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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.
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WHEREAS, pursuant to section 15.2-1409 of the Code of Virginia (1950), as amended, the governing body of any locality may make such investigations relating to its government affairs as it deems necessary, including ordering the attendance of witnesses and the production of books and papers; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to section 4.16(a) of the Charter of the City of Richmond (2020), as amended, "[t]he council, or any committee of members of the council when authorized by the council, shall have power to make such investigations relating to the municipal affairs of the city as it may deem necessary, and shall have power to investigate any or all departments, boards, commissions, offices and agencies of the city government and any officer or employee of the city, concerning the performance of their duties and functions and use of property of the city;" and
WHEREAS, pursuant to section 12-16 of the Code of the City of Richmond (2020), as amended, the Director of Finance is required to cause to be published the City's monthly payment register on the City's website, including, among other things, the name of payees, the amount of each payment, and each invoice description; and
WHEREAS, upon the information and belief of the Council, City officials ceased publication of the monthly payment register in 2019 and in a letter to Councilmember Gibson dated March 10, 2026, the Mayor cited a "highly manual extraction and data-inspection process" as a barrier to timely publication of the payment register as required by section 12-16 of the Code of the City of Richmond (2020), as amended; and
WHEREAS, according to an article published in The Richmonder online on March 27, 2026, the City estimated a cost of $5,732....
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