Committee forwards payment-register transparency ordinance after debate on privacy and workload

The finance and economic development standing committee voted to forward ordinance 20 26 0 81 to the full council after a detailed presentation from Lawson Wojay Soria, chief of staff to the mayor, and public comment urging greater transparency.

Wojay Soria said the administration’s amended proposal narrows proactive disclosure to vendor payments and employee reimbursements, removes the free-form invoice description field in favor of a standardized account description, drops internal fund codes while retaining fund descriptions, and sets publication timing at up to 60 days after the close of a month. "This is our best and final proposal," he said. He framed the changes as balancing "maximum proactive transparency" with legal privacy obligations and operational limits learned from producing the FY25 payment register.

Public commenter Anthony Gonzales (6th District) opposed altering the ordinance before the city demonstrates it can comply with the existing law and questioned the administration’s claim about staff hours, noting the presentation cited 1,080 hours and 433 hours of temporary staff to prepare a year’s register. "Transparency costs more in the short term, but it pays for itself many times over in the long term," Gonzales said. Council member Gibson urged the committee not to reduce the information the public receives, saying access to payment-level detail helps residents hold the city accountable.

The committee discussed implementation timelines and standard operating procedures; Wojay Soria said staff would prepare SOPs if the changes are accepted and expected to implement within the ordinance’s 90-day implementation window. Vice Chair Jones moved to forward the ordinance to council with a recommendation to approve; the motion passed with recorded affirmative votes from Vice Chair Jones and Chair Robertson.