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Curtis Gilbert
Minneapolis

Minority hiring goals missed in Minneapolis

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The city of Minneapolis is consistently falling short of new, aggressive goals aimed at making sure minority workers have a decent shot at jobs on city-funded projects.

A report shows about 17 percent of work hours on large city construction contracts went to minority workers this spring. The goal was nearly twice that.

• Link: Contract Compliance Division 2nd Quarterly Report

Those numbers wouldn't have looked so bad a few years ago. Civil Rights Director Velma Korbel said the target used to be just 11 percent, but in 2012, the city and the state raised their expectations -- to 32 percent.

"We knew that the 32 percent was going to be a significant increase across the board for all projects in all municipalities, because the fact of the matter is: The workforce did not exist," she said.

Contractors aren't penalized for missing the targets as long as they demonstrate they made a good-faith effort to meet the goals. City Council Member Blong Yang expressed frustration with those lack of consequences.

"Folks are going to comply or not comply. It doesn't really matter. I mean, there's no penalty for it," Yang said. "There has to be some sort of penalty for people not meeting those goals or why have those goals?"

One major project in Minneapolis is exceeding its goal: The construction of the new Vikings Stadium, where the crew is almost 40 percent people of color.