The Board of Estimate and Apportionment unanimously approved a request from the comptroller's office to authorize contracts and leases for various city departments as listed on Exhibit A, and Comptroller Vanessa Behringer said her office will require formal risk assessments for any entity receiving city funds.

The vote to adopt item number 1 — approval of contracts and leases — passed with Mayor Spencer, Comptroller Behringer and President Green recorded as voting "aye." The board president convened the special meeting and asked for a motion on the item before the vote.

Comptroller Behringer told the board she had previously raised the need for risk assessments and had provided members with a formal written letter that day. "It's very important because it's part of, when we are audited, it is looked at," Behringer said, describing the assessments as a consistency measure for agencies, subrecipients and other entities that receive taxpayer, federal or state funds.

She said a draft risk-assessment document exists and is undergoing legal review. "The goal is to have it done by mid next week," Behringer said, and she pledged to distribute the document to board members after the legal review is complete.

President Green praised the proposal. "I really appreciate you taking this comprehensive approach, instituting a comprehensive risk assessment for every agency, subrecipient, and entity who has been considered to receive funding from the City of Saint Louis," Green said. Green added the uniformity across departments will be "very, very helpful."

The discussion on risk assessment occurred before the board took the formal vote to approve the contracts and leases. The formal action authorized the contracts and leases listed on Exhibit A to proceed; Behringer and other speakers indicated the risk-assessment requirement will apply to awards going forward and that approved items will still proceed through the comptroller's office and other required reviews.

No amendments or conditions to the approval for item number 1 were recorded in the transcript, and the clerk completed a roll-call vote. The meeting then moved on to a separate agenda item concerning allocations from the tornado relief and recovery fund.