Discriminations

The City of Grand Rapids has just taken a concrete step in response to the passage of Proposal 2 that provides a good example of the reach of that proposal, and why “the sky will fall” opposition to it was so misleadingly misguided.

GRAND RAPIDS — In the post-Proposal 2 world, where city contracts no longer can favor minorities and women, there is now the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise.

That’s the designation replacing minority-owned and women-owned businesses in the city’s new policy for granting construction contracts more than $10,000.

The new term could include businesses that are minority-owned, women-owned or owned by white males, according to Laurie Parks, an administrator in the city’s Equal Opportunity Office.

“It could be anyone,” Parks told city commissioners Tuesday....

It could include businesses that are “socially or economically” disadvantaged due to their size, their lack of credit opportunities or their owners' social standing in the community, said Alex Thomas, an administrator in the Equal Opportunity Office.

The story gets funnier.

Challenged by 2nd Ward Commissioner Rick Tormala on the definition of a “socially disadvantaged” business, Thomas said: “A woman in the U.P. [Upper Peninsula] would be considered socially disadvantaged.”

“You’ve never met a woman from the U.P., have you?” said Tormala, whose ancestors hail from the Upper Peninsula.