Councilman’s lawsuit: Riviera Beach eliminated minority jobs measure
A Riviera Beach city councilman has filed suit claiming the municipality gutted a minority jobs program when carving out a pathway for resort hotels to sell more condo units and developers to add height to their buildings.
Now the city is backtracking, placing on the agenda for Wednesday's city council meeting to repeal all changes made to Ordinance 4198 passed in September.
City Councilman Tradrick McCoy filed suit on Oct. 6 claiming the city’s director of development services made no mention of eliminating minority hiring incentives when posting a public announcement about proposed changes to the ordinance in The Palm Beach Post on Sept. 9.
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The notice said changes would include mechanisms for height bonuses and post-construction conversions of hotel units.
“My issue is about them completely eliminating the minority employment provision without having any justification to do so,” McCoy said.
Among the ordinance’s stated goals is to decrease unemployment and encourage minority hires in the construction industry in a city where the majority of residents are black.
When changes to the ordinance were presented to the council on Sept. 21 the minority employment component, Section 26-6, was stricken through.
The section deleted encouraged developers to hire minorities in various capacities of project development.
It provided zoning allowances or other bonuses for employing 20 percent of its part-time and full-time general labor from minority groups, obtaining supplies from 10 minority-owned businesses and hiring 10 minority professionals.
The removal of the minority employment section meant height bonuses were no longer tied to minority hires.
McCoy’s lawsuit names the city and Clarence Sirmons, director of development services. Riviera Beach spokeswoman Nicole Rodriguez said the city does not comment on pending litigation.
The item on the city council agenda for Wednesday night has very little supporting material except to say the original changes to the ordinance were not properly noticed. So it remains to be seen if Sirmons will reintroduce it with or without the minority employment cause by placing a proper public notice in the newspaper at a future date.
McCoy said Sirmons told him that a consultant had informed the city that the minority employment provision was not legally defensible. In supporting documentation for the amended ordinance, the council was told "Section 26-6 contains language that no longer reflects the City’s approach to providing development bonuses."
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Councilman’s lawsuit: Riviera Beach eliminated minority jobs program
