Committee forwards ordinance to require specific contract datasets in Richmond’s open data portal

The Governmental Operations Committee voted to forward Ordinance 2025‑2‑11 to the full City Council with a recommendation to approve after a brief discussion and public comment.

Council member Gibson introduced the ordinance, which would amend city code to specify required datasets for the open data portal and prohibit charging fees for information the code requires to be posted. Gibson said the ordinance was intended to make procurement and contract data more accessible and that she had amended the original text to remove a historical data requirement after administration concerns about cost.

Public comment included support from Quentin Robbins, chair of Richmond For All, who urged greater public access to contract data and said the organization had concerns about temporary staffing and contract spending. Committee members voted 3‑0 to forward the ordinance with a recommendation for approval.

Committee members and administration staff noted that the administration had begun adding contract details to the open data portal and that the ordinance narrows the requirement to current and future data (the historical dataset requirement was removed to address cost concerns). The ordinance will proceed to the full council for a final vote.