May 13, 2010

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Ms. Mary Ronan        

Superintendent of Cincinnati Public Schools     

2651 Burnet Ave        

Cincinnati, OH 45219        

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Ms. Janet Walsh
Public Affairs Dept  

2651 Burnet Ave  

Cincinnati, OH 45219 

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Re: Public records request:  Follow up to 4/19/10 request    

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Dear Ms. Ronan and Ms. Walsh: 

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I wrote to Ms. Ronan on behalf of Christopher Smitherman April 19 asking for documents that “summarize, categorize, calculate or estimate the portion of that $68 million in minority contractor work that was performed by African American-owned companies.”  
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On April 23, 2010, Janet Walsh responded that there were no responsive documents.    
This letter is an extra-judicial attempt to both clarify that request and to attempt to either get responsive documents or an explanation of why such documents are not available.  

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As you are aware, there has been an important public discussion about CPS’  claim that $84 million of school construction monies was spent with minority-owned contractors.  After Mr. Smitherman and the local branch of the NAACP investigated and complained about those numbers, it was widely reported that CPS hired Mr. Michael Alao and had him conduct an internal audit of the accounting of those minority contracting dollars.  Based upon that audit, CPS concluded that $68 million of its capital construction dollars were spent with minority-owned firms.  

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Now, it would seem to us that in order to conclude that $68 million went to minority-owned firms, you would need to create some sort of spreadsheet or other accounting or compilation that shows (i) the name of the contractor, (ii) the amount paid to that contractor and (iii) the reason that such contractor was claimed to be a minority-owned company (i.e., it was female-owned, it was Asian-owned, it was Hispanic-owned or it was African-American owned).  Otherwise, it would seem improper for CPS to conclude that $68 million was performed by minority-owned companies.

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Thus, we seek the raw data (i.e., contracts, application forms, etc.) or compilations that show each of the following at it relates to the $68 million number claimed by CPS: (i) contracts, (ii) company names, (iii) payment amounts, and (iv) minority-ownership categorization.  We want the raw data or compilations that support the $68 million number, and we want to know, if it is claimed African-American-owned companies comprise a portion of that number, which companies and which contract amounts are included in that $68 million claimed number.

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I hope this clarifies the request.  If not, please call or write for further clarification. 

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Very truly yours, 

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FINNEY, STAGNARO, SABA & PATTERSON CO., L.P.A. 
By: _________________________________

      Christopher P. Finney, Esq.

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CPF/keg 

cc: Mark Stepaniak, Esq.

      Mr. Christopher Smitherman

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