People are listening to a town hall meeting on Tuesday. On Wednesday, city controller Chris Brown and chief financial officer Tantri Emo struggled to release more detailed data on the city’s finances online.
Houston’s leading monetary official said Wednesday that the city will continue its stalled efforts to provide more falsified data about its finances online, but it will charge more and take longer than the initial plan submitted through the administration.
Comptroller Chris Brown, the independently chosen monetary watchdog who first proposed the program, called the news a “delay tactic,” a rate that Chief Financial Officer Tantri Emo denied.
Funds for the platform, dubbed Chequera, were included in Brown’s budget and the city secured an $80,000 contract with a software representative to create it, which would provide more detailed data on city spending, budgets and online payroll than would be available lately.
Halfway through the paintings prior to this year, Turner’s administration halted the assignment and presented other explanations for the closure. Mayor Sylvester Turner said he conducted a more detailed investigation of the finance department.
Emo told council members at their assembly Wednesday that the mayor had re-granted the order to the allocation, but that it will charge between $200,000 and $500,000 and take five to 11 months, which raised considerations of accuracy and safety.
“We are now moving this task forward. We all perceive the desire for monetary transparency for the City of Houston, but we also perceive the desire to provide accurate data to the public and to be able to use this formula in the future,” Emo said. .
Brown said the representative who ran on the platform could finish it in a matter of weeks if the city gives him the option.
Some board members were left speechless because of the difference between the numbers. When asked, Emo relied on the city’s data generation branch to get time and position estimates. The city’s lead data officer, Lisa Kent, had approved Brown’s plan before it was unveiled. previous this year.
Kent not without delay to comment.
“I don’t think it’s done in 11 months. I think it’s a delaying tactic, for some reason. I can’t see why they wouldn’t need it,” Brown told council members. this responsible management. ‘
Emo denied the allegation. She said IT has set the timeline and said that if the IT branch is going to end, it will do so sooner.
“Of course there is no delay. If there was a delay, I wouldn’t be here today,” Emo said. “He’s going to move on. “
Turner missed Wednesday’s meeting and is in Glasgow, Scotland, for the United Nations weather summit.
The CFO said she could not say whether IT had sought a separate vendor for the project, with the exception of the Brown vendor’s workplace that it previously received with the IT one. Emo and Pro Tem Mayor Dave Martin, who chaired the assembly in Turner’s absence, said the head of data work would provide more data to council members on Wednesday.
Councilwoman Sallie Alcorn said she doesn’t need the $40,000 already spent on Brown’s allocation to be wasted.
“I would like the paintings that have already been made on this and those that have already been spent on this to be included in this,” Alcorn said.
Houston publishes its budget documents online, and Brown’s workplace provides a knowledge base for online supplier disbursements. Payroll information can only be obtained through an open records application.
The new formula would compile all of this and make it available seamlessly in more detail.
Brown noted that each and every major city in the country already has a similar system.
dylan. mcguinness@chron. com
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