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Mayor Charlie Hales‘ chief of staff told Portland’s Equitable Contracting and Purchasing Commission he’s ready to 鈥渂low up鈥� the city’s procurement system and start over, if that’s determined to be the best course of action.

Josh Alpert attended the ECPC‘s monthly meeting April 21 to ask members to think through new strategies for increasing participation by women and minorities in public projects. The commission’s business has brimmed with tension for most of its short existence, as members have increasingly complained that the City Council isn’t listening to them. Alpert sought to try to refocus the commission in the wake of one especially volatile meeting in February, a reconciliatory retreat this month and several 鈥渞estless nights鈥� on his part.

鈥淢ost of you doing this work have gotten frustrated with the level of process that it takes to get to some kind of resolution,鈥� he told the commission. 鈥淲hen at the end of the day, all we’re all trying to do is create more opportunity for women and minorities.鈥�

But ECPC members questioned how much the mayor’s office could accomplish before Hales’ term finishes at the end of the year.

鈥淚 appreciate your comments, but we’ve been at this for almost eight months and we’ve had almost no cooperation from the City Council,鈥� commission member Andrew McGough said. 鈥淲e’ve spent a lot of time and energy, and we weren’t responded to; we were just ignored.鈥�

Alpert conceded that Hales’ recent attention on housing affordability and homelessness has shifted money and focus from all other issues, including minority participation in public contracting. And those issues haven’t gone away, he acknowledged.

鈥淚’d encourage you use this as an opportunity to blow up the system that we currently have for procurement in the city of Portland and redesign what that system should be,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e will give you all the resources that you need 鈥� Obviously, I can’t promise the council will adopt what that plan will be.鈥�

The commission will bring several items before the City Council in the near term, including the possibility of using Community Benefit Agreements as a way to improve participation. Also, the commission will be part of upcoming discussions about minority participation in the $195 million project to renovate the Portland Building.

The ECPC was formed by a vote of the City Council in February 2015. Its goal is to 鈥渋nvestigate and report on鈥� Portland’s efforts toward equitable contracting, and 鈥渁dvise鈥� the council on what it finds, according to its bylaws. Once enough commissioners were selected, it met for the first time in July 2015.

In late February the commission voted 鈥渘o confidence鈥� against the City Council. The matter received attention after the vote was kept out of the meeting minutes and the city delayed release of the meeting video.