BY LISA DONOVAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Ohio Contractors Association (OCA) has no basis to file a lawsuit against the city of Cincinnati over its minority set-aside program designed specially for the Fort Washington Way project, say attorneys for the city.
Attorneys are using that argument as the foundation to have the OCA's federal lawsuit thrown out. A motion was filed to dismiss the case Thursday.
City law department officials and outside counsel hired to handle the case say the OCA would be unable to show it has been injured by the set-aside program. Such programs require a contractor to subcontract 20 percent or more of any public works project to firms owned by the disadvantaged, women or minorities.
"They have to have an injury. How is the association actually injured here?" said Karl Kadon, deputy city solicitor.
"We're saying they're an organization, not a bidder, and they have no basis for a claim," Mr. Kadon said. "Before any court addresses the merits in a lawsuit, there must be a determination that the court has before it the right parties and the right question."
The $146.9 million overhaul of Fort Washington Way -- the downtown Cincinnati expressway -- is to begin in earnest late this month and is scheduled for completion by August 2000.
Last month, council approved by a 7-1 vote a minority set-aside plan that would require a contractor to subcontract 20 percent or more of any public works project to firms owned by the disadvantaged, women or minorities.
A day later, the OCA went to U.S. district court seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the city from enforcing the ordinance and to declare the set-aside program unconstitutional.
An attorney for the contractors association, Kevin McDermott, said the motion was not unexpected; he will file a response to the motion by Tuesday afternoon.
