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Mayor's office adds three full‑time roles, converts part‑time positions; council presses for transparency
Summary
The mayor's 2025 budget moves several grant‑funded and part‑time roles into regular city positions and adds a senior adviser for lobbying, prompting questions from council about head count, funding sources and documentation.
At a Feb. committee hearing on the proposed 2025 city budget, the director for the Office of the Mayor described three staffing changes included in the mayor's budget: two existing part‑time or grant‑funded roles will be converted to full‑time city positions and one vacant full‑time position is being held to take over responsibilities now performed by several part‑timers.
"Two of them are actually already current headcount," the director said, adding that one post is a receptionist now on a temporary contract, a second is a senior strategist for arts, culture and the creative economy whose two‑year grant is ending, and the third is a vacant position previously covered by external partners.
Council members repeatedly asked for precise documentation. Council President and multiple council members said the budget book lacked a 2024 budget column that would permit direct budget‑to‑budget comparison, and called for a "green sheet" (an administrative correction) because the published book did not match last year's approved headcount. Finance staff acknowledged the book omitted the 2024 budget column and said they would attempt to include it in future publications.
Separately, the administration said it has hired a former external lobbyist as a senior adviser to coordinate in‑house lobbying for federal and state issues related to pensions, grants and tax matters. Council members questioned why the city would pay a senior adviser while still retaining external lobbying contracts; administration officials said the work requires full‑time coordination and additional resources.
Council members also pressed for lists and written documentation: the names of 19 special assistants to the mayor listed in the book, which positions are split‑funded by enterprise departments, the rationale and term lengths for grant conversions to general‑fund positions, and a breakdown of professional services spending (video production, newsletters, facility fees and neighborhood event support). The administration said it will provide requested lists and that some items will need a green sheet to reconcile book entries.
