City Council — Tuesday, 15 September 2026
Regular meeting
Approved minutes for this meeting have not been posted; the City’s minutes shelf holds only a file of public comments. Motions and votes below are as recorded on the KCRT video (the clerk’s spoken roll calls), checked against the Council agenda, Sep 15. The minutes will control when posted. Video times are approximate, from automatic captions.
Closed session
- Eight closed-session items were read into the record, including two public employee appointments (interim city manager and city manager recruitment), the city manager’s performance evaluation, labor negotiations, litigation, and a real property negotiation. video 0:14:13
- City Attorney’s report, as heard on video: the Council authorized staff to negotiate with a selected candidate for interim city manager, and with a second candidate if the first did not proceed, and to return with an employment agreement. The attorney described that direction as unanimous. video 3:14:56
Statement of conflict of interest and agenda review
- None declared; no agenda changes announced. video 3:14:34
Open forum
- Public comment was taken. The Monitor does not name members of the public. video 3:18:29
Consent calendar
- Approved unanimously on video, with nothing removed. video 3:46:17
- Items of $100,000 and up in the packet included legal services amendments (Liebert Cassidy Whitmore, McNamara Ambacher, Oppenheimer Investigations), Carahsoft enterprise licensing, a contract with Peregrine Technologies for public safety data not to exceed $1,200,295, and the Barrett Avenue project’s $311,931 subregional transportation grant.
- N.2.b approved the minutes of the June and July regular meetings and the August 11 and August 26 special meetings.
- N.12.c, a contract with Police Strategies LLC for use-of-force data analysis, was on the consent agenda.
O.1 — Fiscal Year 2025-26 fourth-quarter financial report and budget items
- Receive the fourth-quarter financial report: passed, Vice Mayor Robinson abstaining. video 5:28:34
- Year-end administrative budget adjustments: passed, Robinson abstaining. video 5:36:15
- Appropriation of ECIA funds for the Richmond Promise program in Fiscal Year 2026-27 ($2.2 million as stated on the record): unanimous.
- Limited-term revenue (settlement money) community engagement: a substitute motion failed — Brown, Zepeda, and Martinez yes; Bana, Jimenez, Wilson, and Robinson no. video 6:34:43
- Option C, amended to run the engagement process alongside public-safety labor negotiations and to prioritize Council-directed plans, studies, and assessments: passed — Martinez no; Bana and Zepeda abstaining. Staff said a prioritization of 34 Council-requested items would likely return at the first November meeting. video 6:35:47
Time extension
- Motion to extend the meeting to 11 p.m. to finish the data-center hearing: passed, Wilson absent from the vote. A separate motion to cut public comment to one minute was made; its outcome is not clear on the video. video 6:41:24
P.1 — Urgency ordinance: 45-day moratorium on new data centers (public hearing)
- Staff and the City Attorney explained that an urgency ordinance takes effect immediately and needs a four-fifths vote; a regular ordinance needs two readings and takes effect after 30 days. The City Attorney acknowledged legal risk either way. video 6:42:06
- About 38 in-person speakers were counted for the hearing.
- Motion to end debate: passed, Brown and Zepeda no. video 7:41:05
- Urgency ordinance adopted. On the roll call, Brown is heard saying “abstain”; the clerk then announced the motion passed “with Council Member Brown voting no.” The other six voted yes. video 7:41:51
Not reached
- Q.1, the Axon Enterprise amendment and Assure MSP / Verkada cameras (police staff had gone home). Q.2, the Polluters Pay settlement-funds engagement update.
Not yet confirmed
- All votes above, until the clerk posts approved minutes.
- Whether Brown’s vote on the moratorium is recorded as no or as an abstention.
- The outcome of the motion to shorten public comment to one minute.
- The mover and second of each motion.