MINEOLA, NY (TIP): Mrs. Ragini Srivastava was appointed a member of the Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos‘s MWBE Advisory Council recently.
The appointment of Mrs. Srivastava is yet another way of the county recognizing the Indian Americans, who are known to be highly successful, and are known for their achievements in education, high per capita income and business.
The mission of the Council is to assist the county in doubling the participation of the Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprises in the contracting process. The advisory council assists the comptroller’s office in monitoring the county’s compliance with MWBE goals and encourage MWBE firms to participate in county contract opportunities.
Ragini said that by her services she would like to help small businesses explore economic potential and create economic security for other residents of the county. “Being in committee my goal is to motivate and encourage minority women to utilize business benefits through big government incentives. I believe the goals outlined are well matched to my abilities and by different educational workshops and seminars I can assist them in aligning strategic planning in tactical reality”.
Why do race, ethnicity, and sex need to be considered at all in deciding who gets awarded a contract? It’s good to make sure contracting programs are open to all, that bidding opportunities are widely publicized beforehand, and that no one gets discriminated against because of skin color, national origin, or sex. But that means no preferences because of skin color, etc. either–whether it’s labeled a “set-aside,” a “quota,” or a “goal,” since they all end up amounting to the same thing. Such discrimination is unfair and divisive; it breeds corruption and otherwise costs the taxpayers and businesses money to award a contract to someone other than the lowest bidder; and it’s almost always illegal—indeed, unconstitutional—to boot (see 42 U.S.C. section 1981 and this model brief:
http://www.pacificlegal.org/document.doc?id=454). Those who insist on engaging in such discrimination deserve to be sued, and they will lose.