City outlines procurement, staffing and performance changes to speed capital spending

Assistant City Manager Billy Weber told the committee the city has retooled procurement and staffing to handle a much larger capital program, including new executive budget review capital meetings and a performance management system that tracks 'under contract' and expenditure milestones.

"We have developed what we call executive budget review capital meetings ... where the manager, the departments, and supported by OPDA and budget teams are sitting in a room and just focusing on capital," Weber said. He described a "use it or lose it" mindset in which the manager will recommend reallocating funds that departments cannot reasonably put under contract or spend.

Weber said procurement reforms included leadership changes and simplified contract scopes intended to attract more bidders; he also gave the example that large health facility projects have been centralized in the Department of Public Services so smaller board‑run departments can benefit from more robust facilities staffing and oversight. The administration plans to provide department‑level dashboards so directors can monitor performance against targets and identify bottlenecks.

The administration will bring specific budget targets and any recommended resource recalls to the city manager and then to council through the fiscal 2028 budget process.