Agenda 05-07-24; 8-a - Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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9 1 Travis Myren, Deputy County Manager, introduced the item. He reviewed the information 2 included in the background of the agenda abstract. 3 Chair Bedford said initially she did not think it was something the Board should consider, 4 but Commissioner Richards asked for her to reconsider and bring it to the attention of the whole 5 Board. 6 Commissioner Richards thanked Chair Bedford for taking another look at the request. She 7 said she has been working with the Alliance since they existed. She said that this is a service 8 contract, and it is not a staff member. She said it is a contract for a specific set of work. She said 9 that the county has been asked to support the program for 3 years and after that it would be on 10 their own. She said that all three entities agree that there is a need for this kind of support. She 11 said she views this as a way to leverage everyone's efforts across the county. 12 Vice-Chair Greene said it would provide a service that is not currently offered. She 13 reviewed features of the proposal that set it apart from other efforts. She said that the county can 14 add to the infrastructure that is already there by participating. 15 Commissioner Richards said agribusiness is part of this growth and that the refugee 16 population is also getting into farming. She said that potential can be leveraged here. 17 Commissioner Hamilton said she sees the need for focusing on BIPOC businesses. She 18 said that it is a huge amount for one person. She said she would be concerned that the person 19 would be set up for failure without support. She said that the performance measures seemed 20 challenging for one person to attain. She said she feared that they would not get what they were 21 looking for with this position. She said she would like to know a lot more about these businesses. 22 Commissioner Portie-Ascott said she thought it was a phenomenal idea and as a black 23 business owner, she knows that there is additional support needed to be successful. She asked 24 if they needed to shift to, can they implement the services. 25 Commissioner Richards said other departments are not going to quit what they are doing. 26 She said that her understanding is that the person would have an office at the Chamber, but they 27 would work with the staff of the individual entities to understand what is going on in each 28 community. She said that she sees the power in one person. 29 Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked if that means if one person is held accountable to 30 achieve these outcomes. 31 Commissioner Richards said that it is a service contract. She said that maybe it ends up 32 being the government providing what they are doing, and they would still be engaged. 33 Commissioner Fowler said it does not read like a service contract because it includes 34 salaries and dental. She said that information in the agenda packet includes representing BIPOC 35 businesses to government and that would be in essence, paying people to lobby the 36 commissioners. She said that it needs to be clearer what deliverables are being brought to the 37 county. She said that she would prefer it to be in-house, so they can decide what deliverables 38 they want. She said one of the largest underemployed groups are those with disabilities and they 39 are not listed. She asked if this process would be redone for that group. 40 Commissioner Richards said she called it a service contract because that was how it was 41 described in the agenda packet. She said there are additional costs that they are not being asked 42 to support. She said Carrboro already had a service contract. She said that is not a full-up salary 43 and there would be other costs. 44 Chair Bedford said she has a number of concerns and does not support this proposal 45 through this vehicle. She said she wants to do better work to support these businesses. She said 46 when they do their outside agency funding, they are 501(c)(3) nonprofits, and they specify 47 mandated services. She said that the county does a lot of work but sometimes needs help. She 48 said the Chamber is a 501(c)(6)organization and a not for profit. She said that those organizations 49 can engage in lobbying. She said that the state chamber is concerned about the nominee for the 50 state superintendent of schools. She said as a commissioner, she wants to be independent when 51 making decisions. She said that the lobbying they get periodically is not ok. She said the lack of