Warren Ballentine, the Truthfigher, Pledges to Stand With Reggio's Pizza Owner
Monday, May 24, 2010 at 12:45PM Bean Soup Times tagged warren ballentine in Commentary, business development, civil rights, community
During an interview on Radio One's nationally syndicated Warren Ballentine Show (106.3 FM) May 19, the host, Warren Ballentine pledged his support for Reggio’s Pizza, a 38-year-old Black-owned company that is being pushed out of an eight-year sub-contract with the Chicago Public Schools by Chartwells, a majority-owned, North Carolina-based, 14 billion dollar company who CPS recently approved a 59-61 million dollar per year, food service management contract, over the next five (5) years.
“Reggio’s has sub-contracted with Chartwells for 8 years to provide a fully-prepared, partially baked pizza for the Chicago Public Schools. "We make the complete pizza, including the crusts, which only requires CPS lunch room employees to finish the baking process and serve.", explained Mr. Clark, the President/CEO of Reggio's.
For three (3) years running, Reggio's Pizza has been voted the "Most Preferred Menu Item" by high school and middle school students.
Chartwells is trying to position one Black-owned company against another by replacing Reggio's with another Black-owned ("pass-thru) company that will purchase the pizza crusts from a non Black-owned company, where it will be delivered to CPS, where the pizzas will be assembled by CPS lunch room employees. This does not save CPS one (1) million dollars, as claimed by Bob Bloomer, Regional Vice President of Chartwells. In essence, this new process just shifts the costs from Chartwells operating budget (of supplying CPS with a fully-prepared pizza, made by Reggio's) to CPS operating budget because CPS lunch room employees will now be required to assemble and bake the pizza in the lunch rooms. Of course, this is CPS sponsored labor, paid for by our tax dollars.
The negative effect of Reggio's losing the contract is that Reggio's will be forced to layoff 40 of its employees, when the unemployment rate in the African American community is already 25%.
Where are the Black Politicians?
During the interview Warren Ballentine asks why the Black politicians aren’t getting involved? After all, this is public money. Moreover, Reggio's employs 200 and has it's plant in the Black community on 83rd street and will have to lay-off 40 of those employees if this disrespect of the Black community is allowed to stand.
FACT 1
In the report issued just last week by the Chicago Inspector General, Joe Ferguson, regarding minorities lack of participation in city contracts, Mr. Ferguson wrote, “In addition to [white-owned] front companies and pass-throughs, this office has uncovered abuse of the program by brokers to create the illusion” of minority participation, when brokers are supposed to be “excluded by law,” Ferguson wrote.
Brokers are firms or individuals who serve “no commercially useful function other than acting as a conduit between a supplier and a customer.” Read article here
The audit also blamed “glaring mistakes” in minority certification,
FACT 2
Reggio’s Pizza and its staff developed a whole wheat pizza crust, in an effort to promote good health among young people, consistent with First Lady Michelle Obama’s focus on nutrition and obesity.
FACT 3
Reggio’s Pizza is the only Black-owned frozen pizza manufacturer for retail sales in the United States.
FACT 4
Reggio’s Pizza is the only frozen pizza manufacturer in Chicago.
Let's fight back and stop this continuous disrespect of the Black community.
Reader Comments (3)
CPS efforts should be to expand its effort to include minority contractors who are employing people in these communities.CPS is a product of local government and every possible effort should be made to inform the public before this action is final and call on the Mayor and City Council and the The Board of Education to intervene and vote to keep Reggio's Pizza as a provider to CPS. When over 40% of the population in the city is African American we should be demanding 40% of the dollars being spent back into the African American Community.
Local organizers from The Black Leadership Development Institute, BLDI are committed to engaging the local Black grassroots community to publicly support Reggios Pizza and it's contract with The Chicago Board of Education, and that advocacy campaign will include the lbbying for public support from elected and other public officials.
Mark S. Allen
Founder/President
449 East 35th Street, 1st Floor
Chicago, Illinois 60616
773-392-0165
"Black when it's beneficial....Panther's when it's profitable"
It was only a few years ago when the owners of Reggio's pizza and Leon's Bar-b -que were on a black talk radio show on WVON when listeners called in about their employ of ohter nationalities, not Black people. The owner's of both businessess stated how Mexican's are more reliable, dependable workers, which they preferred over Black employees. Why was this even a discussion on the B'Day of Malcolm X - El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz?