Is KC city manager’s power of the purse with contracts about to be cut down?

An ordinance to limit the authority of City Manager Troy Schulte and his department heads to sign contracts without City Council authorization is headed to the full council –– but without a favorable recommendation from the committee that reviewed it.

Schulte and other top officials are now allowed to solicit bids and construction contracts for up to $1.3 billion. They can sign for other expenditures to a cap of $400,000.

The proposed ordinance, sponsored by Councilman Quinton Lucas and reviewed Thursday by the council’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, would trim Schulte’s power of the purse. It limits his signing authority to $750,000 for most contracts and $50,000 for consultants or other personal services.

Schulte, who was not at the committee hearing, said Thursday he opposed the ordinance as written. “It will dramatically increase the workload of staff and increase the workload of the council, without any appreciable change in policies.”

He indicated that he was open to at least one provision: a quarterly filing with the City Clerk listing all contracts signed without council authorization.

Lucas told the committee that the underlying issue was transparency, and the ability of the council and taxpaying residents to know more about how money is spent.

He cited a recent example: a $100,000 contract signed by City Attorney Cecilia Abbott to hire the Hardwick law firm, retained to assist Husch Blackwell, the outside firm representing the city in negotiations with airport developer Edgemoor.

In this instance, council members were aware of Abbott’s action, having been briefed about it in closed session. Several members have expressed unhappiness with Husch’s work. But because the contract was under the $400,000 threshhold, it was executed outside of public view.

Last October The Star reported that Schulte approved spending $40,000 to help fund a Downtown Council study of potential downtown sites for a new baseball stadium. Council members said the move caught them by surprise.

Elected officials in numerous cities, including Sacramento, Portland and Long Beach, have significantly lower thresholds for council oversight of contracts. According to research by Lucas’ office, Schulte or his department heads awarded $25 million in professional service contracts without council approval during 2016-17.

Lucas said the additional contracts that would come to the council as a result of the ordinance could be handled in the consent portion of the weekly docket, which means they could be voted on as a group, unless a member had questions.

“It seems to me that it would be better to operate in sunlight,” said Lucas. “It gives us the chance to ask questions.”

Despite Schulte’s opposition, Lucas has five co-sponsors for the ordinance, putting him one short of a seven-vote majority for passage: Council members Lee Barnes Jr., Alissia Canady, Katheryn Shields, Teresa Loar and Heather Hall. None, however, except for Lucas, sit on the committee that heard the measure Thursday morning. Other members were not supportive.

Councilman Dan Fowler took umbrage when a young staff intern of Lucas’, Joel Thompson, said during a power point presentation that some of the contracts coming from Schulte’s office were “shady.” He quickly apologized for the remark, saying he was only repeating unspecified news accounts. But not before he heard from Fowler.

“Words matter,” said Fowler. “The last thing (Schulte) would do is enter into something shady.”

Fowler and committee chair Jermaine Reed said they wanted to hold the ordinance in committee for two weeks to hear from Schulte and other senior city staff about the potential impact.

Lucas, interested in reaching friendlier waters, suggested that the committee vote the bill out with no recommendation. Reed agreed. He was joined by Council members Jolie Justus, Kevin McManus, Fowler and Lucas.

The council is expected to take up the ordinance in the next couple of weeks.

This story was originally published January 25, 2018 at 5:25 PM with the headline "Is KC city manager’s power of the purse with contracts about to be cut down?."