City Council is expected to vote Thursday on a proposed City Charter amendment that would require council members who sign non-disclosure agreements, or NDAs, to inform city staff of their confidentiality obligations.
Under the amendment, council members also would be “strongly encouraged” not to sign NDAs, or binding confidentiality agreements between two or more parties. Further, the city attorney would be required to provide annual guidance on the legal risks posed by NDAs.
Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones filed the proposed amendment, which stems from a campaign promise that she would rework the city’s NDA policy during her first 100 days in office.
In a statement to the Current, Jones said she’s pushing for the change as part of a “continued effort to make City Hall more transparent.”
The proposed amendment also follows so far unproven allegations circulated during the mayoral campaign that sitting and former council members signed NDAs during early talks about sports-and-entertainment development Project Marvel, which prevented them from releasing details to the public.
“Taxpayers shouldn’t be the last to know and first to pay when it comes to downtown developments,” the Gina Ortiz Jones for Mayor website states. “We need smart developments in our city, but we don’t need billion-dollar backroom deals.”
However, council members have long maintained that they never signed NDAs related to the $4 billion Project Marvel. District 7 Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito on Wednesday told the Current that she never signed any kind of confidentiality agreement dealing with the downtown development.
Even so, news reports indicate that some outside consultants involved with Project Marvel did sign such agreements with the city.
Former Assistant City Manager Lori Houston in September of last year instructed real-estate consulting firms in discussions with city staff, but not directly dealing with council members, to sign NDAs about the massive downtown development, TV station KSAT reports.
Jones’ proposed amendment, wouldn’t apply to what Houston did, since the language would only apply to council members and not city staff.
At press time, it’s unclear how much council support Jones has for her charter amendment.
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