The Charlotte Observer has an editorial out today arguing against raced-based contracting:
If Charlotte develops a new contracting program that involves quotas or set-aside funds for minority firms, the city likely will waste more money defending it in a losing court effort. Since 1989, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a Richmond race-based contract program, similar programs have been struck down or abandoned in dozens of cities and states.
That’s a good reason not to pursue such a policy of course, but I doubt it will stop Charlotte City Council. With essentially a permanent majority, there’s little political cost to Democrats in voting for race-based contracting. There just aren’t enough swing voters in the city that might see this as a sign of bad government and decide to vote out the bums as a result. It is though a highly valuable piece of pork to an extremely powerful extremely core Democratic constituency. Indeed, I suspect that in certain districts and perhaps even at large, not voting for this would be placing ones reelection prospects at risk.
Which makes that the city might well end up paying millions in an unsuccessful defense of the contracting provision pretty much irrelevant. And it wouldn’t be the first time that symbolism is almost more import that taxpayer’s money in politics.
