Building quotas fall short

[unhappycamper]

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/2015/08/building_quotas_fall_short



SHORTFALL: With construction booming in Boston, the city is still falling short of its jobs policy that requires large projects to employ Hub residents for 50 percent of the work, something Mayor Martin J. Walsh wants to fix.

Building quotas fall short
Friday, August 14, 2015
Jordan Graham

Construction is booming in Boston, with nearly 
$7 billion worth of projects underway and billions more in the pipeline, but only about a quarter of the work is going to residents, far short of city requirements, a Herald review found.

The Boston Residents Jobs Policy, passed in 1986 and later amended, requires that construction projects larger than 100,000 square feet employ Boston residents for 50 percent of the work, minorities for 25 percent, and women for 10 percent.

For active projects, the construction industry is surpassing the requirement for minorities but is badly missing the mark for residents and women. A Herald review of city data found:
• Boston residents have worked 28 percent of the construction hours.
• Women have worked 
4 percent.
• Minorities have worked 29 percent.

~snip~

Walsh said he is worried Boston residents are not getting the full benefit of the current construction bonanza because nearly three-quarters of the work is going to nonresidents. The Boston Redevelopment Authority said there is $6.8 billion in active construction, with another $14.3 billion approved.

[merrily]

1. I hope they are enforcing the minority and women set asides.

I wonder why they are not equal set asides? Women have been kept out of construction as least as much and as long as members of any minority group. I am okay with it, I think--have to think about it more--but I just am curious as to the rationale.

Maybe there are not as many women working in construction to choose from, so they don't want to pass a requirement that is not reasonable to ask the developer to fulfill?

Also, hiring a minority woman who lives in Boston means they developer can count her three times when reporting fulfillment. Again, I don't have a problem with that. Minority women in construction have it tougher than both white women and minority men. Whatever makes them more hire-able for a construction project is good, IMO. But, I wonder if that was the intent? Also, I wonder if they specify that the jobs have to be in a construction trade. If a subconstractor has a woman answering the phones, does that fulfill the requirement?

So many questions, so little detail. I guess I could try to find the law. Whatever the law says, it would be nice if someone enforced it. That's a problem with a lot of laws. They get adopted to placate people, but they don't get enforced, so it's bs.

I like Walsh, though. I think he will rectify this.