The measure was almost tabled for a future meeting and ultimately passed with a 3-2 vote.
Augusta Turner, chair of the Ouachita NAACP's economic development committee, argued that the 16.7% of the total required to go to minority or women-owned companies called Disadvantaged Business Enterprises was not enough because the city is 60% Black.
Engineer Kim Golden explained how the projects get broken down by component to figure out the fraction that can reasonably go to DBEs.
Golden was concerned about raising the percent because the project already had to be let for bids once with a 19.9% DBE requirement.
The city got one response that didn't meet criteria. This time, Golden said, it's been broken into smaller pieces so they can build in phases if needed. She had concerns that raising the DBE requirement would get many contractors to pass on the job because it can be a difficult target to hit.