The Government Operations standing committee reviewed and voted on three ordinances related to disclosure and public records.

Ordinance 2025-209 (amend city code concerning filing of statements of economic interest for members of certain boards and commissions) was introduced, discussed by its patron as containing minor revisions to expand transparency, and forwarded to full council with a recommendation to approve. The clerk called the vote and the motion was approved by the committee.

Two related open-government papers were then taken up together. Ordinances 2025-210 and 2025-240 would amend city code to create an online Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) library and clarify open-data/transparency definitions. Councilmember Gibson (sponsor) noted no amendments to her paper; Ross Gaetro, the city's director of communications, described a replacement of the prior 'rubric' with a "library notice" that will appear in the FOIA library and include the rubric plus instructions and appeal information.

Gaetro said the inclusion rubric contains five broad triggers for posting (e.g., if two or more requesters ask for the same record; if a record contributes to public understanding of city operations; or if it exposes wrongdoing). Exclusions include strong privacy, security, or confidential information, items that compromise minors, or records where redaction is insufficient.

Committee discussion focused on the discretion that city staff (the FOIA manager and subject-matter experts) would have in determining library inclusion, the 30-day appeal cap for contested inclusion decisions, and an annual report requirement to council showing the number of requests published versus not published. The clerk reported no public comment on these items.

The committee voted to forward the administration's FOIA library paper to full council with a recommendation to approve and also forwarded the councilmember sponsors' FOIA/open-data paper to full council with no recommendation, per motions recorded on the floor. Staff recorded the forwarding and follow-up items for council deliberation.

Votes at a glance

- Ordinance 2025-209 (economic-interest disclosures): motion to forward to full council WITH recommendation to approve — motion approved by the committee (roll call recorded).

- Ordinance 2025-210 (administration FOIA library): motion to forward to full council WITH recommendation to approve — roll call recorded (Gibson voted No; Aberbacher and Chair Jordan voted Aye; motion approved).

- Ordinance 2025-240 (councilmember-sponsored FOIA/open-data paper): motion to forward to full council WITH NO recommendation — motion approved by the committee.

All public hearings for these papers produced no in-person or virtual speakers before the deadline, per the clerk's announcement.