On June 20, 2011 OIG received a response from the Public Building Commission (PBC) regarding OIG’s June 15, 2011 report on MWBE participation on PBC projects that were completed in 2009. In the response, PBC took issue with several of our findings. PBC’s main points were:
- OIG does not have access to documents on City-funded projects if the City is not the user department.
- OIG’s determination that the PBC grossly over-reported MWBE participation was incorrect, not because of miscalculations, but rather because PBC policy is more generous when determining MWBE participation.
The main points in OIG’s response to PBC’s June 20, 2011 response are:
- OIG agrees that PBC and OIG continue to disagree over the scope of OIG’s authority. OIG urges the Mayor of the City of Chicago to settle this dispute by directing PBC to cooperate with OIG in any audit, review, or investigation into PBC activities involving any City funds.
- PBC’s statement that its policy dictates more generous crediting of MWBE participation is either a misinterpretation of its own policy, or if PBC truly operates this way, an indication that PBC runs a likely unconstitutional program.