RESOLUTION NO. 260744
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Sponsor: Mayor Pro Tem Ryana Parks-Shaw
Directing the City Auditor to conduct an audit of the City’s former Minority and Women’s Business Enterprise program’s certification and renewal processes for the purpose of identifying potential administrative or procedural inefficiencies and barriers; directing the City Auditor prepare a report with the City Auditor’s findings and recommendations and present it to the City Council and City Manager; and further directing the City Manager to make reasonable efforts to include businesses that were eligible for certification but did not apply due to administrative barriers as well as businesses that experienced certification or renewal delays or were otherwise negatively impacted by administrative or procedural barriers of the former program.
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WHEREAS, the City of Kansas City enacted its Minority and Women’s Business Enterprise program in 1981; and
WHEREAS, administrative hurdles and process inefficiencies, such as a delayed certification process, could result in some eligible businesses choosing not to apply for certification or experiencing barriers to obtaining or maintaining certification; and
WHEREAS, businesses that applied for certification or renewal may have experienced delays, withdrawn or abandoned applications, allowed certification to expire, or otherwise encountered administrative or procedural barriers that affected their ability to participate in the program; and
WHEREAS, on August 13, 2026, the City Council voted to repeal the City’s Minority and Women’s Business Enterprise program and directed the City Manager to develop a new business enterprise program; and
WHEREAS, on the same day, Council also adopted Resolution No. 260723 directing the City Manager to conduct a public engagement campaign, establish an advisory group of relevant stakeholders, develop a plan for continuous and routine collection and reporting of City contracting and spending data, and report recommendations to the City Council; and
WHEREAS, the City Council believes it is important to supplement the public engagement and policy development directed by Resolution No. 260723 with an independent review of administrative and procedural operations of the former Minority and Women’s Business Enterprise program; and
WHEREAS, the City Council seeks to better understand the experiences of businesses that sought certification or renewal, as well as businesses that may have been discouraged from seeking certification because of administrative or procedural barriers; and
WHEREAS, the City Council wishes to ensure that administrative and procedural issues identified through an independent review are considered in the development of the new Certified Small Business Enterprise program so that such barriers are not replicated in the replacement program; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF KANSAS CITY:
Section 1. That the City Auditor is directed to conduct a comprehensive review of the City’s former Minority and Women’s Business Enterprise certification and renewal processes and identify potential administrative or procedural inefficiencies and barriers. The review should include, to the extent practicable, certification and renewal processing times; applications approved, denied, withdrawn, abandoned, administratively closed, expired or pending; staffing levels and caseloads; requests for additional documentation; communication with applicants; consistency in the application of certification requirements; and other administrative or procedural factors that may have affected a business’s ability to obtain or maintain certification.
Section 2. That the City Auditor is further directed to identify opportunities to improve certification processing times, consistency, transparency, customer service and accessibility and make recommendations to prevent administrative or procedural barriers identified in the former Minority and Women’s Business Enterprise program from being replicated in the Certified Small Business Enterprise program currently in development.
Section 3. That, in furtherance of the public engagement process already required by Resolution No. 260723, the City Manager is directed to make reasonable efforts to include businesses that were eligible for certification but did not apply because of administrative barriers, as well as businesses that applied for certification or renewal and experienced delays, withdrew or abandoned an application, failed to renew, or were otherwise negatively impacted by administrative or procedural barriers of the former program.
Section 4. That findings and recommendations resulting from the City Auditor’s review shall be provided to the City Council and City Manager for consideration in the development and implementation of the Certified Small Business Enterprise program.
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