The city of Tucson has released the names of seven companies that it refuses to invest in, part of a 20-month old resolution to sever ties with companies that “become involved in the designing, building or financing of the border wall.”
Three Arizona companies, Tucson-based West Point Contractors, Sierra Vista-based KWR Construction and Tempe-based Fisher Sand & Gravel, are part of the complicated inventory of companies the city won’t invest in, but could conceivably do business with in other circumstances.
For example, state procurement laws require the city of Tucson to consider formal bids of any company that submitted an offer to build a new firehouse, or any construction project.
The full list of companies includes:
- West Point Contractors (Tucson, Arizona)
- KWR Construction (Sierra Vista, Arizona)
- Fisher Sand & Gravel (Tempe, Arizona)
- Caddell Construction Co. (Montgomery, Alabama)
- WG Yates and Sons Construction Co. (Philadelphia, Mississippi)
- ELTA North America (Annapolis Junction, Maryland)
- Texas Sterling Construction Co. (Houston, Texas)
City officials confirm that the list extends to any parent organization associated with those companies.
The list first came to light during a Tucson City Council discussion about razor wire in Nogales, where the Council was given an update on the 20-month old divestment policy by City Attorney Mike Rankin.
Councilwoman Regina Romero, who helped to establish the policy, said it was one in a line of Council decisions to stand with the immigrant community.
“The city of Tucson has a long history of progressive politics, it has a long history of standing in solidarity with refugees and immigrants in our community,” Romero said.
The resolution calls for the city to divest holdings in any companies that would profit from building the wall along the Mexico border.
The city invests in companies as part of its financial strategies to pay for its pension program.
However, officials conceded there are practical limitations to the policy as mutual funds can contain a large number of individual companies in a single portfolio, and the make-up of any portfolio changes regularly.
Tucson-based West Point Contractors might be the best example of the limits of the city’s resolution.
The company, which has a $22 million contract to build a section of border wall in El Paso and a smaller contract for a similar project in Nogales, has previously contracted with the city of Tucson’s Transportation and Parks and Recreation Departments.
A city spokeswoman confirmed on Friday that the city could contract with the West Point Contractors again in the future, if it bid on future construction projects.
West Point Contractors could not be reached for comment, and did not respond to messages left at their Tucson office.
A representative for KWR Construction declined to comment, and Fisher Sand & Gravel did not respond to a request for comment.
KWR Construction has built an all-metal border wall prototype under consideration by the Trump Administration while Fisher Sand & Gravel has proposed building up to 700 miles of solid concrete wall along the border.
