Let City Work Go to City Businesses

On November 3, there is a question near the bottom of your ballot that is easy to skip. It is called Question 1, and it asks, when the city spends money, should it be allowed to give a fair shot to the small businesses that are already here?

Here is what the question says, word for word. "Should the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended to revise the City's contracting procedures to allow for bid preferences and set-asides for small businesses; modify the threshold and standards for contracts that can be set aside for small and local businesses; and grant the Procurement Department and the City Solicitor discretion on bond requirements for certain construction projects?" Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson brought this forward for Council President Kenyatta Johnson, and it became law in June as Bill No. 260457. A yes vote does not set the new rules by itself. It gives the city the power to set them.

Right now, the city mostly has to take the lowest bid. A small shop in Philadelphia can lose a city job to a big company from out of town just because that company bid a little less. If Question 1 passes, the city could choose a small or local firm for contracts between $75,000 and $500,000, even if that firm was not the cheapest. The work is big enough to hire people and build a name, and small enough to finish strong.

The city's old rules for helping women and minority owned firms were challenged in federal court. The city settled the case and agreed to write new rules. Question 1 is that new start. This time the test is not race or gender. The test is size and location. Is the firm small? Is the firm here?

We need to pay attention to the bond rules. A bond is a promise, backed by another company, that a firm will finish the job. Many small construction firms never get to bid at all because they cannot get a bond, or cannot get one big enough. It is not about skill. It is about access. Question 1 lets the Procurement Department and the City Solicitor ease bond rules on some projects, so the size of the bond fits the risk of the job. That one change could open the door for a lot of firms that are shut out today.

Sometimes the city will pay a bit more than the lowest bid. That is the trade. But when a Philadelphia firm wins the job, the money stays here. It pays local workers. It keeps a storefront rented. It gets spent again on the same streets that paid the taxes in the first place. The $500,000 cap keeps this in bounds, and the city should share the results in public, who won and what it cost, so all of us can see if it works.

Question 1 will not fix everything. No single vote can. But it sends a clear message to the owners on our corridors.

Philadelphia grows when the people who live here get to build here. I recommend you vote yes on question 1.