Retraction: In a past column, I indicated that the Columbus NAACP had been a force in Columbus City Schools changing a barrier for small businesses by removing the requirement that businesses provide evidence of general liability insurance upon registering as a vendor. District Chief Operating Officer Maurice Oldham attended a business forum hosted by the Columbus NAACP last spring and publicly indicated that changes were made and insurance was no longer required when registering a vendor.
Factually, nothing has changed. Prospective vendors are still required to produce insurance in order to register to receive bid information directly from the state’s largest public school district. Oldham stood up before a group of business owners and tax payers and provided fake news or alternative facts. The process he presented as a change or break through was already in place. Business owners can get access to Columbus City School contracting information by visiting website owned by a private company without producing insurance. In my opinion, the District continues to place an obstacle before small businesses that no other tax payer funded entity does.
Printed in OhioMBE – Sept. 1, 2017
