Baltimore bans contractor for two years more than ‘utter disregard’ for minority organization guidelines

Baltimore leaders imposed uncommon sanctions Wednesday on a longtime organization companion for repeatedly failing to make timely payments to a West Baltimore organization, a choice they hope sends a signal about the city’s commitment to upholding needs for ladies- and minority-owned firms.

The city’s 5-member Board of Estimates unanimously authorized a two-year ban on contracts with the New Jersey-primarily based Metra Industries for a series of late payments to a Black-owned subcontractor, and for misrepresenting the explanation for these missed payments more than a monthslong investigation. Along with the ban, the city cancelled its $eight.four million water infrastructure contract with Metra, which has completed operate with the city for more than 20 years.

“It’s a new game in town,” mentioned City Council President Nick Mosby following the vote. There have extended been “whispers” in Baltimore about substantial contractors behaving like Metra, but the council president vowed that elected leaders are going to be proactive about safeguarding minority- and ladies-owned contractors going forward.

Metra has extended been the topic of scrutiny more than its adherence to city contracting needs with minority- and ladies-owned firms, even drawing a rebuke from Mayor Brandon Scott when he was council president. But Wednesday’s sanctions came in response to far more narrow allegations of repeated late payments to a West Baltimore-primarily based subcontractor named Financial International Building Firm Inc., or EICCI.

A spokesperson for the Division of Public Functions, which contracts with Metra, did not respond to a query Wednesday afternoon about total dollar quantity for the company’s agreements with the city.

Christopher Lundy, chief of the city Minority and Women’s Organization Chance Workplace, outlined a series of payments that Metra failed to make to EICCI, in 1 case taking a complete two years to fulfill an invoice. Below the city’s regulations, Metra was essential to comprehensive payments to the subcontractor inside seven days. The office’s investigation revealed equivalent difficulties with other Metra contracts as properly, Lundy mentioned, but board members constrained their choice Wednesday to the EICCI payments.

This pattern of behavior shows an “utter disregard” for the city’s minority and women’s organization plan, mentioned Lundy, who requested the maximum two-year ban for Metra. Prior to Wednesday, the city has only sanctioned 1 other organization for its failures to meet minority organization needs, Lundy mentioned.

Immediately after months of missed payments, EICCI stopped performing operate for Metra, a choice that Lundy mentioned the bigger organization misrepresented to his workplace. The city started searching into the scenario in March of 2022, and Lundy testified that it was only following the investigation started to threaten Metra’s contract with the city that they took critical actions to cover the missed payments. EICCI filed a formal complaint against Metra in October of final year, and didn’t get far more than $40,000 in late payments till December 15.

An lawyer for Metra did not dispute the allegations of late payments, but urged the board to take into account a lighter penalty. A two year ban on Metra’s operate with the city is overly extreme for late payments on what amounts to a compact share of its close to $560,000 contract with EICCI, in particular contemplating the confusion and delays that have been widespread in the course of the very first years of the pandemic, argued Venroy July, Metra’s lawyer.

The city’s perpetual payment difficulties hindered Metra’s potential to fulfill its subcontracts, July mentioned. The lawyer disputed some elements of the city’s investigation, as properly as the precise quantity of total late payments. Metra had withheld payment from EICCI following figuring out the West Baltimore organization was in breach of its contract, July mentioned, not realizing at the time that the organization was nonetheless essential by city law to fulfill these payments.

“We just consider that this is an excessive punishment for this specific incorrect,” mentioned July, who argued the Metra ban would have detrimental consequences for the city’s aging water program, as properly as downstream impacts for minority- and ladies-owned firms, which he mentioned the organization is committed to supporting in paying in a timely manner going forward.

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The panel of city leaders balked at Metra’s explanations, accusing the organization of “deception” and questioning July’s suggestion that tens of thousands of dollars in late payments shouldn’t warrant a extreme penalty. That quantity of funds tends to make a major distinction to lots of of the city’s minority-owned firms, Acting City Solicitor Ebony Thompson mentioned. “It is a major deal.”

Developing stern with July at 1 point, Comptroller Bill Henry mentioned he was impressed that Lundy was in a position to get by way of his whole presentation with no uttering a couple of decision words: “They lied.”

In a statement ahead of Wednesday’s meeting, EICCI lawyer Thiru Vignarajah celebrated the anticipated sanctions against Metra. “It shouldn’t take this substantially to prompt the city to do the appropriate point. But far better late than by no means,” he mentioned.

Vignarajah, who has run unsuccessful campaigns for mayor and state’s lawyer, has held quite a few news conferences in current weeks calling focus to Metra’s track record of missed payments to his client.

adam.willis@thebaltimorebanner.com