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Mayor Keith Wilson called on the Prosper Portland board of commissioners today to review three outside contracts a day after WW reported that the agency’s executive director, Cornell Wesley, had awarded the contracts to college friends through a noncompetitive process.
Combined, the contracts are worth $456,000. So far, the agency has paid out $264,000 to the contractors. All three are out of state and appear to have no prior history performing work in Portland or Oregon.
Wilson’s office tells WW that the mayor has “called upon Prosper Portland’s board of commissioners to review the situation with full public transparency.”
Wilson says that while “a limited pool of regional contractors is capable and available to perform work of this nature,” Wesley “appears to have used existing contacts with whom he had a personal relationship for this work. Any use of taxpayer funds—especially spending outside the procurement process—must meet the highest ethical standards.”
Prosper board chair Gustavo Cruz told WW this week that he had been unaware of the details of the contracts, and unaware that the consultants were personal friends of Wesley’s from college. Other board members also appeared to have been unaware of Wesley’s personal connection with the two men.
In a statement, Wesley said he had disclosed to members of the board that he knew the two consultants “from previous roles.”
Prosper has defended the contracts and said there’s nothing untoward going on. Still, the agency has declined to provide any information about two of the contracts—both with out-of-state law firms—citing attorney-client privilege. (However, Prosper says both contracts are for “programmatic” reviews, which are typically not exempt from public disclosure.)
None of the three contracts went in front of the board for approval. That’s because the executive director has the authority to unilaterally approve contracts under $500,000. One of the contracts, with Chicago-based Synergy Credit Union Consulting, should have gone through Prosper’s competitive procurement process. But records show Wesley approved an exemption for Synergy that allowed it to bypass a competitive process altogether.
Three city councilors have now said the contracts raise questions about Prosper and the agency should be brought under tighter supervision of the city. (Prosper is a city agency but has its own board that sets its budget and helps set agency policy.)
Council President Jamie Dunphy said the “facts are concerning” and that “Prosper should do everything in their power to lean into public accountability, and not just follow the strict letter of the rules.”
Dunphy later added he would “look to the administration to flex their oversight on this matter since Prosper is the city’s main economic development arm.”
Council Vice President Olivia Clark said that “it doesn’t look good,” and Councilor Mitch Green said the agency’s contracting practices “should remain under scrutiny” given the agency’s $7 million loan gone wrong to a shoe manufacturing startup last year.
“They’re refusing to disclose the scope of work of their contracts in question,” Green said, “and that’s concerning.”
