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[Eric Griggs] said the city recently reviewed \"hundreds\" of the 2,200 firms certified by the city as minority- or woman-owned. Five of those firms were kicked out of the program, he added. Under the new rules, firms will have to submit tax returns, documentation of professional licenses and other information annually and go through the complete certification process every three years. Previously, firms went through the certification process every five years. \"Under the old system a company could be created on Monday and apply for certification on Friday,\" Griggs said.

Though disclosures of irregularities surrounding city contracts and disappointing affirmative-action numbers have made headlines and embarrassed Mayor Richard Daley in recent months, the sources insisted that [Eric Griggs] is departing voluntarily to take a job at the City Colleges of Chicago. Council hearings are expected on the city's set-aside program in the wake of the latest allegations of improprieties. But Ald. Ed Smith (28th), chairman of the caucus, and Ald. William Beavers (7th), a Griggs mentor and political backer, have made it clear that the hearings would not be used to bash the purchasing chief. Sources said that the mayor in recent months has been wooing her for a City Hall managerial position. [Mary Dempsey] is expected to take the purchasing job on a temporary basis, but it was unclear Thursday what the timetable would be to find a permanent replacement for Griggs.

A second measure is being drafted that would help small minority contractors who are squeezed financially because of slow payments from the state. Sixty-one days after a bill's submission, the contractor could be paid the amount owed by a cooperating bank, said Sen. Kimberly Lightford (D-Maywood), head of the Senate's black caucus. The bank ultimately would collect from the state and would qualify for a service fee equal to 1 percent of the amount, she said. Earlier this month, politically connected contractor James Duff pleaded guilty to defrauding the city after his janitorial company, Windy City Maintenance, won $100 million in contracts by claiming to be female-owned. The [Richard Daley] administration since has been embarrassed by revelations that another Duff firm was involved in delivering road salt to the city and that a company owned by the sister of a former mayoral aide supplied materials to a white-owned company for a project at O'Hare International Airport.

Out of $651 million in total contracts awarded between January and September, $55 million went to African-American companies. That compares with $175 million, or 18 percent, when $972 million in total business was awarded in the comparable period of 2003. The last time the figure for African-American corporate participation amounted to only 9 percent was in 1999, when the issue galvanized the council's black caucus. Caucus members held a series of closed-door meetings to discuss ways to increase the number, but ultimately they were satisfied with Mayor Richard Daley's promise that new efforts would be made to recruit minority vendors. The drop in African-American contracting was caused, in part, by the cyclical nature of contracting, [Michael McMurray] said. Last year, for example, a black-owned dealership was awarded a $50 million vehicle purchase, but large numbers of vehicles have not been purchased in 2004, he said.

Council hearings are expected on the city's set-aside program in the wake of the latest allegations of improprieties. But Ald. Ed Smith (28th), chairman of the caucus, and Ald. William Beavers (7th), a [Eric Griggs] mentor and political backer, have made it clear that the hearings would not be used to bash the purchasing chief.

The mayor said [Eric J. Griggs] is \"well-qualified to carry on the good work\" of [David Malone], who like [David Doig], is returning to the private sector. Griggs will have to help the mayor find a compromise on the city's MBE/WBE program recently challenged by white contractors who felt the 25/5 setaside program discriminated against them. Griggs said his goal \"is to be fair\" to everyone, regardless of their ethnicity. \"My priorities will be to maintain\" this program \"and to make sure that the O'Hare Modernization program is carried out...,\" he said, vowing to maintain an open government.