State Audits Fast-Track Contracts Amid Allegations of Preferential Treatment

Maryland is reviewing its Minority Business Enterprise program amid allegations that a technology firm received preferential treatment during the previous administration.

State Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari, who heads the agency that oversees the Minority Business Enterprise program, said yesterday that the audit began about two weeks ago. It will review all minority business contracts placed on a fast track during the past two administrations.

Porcari said the MBE program, which started in 1978 to help minority and women-owned businesses, began a fast-track process about six years ago to expedite state certification, which is required to be eligible for state contracts.

"There is a need for a fast-track process, but we want it to be as transparent as possible," Porcari said.

The state review comes on the heels of an investigation by the Baltimore Sun that found that Isis Technology Consulting LLC, a company headed by longtime Republican strategist Carol Hirschburg, obtained a state contract after her firm was certified quickly under the MBE program.

Porcari said the fast-track program began when the state was working on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge project.

"We had firms that were not certified and were faced with not being part of a project like that," Porcari said.

The review, Porcari said, will look at the appropriateness of using the fast-track process and setting up "clear, objective criteria" for it.

Comptroller Peter Franchot (D) said yesterday that he has asked Porcari to broaden his review to include all contracts that the state Board of Public Works approved quickly in the final months of the Ehrlich administration.

"I'm asking to have them looked at; I'm not passing judgment," Franchot said. "I think we owe it to the taxpayers. We owe it to the business community to make sure the contracts we are approving are on the level."

Porcari said his department has begun reviewing the Isis contract. He would not provide further details about the contract or the state's review.

"We don't want a single contract to hurt the program," Porcari said.

Walter Frazier, president of the MD. Washington Minority Contractors Association Inc., welcomed the review. Fraizer said he found it "appalling" that Isis may have received a contract that another minority company deserved but did not get because it went through the proper channels.

Since taking office, Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) has emphasized the need for a fully operational MBE program. During this week's state Board of Public Works meeting, O'Malley said he would make certain that the state does a better job implementing the program.