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<p style="margin-top:0in;background:white"><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif;color:#212529">FOR RELEASE</span></strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif;color:#212529">:<br>
September 10, 2024<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-top:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;margin-bottom:1rem;font-variant-ligatures: normal;font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: 2;text-align:start;widows: 2;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;text-decoration-thickness: initial;text-decoration-style: initial;text-decoration-color: initial;word-spacing:0px">
<strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif;color:#212529">PRESS CONTACT</span></strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif;color:#212529">:<br>
Deanna Shoss, Communications, 773-478-8417<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-top:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;margin-bottom:1rem;font-variant-ligatures: normal;font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: 2;text-align:start;widows: 2;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;text-decoration-thickness: initial;text-decoration-style: initial;text-decoration-color: initial;word-spacing:0px">
<span style="font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif;color:#212529">The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) has released an advisory report identifying failures in the City’s monitoring of concessionaire agreements for compliance with minority-
and women-owned business enterprise (M/WBE) participation requirements, specifically highlighting undetected non-compliance with those requirements in the 2008 agreement between the City and Chicago Parking Meters, LLC (CPM) for lease of the City’s parking
meters.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-top:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;margin-bottom:1rem;font-variant-ligatures: normal;font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: 2;text-align:start;widows: 2;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;text-decoration-thickness: initial;text-decoration-style: initial;text-decoration-color: initial;word-spacing:0px">
<span style="font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif;color:#212529">In 1990, the City enacted requirements for M/WBE participation in City contracts to address discriminatory barriers to access to government contracts. Accordingly, the 2008 concessionaire
agreement between the City and CPM contained M/WBE participation goals, requiring that CPM utilize M/WBE-certified vendors for a certain percentage of the annual operating expenses of the parking meter system. However, OIG found that the City’s efforts to
monitor M/WBE compliance in the CPM Agreement had failed to ensure compliance with those participation requirements.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-top:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;margin-bottom:1rem;font-variant-ligatures: normal;font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: 2;text-align:start;widows: 2;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;text-decoration-thickness: initial;text-decoration-style: initial;text-decoration-color: initial;word-spacing:0px">
<span style="font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif;color:#212529">“The parking meter lease was a bad deal for Chicago and Chicagoans. The harm of that bad deal is amplified where the City has not even realized the equity benefits of M/WBE participation,”
said Deborah Witzburg, Inspector General for the City of Chicago. “We recommended that the Mayor’s Office implement monitoring processes to prevent this problem from recurring with this contract or others, and sincerely appreciate the Mayor’s Office’s commitment
to doing so.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<h4 style="margin-top:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;margin-bottom:0.5rem;font-size:1.5rem;font-variant-ligatures: normal;font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: 2;text-align:start;widows: 2;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;text-decoration-thickness: initial;text-decoration-style: initial;text-decoration-color: initial;word-spacing:0px">
<strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif;color:#212529">Read the Report</span></strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif;color:#212529;font-weight:normal"><o:p></o:p></span></h4>
<p style="margin-top:0in;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;margin-bottom:1rem;font-variant-ligatures: normal;font-variant-caps: normal;orphans: 2;text-align:start;widows: 2;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;text-decoration-thickness: initial;text-decoration-style: initial;text-decoration-color: initial;word-spacing:0px">
<span style="font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif;color:#212529"><a href="https://igchicago.org/publications/advisory-on-minority-women-owned-business-enterprise-compliance/" target="_blank">Read the full report, released on September 10, 2024.</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">Deanna Shoss</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">(She/Her)</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">Director of Communications and Outreach</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">Office of Inspector General</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">740 N. Sedgwick, Suite 200</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">Chicago, IL 60654</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif"><a href="mailto:dshoss@igchicago.org"><span style="color:#0563C1">dshoss@igchicago.org</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">(773) 478-8417</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">You know your city. Talk to us about making Chicago government better.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">(833) TALK-2-IG |
<a href="mailto:talk2ig@igchicago.org"><span style="color:blue">talk2ig@igchicago.org</span></a> |
<a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.igchicago.org/__;!!B24N9PvjPQId!Z_DAkp5uIQ4eGvUpxbN8y5bUuGNlV1b3QitWrOOQyjEHq2l7tR02zPFHS7bNjaNVKW7DTIdKU-n24pDdDQthXfZHp3E$">
<span style="color:blue">igchicago.org</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">The information contained in this communication may be confidential or subject to a legal privilege. Unauthorized use, disclosure, or copying of this communication
or any part thereof may violate a federal, state, or local law or may be prohibited by a City of Chicago rule or policy. If you have received this communication in error, please do not read it and notify me immediately by return e-mail. I may ask you to destroy
this communication and all copies thereof, including all attachments. Thank you.</span></i><o:p></o:p></p>
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