鈥檚 certified firms. The disparity study 鈥� which the main purpose is to both uphold legally your diversity program and then set the stage for any additional changes 鈥� looks at a different population and uses a different methodology.

Remember, a disparity study has three legs. The first is the statistical piece, the second is all the interviews and anecdotic pieces and the third piece is the public comment. And I think what we鈥檝e learned from the three pieces, and what the report shows, is that there is enough evidence to keep our current program and make future changes. That鈥檚 what we learned from the numbers. What we learned from the interviews is that there are still deep, structural obstacles to these contractors, like on-the-job contractors, insurance and bonding, discrimination, racism and those kinds of obstacles. And then on the public comment side we鈥檝e got a lot of great information from organizations and people who put it all in context.

91视频: You鈥檝e been out there talking with some of these firms and organizations since the results came out. How have those conversations been going?

Jackley: We鈥檝e briefed all the minority chambers (and) been to OAME (Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs). We went to MCIP (Metropolitan Contractor Improvement Partnership), to NAMC (National Association of Minority Contractors) Oregon. I spent three hours with Maurice Rahming of O鈥橬eill Electric going over his numbers and his analysis. When the study comes back from the consultant, it鈥檚 in draft form. That鈥檚 where it is right now. That draft has to stand up to public comment. And now the consultant is going to take those comments and put them into the next draft.

91视频: Oregon鈥檚 Bureau of Labor and Industries just released its study on diversity in public contracting and said it wants to present potential legislation in its next study. There鈥檚 only so much that can be done at the city level. Have you looked at things you can do at the state and federal levels?

Jackley: The PDC is a partner in the city鈥檚 legislative package each session. We do all of these things together, and there are a lot of bills dropped each session that deal with apprenticeship and prevailing wage. We provided some information in terms of practices for the study, but we haven鈥檛 been approached by BOLI to participate in the next phase.

The biggest challenge from our standpoint is the continued diversification of the workforce. The current journey population is getting older. Construction is not something you usually stick with into your mid 70s. So, it鈥檚 getting older and retiring.

So if you look at some of the numbers, the workforce of the future comes from the apprentices. So, on South Waterfront we have a 20 percent apprentice requirement. It鈥檚 a hard requirement, not an aspirational goal. This last year we had 24 percent utilization, which is good. But the interesting statistic out of that is out of all those apprentice hours, 47 percent of all hours were worked by women and minorities. If you look at that 鈥� the emerging apprentice population, opposed to the older journeymen 鈥� you cannot only see where the workers of the future are coming from, but for the most part those are the people who then become subcontractors, who then become prime contractors.

We are now looking at how and why that was such a success and looking to replicate it with the Oregon Sustainability Center. We are convening our first meeting with the work group to start putting together a community benefit workforce agreement, and we will do the same with the Rose Quarter eventually. Just like the South Waterfront, we will have a steering committee that meets monthly and will look at reports coming out of Skanska looking at participation rates by race, gender and division of construction. So, therefore, we won鈥檛 be waiting until the end of the project to see how we did. We will be getting monthly reports, and if we have to make any in-flight changes we will have time to make them.

91视频: One of the disparities was in contracts you didn鈥檛 own, but contributed to. Do you believe you can influence these private prime contractors on private projects?

Jackley: I think they have (been influenced). I think one of the greatest things I鈥檝e seen over the last five years is a shift in attitude and at least as important performance from the prime contractors. Five years ago, many folks from the minority contracting community were adversaries of the PDC. Today, we have a great partnership with Hoffman, with R&H, with R&H/Colas, with Howard S. Wright and Skanska. So, it鈥檚 clear that not only is it catching on from a policy standpoint, but there are large, significant generals that understand the reasoning for these programs and understand the importance of good relations with the community. I鈥檝e seen a tremendous shift, led by the firms I just mentioned, and we appreciate it a whole lot.