Weston approves Bloomberg subscription, waives procurement rules for city investment analysis

The Weston City Commission on a unanimous vote approved a resolution to ratify an agreement with Bloomberg Finance LP for web-based financial software subscription services and waived the city's procurement bidding requirement.

City Manager Decker told the commission staff had used Bloomberg since 2007 and "we have not found a replacement" for the city's needs, and recommended waiving the formal bid process under the city's code. Finance staff described the product as a data analytics and securities database used to manage the city's fixed-income portfolio.

Why it matters: The subscription gives Weston finance staff a proprietary data tool cited as useful for identifying CUSIP numbers, maturities, issuer information and details for mortgage-backed securities. Staff said the tool helps the city objectively analyze and diversify bonds and mortgage-backed holdings without relying solely on broker-provided materials.

City Manager Decker said the subscription previously renewed automatically when annual spend was under the city's $25,000 procurement threshold; the service now exceeds that threshold and requires commission approval to continue. Decker said Bloomberg's functionality and market coverage made staff recommend a waiver of the three-bid procurement requirement.

Finance staff member Mr. Thomas described how the product would be used: "We use it to manage the fixed income portfolio that we have. It's about $200,000,000. The cost of the software is $30,000 but it'll allow us to look up CUSIP numbers, maturity date information, issuer information, ratings information." He added the product helps analyze mortgage-backed securities by showing where underlying mortgages were originated, which supports geographic diversification.

Commission discussion and vote: Commissioners asked for comparisons to other vendors and whether the city had surveyed peer finance offices. Thomas said he contacted two competing firms (one did not respond) and that neither offered Bloomberg's full fixed-income and amortizing-product functionality. Decker and Thomas said other large municipalities often obtain Bloomberg access through investment-advisor contracts, while Weston manages a larger, active fixed-income portfolio without an outside investment manager.

The commission approved the resolution by roll-call vote with five yes votes (Commissioners Fabio Andrade, Mary Molina McPhee, Byron Jaffe, Vice Mayor Henry Mead and Mayor Margaret Brown). Staff said the procurement code requires a four-fifths vote to waive competitive bidding; the commission's unanimous vote met that threshold.

Votes at a glance: - Consent agenda (motion to approve consent agenda moved by Commissioner Molina McPhee, seconded by Vice Mayor Mead): Approved, roll-call 5-0. - Ordinance (Agenda Item 6) second and final reading amending sections 20.02, 20.06 and 60.02 of the Weston Code of Ordinances: Approved, roll-call 5-0 (see separate action record). - Resolution ratifying Bloomberg Finance LP agreement and waiving competitive-bid requirements (Agenda Item 7; motion moved by Commissioner Molina McPhee, seconded by Vice Mayor Mead): Approved, roll-call 5-0.

What the action does next: The subscription will continue for the city finance staff to access Bloomberg's fixed-income analytics and data under the approved agreement. Staff did not provide a multi-year price schedule in the meeting materials beyond the stated annual cost and did not report a contract number on the record.