Finance and Economic Development Standing Committee
Council Chamber, 2nd Floor – City Hall
Agenda — 96 items
- 1 Call to Order
- 1 Committee Members and Other Council Members in Attendance
- 2 Chamber Emergency Evacuation Plan Announcement and Public Speaker Guidelines
- 2 The Honorable Ellen Robertson – Chair The Honorable Nicole Jones – Vice Chair The Honorable Stephanie Lynch – Member (late arrival) The Honorable Kenya Gibson – Council Member
- 3 Public Comment Period
- 3 Staff in Attendance
- 4 Approval of Minutes
- 4 Tori Cotman, Assistant City Attorney Maria Garnett, Council Policy Analyst Kiley Kesecker, Deputy City Clerk Nahdiyah Muhammad, Assistant City Clerk Pamela Nichols, Council Management Analyst Candice Reid, City Clerk RJ Warren, Council Chief of Staff
- 5 June 17, 2026 - Finance and Economic Development Standing Committee Meeting Minutes
- 6 Paper(s) for Consideration
- 6 Chair Ellen Robertson called the meeting to order at 2:04 p.m., and presided.
- 1. To amend City Code § 12-16, concerning publication of the City’s payment register, for the purpose of promoting transparency and accountability in the expenditure of public funds by providing public access to information regarding payments made by the City to vendors for goods and services and reimbursements to employees, while protecting confidential and personal information as required by law. (As Amended)
- 2. 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 § 12-16 and application of exclusions allowed under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
- 8 Upon the Chair’s request, Assistant City Clerk Nahdiyah Muhammad provided information on the appropriate way to evacuate the Council Chamber in an emergency along with public speaker guidelines.
- 3. To amend City Code §§ 16-51, concerning the creation of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, and 16-113, concerning the administration of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, to ensure all receipts derived from principal, interest, penalties, and fees received for the repayment and management of loans or grants from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund are reserved for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
- 4. To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to execute a First Amendment to Grant Agreement between the City of Richmond, 512 Hull Street, LLC, and the Economic Development Authority of the City of Richmond for the purpose of clarifying the affordable housing requirements applicable to the residential development located at 512 Hull Street. (6th District)
- 10 There were no public comment speakers.
- 5. To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to execute a Grant Agreement between the City of Richmond, ECG Rady, LP, and the Economic Development Authority of the City of Richmond for the purpose of facilitating the construction of an affordable residential development located at 2811 Rady Street, and to repeal Ord. No. 2025-008, adopted Jan. 27, 2025.
- 6. To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to execute a Shockoe Legacy Foundation Grant Contract between the City of Richmond and the Shockoe Legacy Foundation for the purpose of funding expenses incurred by the Shockoe Legacy Foundation for the planning and development of the Slavery and Freedom Heritage Site, including the Lumpkin’s Pavilion and the National Slavery Museum, in the city of Richmond.
- 12 There were no amendments or corrections to the meeting minutes of June 17, 2026, and the committee approved the minutes as presented.
- 7. To amend the Fiscal Year 2026-2027 General Fund Budget by (i) re-appropriating $3,168,000.00 from the Fiscal Year 2025-2026 General Fund Committed Fund Balance to the Fiscal Year 2026-2027 Operating Budget, (ii) creating a new line item in the Outside Agencies and Central Appropriations agency entitled “Presbyterian Homes and Family Services, Inc.,” and (iii) appropriating such $3,168,000.00 to such new line item and to existing Outside Agencies and Central Appropriations agency Central Virginia Legal Aid Society, Inc., Freeze Program, and Southside Community Development and Housing Corporation line items, all for the purpose of funding active housing cost relief initiatives serving City residents.
- 14 Presentation(s)
- 15 There were no presentations.
- 15 Pamela Nichols, Council Management Analyst, reviewed board vacancies and applications for consideration by the committee.
- 16 Board Vacancies
- 17 July 15, 2026 - Finance Board Vacancy Report
- 17 A copy of the material provided has been filed.
- 18 Discussion Item(s)
- 18 Vice Chair Nicole Jones moved to forward the following board appointment applications to Council with a recommendation to approve, and to continue consideration of appointment applications for the Economic Development Authority Board of Directors to the October 21, 2026, Finance and Economic Development Standing Committee meeting. The motion was seconded approved: Ayes 2, Jones and Robertson. Noes None. Lynch had yet to arrive.
- 19 August Committee Meeting
- 19 Participatory Budgeting Steering Commission: James Boschen (reappointment) Ingrid Harding
- 20 Adoption of Committee Presentation Schedule 2026-2027
- 20 Richmond Retirement System: Faith Flippo (reappointment) Adam Grossman (reappointment)
- 21 Finance and Economic Development Presentation Schedule
- 22 Staff Report
- 22 The following ordinance was considered:
- 23 Finance and Economic Development Staff Report
- 24 Lawson Wijesooriya, Chief of Staff to the Mayor, provided an updated presentation on proposed amendments to the pending ordinance.
- 25 She stated that the FY 2025-2026 payment register contained transactions that required significant staff time for data preparation, redaction, and quality control.
- 26 She noted the amendments would publish transaction level payment data, and disclose vendor payments and employee reimbursements while protecting confidential information.
- 27 Copies of the materials provided have been filed.
- 28 Public Hearing
- 29 There were no public hearing speakers.
- 30 Vice Chair Nicole Jones asked how city administration would explain why certain information is withheld while balancing transparency with privacy protections. She also asked whether maintaining the payment register would require additional staff resources on an ongoing basis.
- 31 Ms. Wijesooriya explained that the amendments balance proactive transparency with privacy protections by publishing standardized payment data while excluding fields requiring extensive redactions.
- 32 She noted that producing the payment register requires coordination among the Finance Department and various departments to review information for compliance with privacy laws and would continue as a monthly process.
- 33 Councilor Gibson raised questions regarding proposed changes to the payment register, including limiting payments to vendor payments, removing payment identifiers and disbursement fields, aggregating payment amounts, and eliminating invoice descriptions.
- 34 She expressed concerns about broad FOIA-related redactions, increased discretion granted to the Finance Director, and the need for greater transparency and clarity regarding withheld information.
- 35 Member Stephanie Lynch arrived at 2:53 p.m., and was seated.
- 36 Member Stephanie Lynch asked whether the proposed amendments would need to be introduced during the July 27, 2026 Formal Council meeting and whether RES. 2026-R019 would follow the same legislative process.
- 37 City administration explained that the proposed amendments would clarify the definition of vendor payments, remove fields that were not standardized or deemed necessary for transparency, and report transaction-level details rather than combined payment amounts.
- 38 City administration noted that invoice descriptions may contain confidential information requiring redaction and that purchase card transactions are reported separately through Bank of America.
- 39 City administration stated that the City Attorney’s Office would review the proposed amendments, with the goal of introducing them at the July 27, 2026, Formal Council meeting.
- 40 Chair Ellen Robertson noted that the administration had requested significant amendments to ORD. 2026-081, which had not yet been reviewed by the City Attorney's Office.
- 41 She proposed a continuance to allow the amendments to be prepared and reviewed, and requested that council staff gather questions and requests from council members.
- 42 There were no further comments or discussions and Chair Ellen Robertson moved to continue ORD. 2026-081 to the September 16, 2026, Finance and Economic Development Standing Committee meeting, which was seconded and unanimously approved.
- 43 The following resolution was considered:
- 45 Public Hearing
- 46 There were no public hearing speakers.
- 47 Vice Chair Nicole Jones requested clarification on whether further review would focus on the current ordinance or the proposed amendments.
- 48 Councilor Kenya Gibson provided additional information regarding the proposed legislation and stated that significant redactions remained in the register.
- 49 She noted that the investigation would allow Council to review the register with only legally required redactions, ensure redactions were appropriate, and provide clarity on information excluded from future payment registers.
- 50 There were no further comments or discussions and Vice Chair Nicole Jones moved to forward RES. 2026-R019 to Council with no recommendation, which was seconded and unanimously approved.
- 51 The following ordinance was considered:
- 53 Public Hearing
- 54 There were no public hearing speakers.
- 55 All committee members requested to be added as co-patrons to ORD. 2026-164.
- 56 There were no comments or discussions and Vice Chair Nicole Jones moved to forward ORD. 2026-164 to Council with the recommendation to approve, which was seconded and unanimously approved.
- 57 The following ordinance was considered:
- 59 Public Hearing
- 60 There were no public hearing speakers.
- 61 There were no comments or discussions and Vice Chair Nicole Jones moved to forward ORD. 2026-165 to Council with the recommendation to approve, which was seconded and unanimously approved.
- 62 page break
- 63 The following ordinance was considered:
- 65 Chair Ellen Robertson requested to be added as co-patron to ORD. 2026-170.
- 66 Public Hearing
- 67 There were no public hearing speakers.
- 68 There were no comments or discussions and Vice Chair Nicole Jones moved to forward ORD. 2026-170 to Council with the recommendation to approve, which was seconded and unanimously approved.
- 69 The following ordinance was considered:
- 71 Public Hearing
- 72 There were no public hearing speakers.
- 73 There were no comments or discussions and Vice Chair Nicole Jones moved to forward ORD. 2026-171 to Council with the recommendation to approve, which was seconded and unanimously approved.
- 74 The following ordinance was considered:
- 76 Public Hearing
- 77 There were no public hearing speakers.
- 78 Member Stephanie Lynch asked about the amount allocated to the Family Crisis Fund.
- 79 Dominic Barrett, Senior Policy Advisor for Human Services, stated that the proposed ordinance allocates $1 million to the Family Crisis Fund, in addition to the $100,000 added by Council to the FY 2026-2027 adopted budget.
- 80 There were no further comments or discussions and Vice Chair Nicole Jones moved to forward ORD. 2026-172 to Council with the recommendation to approve, which was seconded and unanimously approved.
- 85 It was the consensus of the committee to cancel the August Finance and Economic Development Standing Committee meeting.
- 86 page break
- 88 Council staff provided the committee with the proposed 2026-2027 Finance and Economic Development presentation schedule.
- 90 A copy of the material provided has been filed.
- 92 Council staff provided the committee with the July Finance and Economic Development staff report.
- 94 A copy of the material provided has been filed.
- 95 Adjournment
- 96 There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 3:21 p.m.