Committee keeps open‑checkbook transparency bill alive; administration and data officer offer phased approach

Council Chair Waters introduced Bill 70‑620 on Jan. 13, seeking a searchable public portal of city revenues and expenditures updated at least monthly. The measure aims to increase transparency, oversight and public engagement by mandating an "open checkbook" web tool by Jan. 1, 2027.

Andy Kawano, director of Budget and Fiscal Services, said BFS supports transparency in principle but urged the committee to treat the requirement as a major IT project that must balance public access with personal/confidential data redaction. "We're going to have to mask some of the data that provides personal information on people," Kawano said, and he asked the council to work with BFS, the Department of Information Technology and the chief data officer to scope requirements rather than legislate prescriptive technical details.

Kira Shushom, chief data officer, told the committee the city has a data platform and can build dashboards and datamarts to satisfy transparency aims while protecting sensitive fields; she recommended requirements discussions first so staff can set milestones and timelines. Supporters and community testifiers, including Unite Here Local 5, urged passage to improve public accountability.

The committee voted to report the bill out for second reading and to schedule a public hearing, while directing administration and the data office to continue collaborative scoping and technical planning.