OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Finance and Economic Development Committee Meeting Summary – June 17, 2026

City Council — Wednesday, June 17, 2026
BodyRichmond, Virginia
SessionCity Council
DateWednesday, June 17, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:22:23
Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Finance and economic development standing committee.

0:03

Council.

0:08

Take care of the evacuation from the chamber.

0:14

Upon activation of the emergency unlocked signal, all persons should immediately exit the building.

0:18

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.

0:27

Do not use elevators or escalators.

0:29

At the exit in the building, security would direct everyone down 9th Street to the fenced area located between Clay and Lee Streets.

0:36

Able persons should assist visually and hearing a pair of visitors with exiting the building.

0:40

Persons wishing to speak during the public comment period and or public hearings are generally allowed three minutes to speak.

0:46

Person appearing before the committee are not allowed to campaign for public office, promote prior business ventures, use language of personal nature, which is also demeans any person including comments directed at public officials or staff members that are not related to the official duties or just request staff members directly.

1:01

All questions to be directed to the committee chair.

1:03

Fair to hear to the guidelines may result in speakers forfeiting any many time and further discipline action as necessary, which could include bar from attendance from bar is from attendance and future means of the committee for a period of six months.

1:15

Madam Chair, this includes announcements.

1:18

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

1:20

We will have a public comment period at this time for anyone who's interested in speaking to the committee on items not on the agenda.

1:32

Is there anyone that would like to provide comment to the committee for anything not on today's agenda?

1:37

Seeing none, the public comment period is now closed.

1:41

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

1:42

Approval on the minutes.

1:44

The minutes to be approved from the May 20th, 2026 Finance and Economic Development Standing Committee meeting.

1:49

If there are no amendments or corrections, then those meeting minutes standard move is presented.

1:53

Those minutes have been approved.

1:55

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

1:57

Gonna make a few adjustments to the agenda, Madam Clerk.

2:01

So take um agenda item one uh has been requested to be continued.

2:08

If I can get a motion to that effect, some old second.

2:18

And that was for 30 days.

2:23

Madam Clerk.

2:25

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.

2:35

Vice Chair Jones, aye, Chair Robertson, aye.

2:38

That motion has been approved.

2:40

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

2:41

We'll move to agenda item number six, and then we'll follow the printed order of the agenda and take agenda item number eight and nine as a block.

2:52

Item six, resolution 2026 R019 to authorize the council's 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.

3:10

That papers before the committee.

3:15

Thank you.

3:16

Um I am uh hopeful to uh see support on the resolution that I've introduced.

3:26

Essentially, there has been uh many many delays in the city upholding its law, which was to uh at the end of every month to publish its um register of of payments, and that would include both checks and and and credit card payments, P card payments, etc.

3:48

Um, when that law was established in 2015, the practice continued monthly um for several years until sometime in 2019 when the city stopped and the city said that um it was I don't know that they provided an explanation at the time, um, but then in 2024, the entire register was taken down.

4:14

Um around that same time.

4:17

There were multiple media stories about uh that involved some financial uh misuse, including um P-card payments and um, and charges from the fire department and in the electoral department.

4:37

Um, and so the city said that the reason why they had taken it down was that it was too difficult to publish.

4:46

Um, and uh and more recently, the administration has introduced a paper that would essentially reduce the requirements on what was published, um, with the same explanation that it was too difficult to do.

5:03

Um, I am uh pleased to share that the administration I I believe is moving forward with publishing the fiscal year 25 data, as that too had been uh FOIAed by the media.

5:19

Um, if you recall, I had also made a similar request during our budget development process.

5:25

And um, but the direction that the city has provided to the directors is to um redact both the, you know, redactions come in two categories.

5:41

Um the first are things that we have to redact by law, um, and then the second category of things are things that we could redact if we'd like to.

5:53

So the direction that the administration has given to directors was to do was to redact everything that was allowable.

6:02

And um, and in the investigation resolution that um we've introduced the council would have the ability to see the entire database.

6:15

I believe would also kind of go up to current, so it would have more current data.

6:20

Um that would and it would be limited to just those redactions that are required by law.

6:26

So the council would have additional visibility and um and could ensure that uh head of voting to reduce what is publicly available, essentially, you know, uh reducing the transparency, um, that we would do our due diligence in reviewing the documentation.

6:49

Um it's my belief that the uh the process by which to do the redactions is not that difficult, um, and that it could be pretty simply done programmatically by department, for instance, you know, particular DSS payments that's been flagged.

7:12

Um 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.

7:22

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, and 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 um you know, and an extra set of eyes as as we are um ensuring that the city is working as efficiently as it should.

7:59

Hope to have your support on the paper, and um I'm open to any questions that you have.

8:07

Thank you, Ms.

8:08

Gibson.

8:10

We will come back, I'm sure, with questions, maybe.

8:13

Um but uh this time I will have a public hearing on the paper, Madam Clerk, and um we will also ask council chief of staff to address the committee as it relates to procedural processes as it relates to doing an investigation.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procurement█████████████████████████████████████████████73%
Pending Litigation███████11%
Procedural██4%
Historic Preservation██4%
Public Health██4%
Fiscal Sustainability██4%
Summary of Proceedings

Finance and Economic Development Standing Committee Meeting Summary – June 17, 2026

On June 17, 2026, the Richmond City Council Finance and Economic Development Standing Committee met to consider several items including a resolution to investigate the city's failure to publish a monthly payment register, the acceptance of grant funds, and an overhaul of the city’s PCARD program. The meeting included public comment, multiple votes to forward ordinances to the full council, and a detailed presentation on procurement improvements. The committee also continued two linked transparency-related items to the next meeting.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the May 20, 2026 Finance and Economic Development Standing Committee meeting were approved without amendment.
  • Item 2 – Ordinance 2026-130: Authorizing acceptance of $69,920 from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (African American Cemetery Grant Fund) for preservation, maintenance, and stewardship at historically African American cemeteries. Forwarded to council with recommendation to approve.
  • Item 3 – Ordinance 2026-130 (duplicate number in transcript, likely 2026-131): Authorizing acceptance of $611,807.50 from the National Opioid Settlement Fund for opioid abatement strategies. Forwarded to council with recommendation to approve.
  • Item 4 – Ordinance 2026-132: Authorizing acceptance of $80,000 from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation for Broad Rock Creek Park improvements. Forwarded to council with recommendation to approve.
  • Item 5 – Ordinance 2026-133: Authorizing a right-of-entry agreement with Capitol Trees for tree improvements at three parks. Forwarded to council with recommendation to approve.
  • Item 7 – Ordinance 2026-148: Authorizing acceptance of $150,000 from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services for the Richmond Recovery Court to combat substance abuse and opioid overdose. Forwarded to council with recommendation to approve.
  • Item 8 & 9 – Ordinances 2026-149 and 2026-150: Amending city code for public procurement definitions and joint/cooperative procurement to conform to state optional provisions. Forwarded to council with recommendation to approve.
  • Item 10 – Ordinance 2026-151: Extending the expiration date of the partial exemption for rehabilitated commercial/industrial structures from June 30, 2026 to June 30, 2027. Forwarded to council with recommendation to approve.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Item 6 – Resolution 2026-R019 (payment register investigation): One speaker, Amante Gonzalo (6th District resident), spoke in support. He argued that before changing transparency standards, the city should investigate why the current ordinance to publish a monthly payment register was not followed, citing the city’s values of integrity, excellence, and equity. He noted that Richmond earned the "City of Darkness Award" from the Electronic Frontier Foundation for its FOIA system, which can be costly and burdensome for residents.
  • Item 2 – Ordinance 2026-130 (cemetery grant): Kimberly Jackson, community engagement manager for cemeteries with Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities, spoke in support, requesting acceptance of the $69,920 grant for burial enclosure repairs, endangered grave marker/monument repairs, and property delineation.
  • No other public comments were offered for any items.

Discussion Items

  • Item 1 – Continuation Request: Ordinance 2026-081 was continued to the July 15, 2026 meeting at the request of the administration (Chair Robertson). The motion passed 2-0 (Vice Chair Jones, Chair Robertson).

  • Item 6 – Resolution 2026-R019 (Transparency of Payment Register): Councilmember Gibson introduced a resolution directing the Organizational Development Standing Committee to investigate the city’s failure to publish a monthly payment register (including checks and P-card payments) as required by city code since 2015. The city stopped publishing in 2019 and took the register down entirely in 2024 after media stories about financial misuse. The administration proposed reducing requirements, citing difficulty. Gibson argued redactions could be done programmatically and that the investigation would give council access to the full database with only required redactions. Council Chief of Staff Warren and Assistant City Attorney Cottman explained the procedural process: the Organizational Development Committee would direct staff to obtain documents and testimony, and if needed, could pursue subpoenas. Vice Chair Jones moved to continue the resolution to the July 15 meeting to align with the administration’s forthcoming publication of FY25 data and to avoid duplication. The motion passed 2-0.

  • PCARD Program Overhaul Presentation: Renee Almarez, Director of Procurement Services, presented a comprehensive update on the city’s Purchasing Card (PCARD) program. Key points:

    • A 60-page audit had identified 16 complex recommendations and 58 action items covering policy deficiencies, system weaknesses, oversight gaps, and control failures.
    • Immediate actions: suspended and restructured the program, reduced cards from 320 to 73 active cards, blocked certain usages (food, travel, Amazon citywide except narrowly approved), implemented mandatory pre-approval forms, and partnered with Card Integrity for data analytics.
    • The team expanded from 1 to 3 staff (Jody Phillips, Wendell Douglas, Matt Farrell).
    • Policy 15 was completely revised; new Discretionary Spend Policy, travel meal restrictions, limited payment platforms (Venmo banned, only Square/PayPal allowed), mandatory reconciliation within 5 days of purchase (previously 5 days after billing period), approver limits (max 3 cardholders per approver, approver must be higher in hierarchy).
    • Training achieved 100% completion for cardholders and approvers (145 people). City auditor praised training as "some of the best he’s seen in local government."
    • 75% of recommendations closed (12 of 16), 19% (3 recommendations) submitted for closure pending review, and 6% (1 recommendation) pending submission.
    • The program is in a 90-day soft relaunch period with no new cards. Expansion will be gated by metrics: 100% training, 90% transaction compliance, 95% documentation compliance, 90% cardholder and approver reconciliation within 5 days, 95% documentation compliance, and no more than 5% violation rate.
    • City auditor confirmed that closure of Recommendation 1 (relaunch) will require approval of a Discretionary Spending Policy (Recommendation 2). Recommendation 12 (single quote threshold of $50,000) is still under discussion.
    • The program currently costs $1,400/month for Card Integrity analytics.

  • Committee Chair Comments: Chair Robertson emphasized the importance of getting both the transparency resolution and administration paper right, and requested that financial reports be reviewed and standardized before the next fiscal year. She also noted the need for advance questions on items continued to the next meeting.

Key Outcomes

  • Items continued: Ordinance 2026-081 and Resolution 2026-R019 were both continued to the July 15, 2026 Finance and Economic Development Standing Committee meeting. They will appear as the first two items on the agenda.
  • Items forwarded to full council with recommendation to approve: Ordinances 2026-130, 2026-131 (opioid), 2026-132, 2026-133, 2026-148, 2026-149, 2026-150, and 2026-151. All motions passed 2-0 (Vice Chair Jones, Chair Robertson), except where noted.
  • PCARD Program: The committee acknowledged the presentation and the progress made. The chair urged follow-up on remaining recommendations and continued monitoring. Two presentations are scheduled for the next meeting: Department of Economic Development on project pipeline/performance metrics, and the administration on delinquent real estate taxes and the tax sale program relaunch.
  • Next steps: The committee will hold a pre-discussion meeting before the July 15 meeting to finalize financial reporting formats and discuss the continued transparency items.

Meeting Transcript

Finance and economic development standing committee. Council. Take care of the evacuation from the chamber. Upon activation of the emergency unlocked 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. Able persons should assist visually and hearing a pair of visitors with exiting the building. Persons wishing to speak during the public comment period and or public hearings are generally allowed three minutes to speak. Person appearing before the committee are not allowed to campaign for public office, promote prior business ventures, use language of personal nature, which is also demeans any person including comments directed at public officials or staff members that are not related to the official duties or just request staff members directly. All questions to be directed to the committee chair. Fair to hear to the guidelines may result in speakers forfeiting any many time and further discipline action as necessary, which could include bar from attendance from bar is from attendance and future means of the committee for a period of six months. Madam Chair, this includes announcements. Thank you, Madam Clerk. We will have a public comment period at this time for anyone who's interested in speaking to the committee on items not on the agenda. Is there anyone that would like to provide comment to the committee for anything not on today's agenda? Seeing none, the public comment period is now closed. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Approval on the minutes. The minutes to be approved from the May 20th, 2026 Finance and Economic Development Standing Committee meeting. If there are no amendments or corrections, then those meeting minutes standard move is presented. Those minutes have been approved. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Gonna make a few adjustments to the agenda, Madam Clerk. So take um agenda item one uh has been requested to be continued. If I can get a motion to that effect, some old second. And that was for 30 days. Madam Clerk. 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 Robertson, aye. That motion has been approved. Thank you, Madam Clerk. We'll move to agenda item number six, and then we'll follow the printed 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 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 papers before the committee. Thank you. Um I am uh hopeful to uh see support on the resolution that I've introduced. Essentially, there has been uh many many delays in the city upholding its law, which was to uh at the end of every month to publish its um register of of payments, and that would include both checks and and and credit card payments, P card payments, etc. Um, when that law was established in 2015, the practice continued monthly um for several years until sometime in 2019 when the city stopped and the city said that um it was I don't know that they provided an explanation at the time, um, but then in 2024, the entire register was taken down. Um around that same time. There were multiple media stories about uh that involved some financial uh misuse, including um P-card payments and um, and charges from the fire department and in the electoral department. Um, and so the city said that the reason why they had taken it down was that it was too difficult to publish. Um, and uh and more recently, the administration has introduced a paper that would essentially reduce the requirements on what was published, um, with the same explanation that it was too difficult to do. Um, I am uh pleased to share that the administration I I believe is moving forward with publishing the fiscal year 25 data, as that too had been uh FOIAed by the media. Um, if you recall, I had also made a similar request during our budget development process. And um, but the direction that the city has provided to the directors is to um redact both the, you know, redactions come in two categories. Um the first are things that we have to redact by law, um, and then the second category of things are things that we could redact if we'd like to. So the direction that the administration has given to directors was to do was to redact everything that was allowable. And um, and in the investigation resolution that um we've introduced the council would have the ability to see the entire database. I believe would also kind of go up to current, so it would have more current data.

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