Finance committee sends ordinance moving controller under mayor to full council

The Finance, Utilities and Rules Committee voted unanimously Jan. 6 to recommend ordinance D-2740-24 to the full council, a code change that relocates the controller’s duties from language tied to the clerk/treasurer into the executive branch and updates department references.

The committee chair opened discussion by identifying the first agenda item as "ordinance D-2740-24," then asked staff to walk committee members through the changes. Zach, a city staff member presenting the ordinance, said the measure "moves the controller out of a separate branch of government" and relocates the clerk/treasurer language into the controller section of the code. "Word by word? Word for word," he added, referring to moving the existing controller language into the new section.

Councilor Locke urged the committee to confirm that residual language in the old clerk section — lines cited by members — would be handled. Legal counsel Sergei confirmed staff would "look at the code entirely and remove any references from Clerk Treasurer" and that the ordinance includes a catch-all provision to control inconsistencies between prior ordinances.

Several committee members said they viewed D-2740-24 as a technical cleanup rather than a substantive reallocation of authority. Councilor Worrell said he did not see substantive changes and was comfortable moving the ordinance to the council; another member noted some gendered pronouns should be replaced by office titles when the ordinance is finalized. Councilor Greene seconded the motion to recommend the ordinance with the suggested pronoun edits.

After no further discussion, the committee chair called the question and the motion "carried unanimously." Committee members also noted the change points to a larger, multi-section review of the city code to identify other outdated references as the city transitions fiscal language from a clerk/treasurer structure to a controller under the executive branch.

The committee instructed counsel and staff to check for residual clerk/treasurer references across the code and to return any clarifying amendments to a future finance committee meeting before final council action.

Ending: The committee recommended ordinance D-2740-24 to the full council with the stated technical edits; staff and counsel will review the code for remaining references to Clerk Treasurer and report back.