A recent audit of Beaumont Independent School District has found that administrators largely ignored a Local, Minority, and Women-owned Business Enterprise (LMWBE) initiative associated with a $389 million 2007 bond issue.
The initiative involved the creation of a LMWBE program as part of the bond issue, which was tasked with promoting the use of LMWBEs on construction projects and providing education to LMWBEs about participation on future District contracts.
The audit discovered that the LMWBE program resulted in the involvement of "brokers" that met the standards of being considered a LMWBE but, rather than providing actual construction services, hired out to non-LMWBE businesses which performed the actual work.
The brokers, according to the audit, acted essentially as "window dressing" for non-LMWBE general contractors.
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