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Mayor Charlie Hales is relocating the Equitable Contracting & Purchasing Commission, the nascent board charged with helping increase minority participation in city projects.

In a letter to ECPC commissioners dated Wednesday, Hales discussed his reasons for moving the nine-member commission from the Office of Management and Finance (OMF) to the Office of Equity and Human Rights (OEHR).

鈥淏y moving the commission outside OMF, I hope to provide a broader lens through which ECPC commissioners can view the work of the city,鈥� Hales wrote.

Dante James, head of the Office of Equity and Human Rights, will now chair the commission. He takes over from Bryant Enge, director of the Bureau of Internal Business Services and an employee of OMF head Fred Miller.

ECPC commissioners have complained that city employees and elected officials have been distant with the board since it first met in November. They said they haven’t been given requested data, and that Enge, due to his position at OMF, has been stuck in the middle for some issues.

Hales has responded by sending staffers to meetings. Hales himself attended last month’s ECPC meeting to receive suggestions for improvement.

Commissioner Marcela Alcantar called the relocation a 鈥渞eally, really good decision.鈥� It could help ensure the continued existence of the ECPC after Hales leaves office at the end of the year, she said.

鈥淚t’s well overdue,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he ECPC should have been in existence long ago, so the fact that he took the leadership to do that, it’s very commendable. I know that important things like this take time.鈥�

Alcantar, president of Alcantar and Associates, said James has impressed her.

鈥淲e need implementation, and there’s just nothing being done,鈥� she said. 鈥淟eadership is key, and I think that’s what is missing right now.鈥�

ECPC Commissioner Andrew McGough, Worksystems’ executive director, said the 鈥渏ury’s still out.鈥�

鈥淚 guess we’ll wait and see,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f it gives the commission a little bit more autonomy and a little bit more structure, that would be a good thing.鈥�

There are nearly two dozen citizen oversight or advisory boards in Portland city government. As head of OEHR, James oversees only two other boards or commissions 鈥� the Human Rights Commission and the Portland Commission on Disability 鈥� fewer than Miller oversees.

Contract procurement is seen by social welfare activists as an important battleground for achieving economic and social equity for women and minorities. The ECPC has its roots in the city’s 2009 disparity study, which called for bringing together stakeholders to work on five programmatic areas: workforce training and hiring, DMWESB subcontracting, prequalification, prime contractor development, and professional and expert services.

The city on average awards each year more than 1,200 new contracts with a combined value of more than $200 million.