Is Savannah's Public School System overlooking minority-owned businesses?: Some think so

Editor's Note: Following the online publication of this article, Miguel Camacho sent a letter to the school board stating that he neither wrote a letter nor authorized Tony Riley to speak on his behalf during the public comment period at the board meeting. This article has been updated to reflect Camacho's intentions.

First, Tropical Storm Debby postponed the August 2024 meeting of the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS) Board of Public Education. Then an extended executive session on Aug. 21 caused the Regular Meeting to begin an hour and a half later than its posted 9 a.m. start time.

In the public section of a makeshift board room at Georgia Tech's Savannah campus three construction contractors ― Brownstone Construction Group's Business Development and Diversity Manager Miguel Camacho, MPW Construction President/Owner Michael Woodard, and Borrum Concrete Construction President Tony Riley ― waited through the delay to learn about or speak on an agenda item regarding Jacob G. Smith Elementary School renovations.

Camacho had to leave and get back to work, but Woodard and Riley remained for their opportunity to speak. Both expressed discontent with having to wait so long for the meeting to start, but their main complaint were concerns over whether SCCPSS's bidding process adhered to its own Local/Minority/Women Business Enterprises (LMWBEs) Development Program.

Agenda item 8.02 RFP C24-15 (ESPLOST) CMR (Construction-Manager-at-Risk) Services for JG Smith Elementary School Renovations was almost removed from the agenda following a motion to do so by District 5 School Board Representative Paul Smith, who had requested two more weeks to review the item prior to a vote at the September Board meeting.

A vote was ultimately held and the motion passed with a tight 5-to-4 outcome, but not before Woodard and Riley's brief comments as well as a statement from District 3 School Board Representative Cornelia Hall ignited a broader discussion among board members about whether the current process is fair and equitable.

Here's what unfolded.

The problem?

Following Smith's failed motion to table the agenda item, an oftentimes personal and impassioned discussion proceeded the final vote on the agenda item.

Superintendent Denise Watts, Ed. D., led comments by stating, "As a Black woman, I want to first fully acknowledge that entities such as minority- and women-owned businesses have experienced challenges, generational challenges, over significant periods of time."

She also said that after careful review of SCCPSS's LMWBE practices, particularly in this case, she had found "the practices that were exercised to be fair and equitable." She noted that her review of the data showed that SCCCPSS has awarded 20 percent of its ESPLOST funding to women- and minority-owned businesses on "larger projects." She said when considering only local contracts SCCPSS has awarded, "The number is even larger."

Comments from Riley and Woodard followed. They had more questions for the board than actual comments and Board President Roger Moss explained that the board does not answer questions presented by speakers in this setting. They could submit their questions via email.

Hall began comments by board members. She read from a long statement that is worth listening to once SCCPSS communications has uploaded the recording of the meeting to its Youtube Channel in the coming days. She stated that constituents had reached out to her after a recent meeting of the Savannah Branch NAACP, at which Watts presented. Included in Watt's remarks to the NAACP was an update on the LMWBE process and outcomes, of which, Hall said, some constituents did not approve.

Following the meeting, Hall met with a number of constituents "in my living room," and they accused her and other board members of becoming complacent. According to Hall, the individuals stated they would not likely vote for future Educational Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) V if their concerns over the LMWBE outcomes and policy were not addressed.

Hall explained that the essential issue on behalf of individuals such as Riley and Woodard, among others, is that the district does not appear to hold certain non-LMWBE contractors accountable to certain policy requirements such as having a project partner on site. They were also concerned about projects such as the Smith Elementary renovations (as well as its swing site's renovations) being awarded to companies like Balfour Beatty, a London-based corporation with satellite offices across the United States, including one in Savannah, and corporate headquarters in Philadelphia. Balfour Beatty, in its bid, also stated it would subcontract some of the work to Nujak, a Black-owned firm based in Lakeland, Florida.

Hall expressed that her constituents' sentiments was that if contractors cannot vote on ESPLOST then they should not be awarded ESPLOST-funded projects. Put another way, Hall wanted to assure that local tax dollars were spent locally.

Holding a project 'hostage'?

Board Representatives Denise Grabowski (District 1), Sean Kachmar (District 4) and David Bringman (District 6) expressed concern that delaying the vote would further impede an already delayed decision on the Smith Elementary project. Doing so would have a ripple effect for other schools because the bid included renovations for the Montgomery swing site, which would be used to house other schools in need of future renovations after Smith Elementary's were completed.

Grabowski and others who wished to move forward, said they appreciated the concerns brought forth. They conceded that a review of the LMWBE policy and possible establishment of a committee for such a task was warranted but that August's board meeting was not the time to address it.

"I do not think that holding this project or ESPLOST, for that matter, hostage is the right way to approach the situation," Grabowski said.

Kachmar who chairs the Capital Improvement Committee and one of the longest-serving members of the board, said that changes had been made over the years to address such concerns. He noted that SCCPSS breaks projects up into smaller parts to make available more opportunities for LMWBEs that might not have the capacity or capital to bid on large $20 million projects such as the Smith Elementary renovations. However, he felt that some LMWBEs now do have the capacity and asked why some have not submitted as primary bidders themselves. He also noted that many smaller LMWBEs have been willing to subcontract with companies that have headquarters elsewhere but offices in Savannah.  

Another important note that Kachmar shared pertained to legality. He said the board's legal advisors had previously informed him and district leaders that SCCPSS can include LMWBE considerations in its holistic contractor review scoring rubrics (which it does) but the LMWBE quotient cannot legally be the deciding factor for awarding a contract.

All board members had a chance to speak on the matter, many reiterating points established before the vote was called. The contract approval for Balfour Beatty passed by a single vote.

Who speaks for whom?

Prior to the board's comments, Riley took to the podium, he said, to read from a letter he had written but attributed, in part, to Camacho. Understanding what statements were from Riley's letter and what comments were Camacho's were hard to discern.

Hall's comments sought to clarify the primary issue at hand.

After the board moved from its Regular Meeting to its planned Fall Retreat, Camacho returned in the afternoon to let board members and Watts know that he had not asked Riley to speak on his behalf. As Camacho later emphasized after online publication of this article in a letter sent to the superintendent and members of the school board, "I wish to clarify that I neither authored this letter nor gave authorization for it to be read or presented in any public or private setting."

Joseph Schwartzburt is the education and workforce development reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at [email protected].