Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Governance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council staff compiles 78 mandated reports for oversight; recommends verification and better access
Summary
Council policy staff told the committee they compiled a preliminary list of 78 required reports the council should receive — 37 from boards and commissions and the rest from city agencies and affiliates — and recommended a verification step with agencies to ensure reports are submitted, accessible and useful.
Will Perkins, policy manager for the council, presented staff research showing the committee has at least 78 statutorily or code‑required reports that should be provided to council. The compilation is preliminary; staff said they will verify the list with departments and agencies and then propose process changes to improve submission, accessibility and usefulness.
Perkins said the list includes 37 reports from boards and commissions, 25 from city agencies, 14 from affiliate organizations or other governments, and two produced by council offices. Most reports are annual; a handful are quarterly or monthly. The staff inventory also noted a separate requirement: each agency must produce an annual strategic action plan by Sept. 1, a deliverable collected by the Office of Budget and Strategic Planning.
Perkins recommended next steps: (1) verify with agencies which required reports are currently being submitted and where they are posted, (2) gather estimates of staff time needed to compile each report so the council can weigh frequency versus utility, and (3) consider code or practice changes to make sure the most useful reports are scheduled to committee agendas and posted in accessible locations (for example, ensuring board/commission annual reports appear in Legistar rather than only on a clerk’s website).
Why it matters
Committee members noted that statutory reporting requirements should be followed and that the council benefits when reports are both accessible and concise. Perkins said staff will continue to refine the inventory, check compliance, and return with recommended process or code changes if needed.
