The Finance and Economic Development Standing Committee of the Richmond City Council met on June 17, 2026, at approximately 2:00 PM. The committee considered multiple ordinances and resolutions, including a continuation of an item related to public payment registers, approval of grant funding for historic cemeteries, opioid abatement, park improvements, tree maintenance, recovery court support, procurement policy updates, and a commercial tax abatement extension. A major presentation was given on the overhaul of the city’s Purchasing Card (PCard) program, followed by extensive discussion on audit findings, controls, and future expansion metrics.
Resolution 2026-R019 – Investigation into Payment Register Publication: Councilmember Gibson introduced the resolution, citing media reports of financial misuse (P card payments, fire department and electoral department charges) and the city’s removal of the monthly payment register. She argued that redacting protected data (e.g., DSS payments) could be done programmatically and would increase public trust. Council members debated the relationship between this resolution and a separate administration-sponsored paper (continued earlier). Council Chief of Staff R.J. Warren explained that if adopted, the Organizational Development Committee would direct staff to gather documents and hold hearings, with potential for subpoenas if information is withheld. The committee voted to continue the resolution to the July 15 meeting alongside the administration’s paper, aiming to align both efforts.
PCard Program Overhaul Presentation: Director of Procurement Renee Almaraz, along with Deputy Directors and the PCard Supervisor, presented a comprehensive update. Key points:
Okay, Madam Clerk, are we ready? Yes, ma'am. All righty. Thank you. We will call this meeting to order. Then Finance and Economic Development standing committee of council. Madam Clerk, if you would uh take care of the order of evacuation from the chamber. Upon activation of the emergency and law signal, all persons should immediately exit the building. Please use the exits to the left or right front of the council chamber or the north or west stairwells outside of the rear doors of the chamber. Do not use elevators or escalators. At the exit in the building, security would direct everyone down 9th Street to the fenced area located between Clay and Lee Streets. Fair to hear to the guidelines may result in speakers forfeiting any meaning time and further discipline action as necessary, which could include bar from attendance from barber is from attendance at future meetings of the committee for a period of six months. Seeing none, the public comment period is now closed. Approval of the minutes. To the agenda, Madam Clerk. So take um agenda item one has been requested to be continued if I can get a motion to that effect. Summold second. And that was for 30 days. Okay. The committee is voting on the motion to continue item one ordinance 2026 081 to the July 15th, 2026 financing economic development standing committee meeting. Vice Chair Jones. Aye. Chair Robinson. Aye. And motion has been approved. Thank you, Madam Clerk. We'll move to agenda item number six, and then we'll follow the print order of the agenda and take agenda item number eight and nine as a block. Item six, resolution 2026 R019 to authorize the council's organic organizational development standing committee to investigate the city's failure to publish a monthly payment register as required by city code and application of exclusions allowed under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. That pay was before the committee. Thank you. Around that same time, there were multiple media stories about that involved some financial misuse, including P card payments and and charges from the fire department and in the electoral department. And so the city said that the reason why they had taken it down was that it was too difficult to publish. If you recall, I had also made a similar request during our budget development process. I believe would also kind of go up to current, so it would have more current data. And it would be limited to just those redactions that ahead of voting to reduce what is publicly available, essentially, you know, reducing the council would have additional visibility. That we would do our due diligence in reviewing the documentation. It's my belief that the uh the process by which to do the redactions is not that difficult. Um that it could be pretty simply done programmatically by department. For instance, you know, particular DSS payments that's been flagged. So that could be done with the simple formula, you know, based on the account codes and and such to ensure that those types of reductions, redactions are taken care of. Um, it's a pretty straightforward export, you know, out of uh whatever the uh ERP system that the city uses, I believe Oracle. Um, you know, it's it is not a lot of work, and and what it gets us is is a lot more trust from the community who um who are very interested to ensure that the city is spending um those public dollars wisely and also uh you know, and an extra set of eyes as as we are um ensuring that the city is working as efficiently as it should. And hope to have your support on the paper, and um I'm open to any questions that you have. Thank you, Ms. Gibson. We will come back, I'm sure with questions, maybe. Um but at this time I will have a public hearing on the paper, Madam Clerk, and we will also ask a council chief of staff to address the committee as it relates to procedural processes as it relates to doing an investigation. Madam Clerk, let's have a public hearing at this time. Is there anyone that would like to speak in opposition to item six? Is there anyone that would like to speak of support to item six?