Council information requests routed through chief of staff

At a glance

What: Aldermen's complaints that some requests for information from city departments go unanswered, and a new rule that directors' answers go through one city staff member to all aldermen together.
Where it stands: The mayor announced the routing on October 20, 2026; some aldermen object that it adds a layer.
Next: Whether the police budget data Notariano requested is delivered.

Alderwoman Notariano said she had asked for months for police spending as expended and received only a budget line.
Alderman Williams said members should be treated equally and that earlier his own request was answered quickly; Alderman Gregory said colleagues talk down to Alderwoman Notariano.
The mayor said every question will go to a staff member (captioned "Tim Griffin") who will send answers to all ten aldermen. Williams later questioned the extra step and was ruled out of order for an electioneering remark.

At the Committee of the Whole Alderwoman Notariano said she had been unable to see the police department's spending, and Alderman Williams said the administration's reluctance to share schedules and information forces issues into public meetings. These remarks are counted under Benchmark Analytics police software procurement.

Video: https://youtube.com/watch?v=A_-YH7zwsog (October 13, 2026 committee meeting; uploaded human-made captions)
Video: https://youtube.com/watch?v=3yjQHJldwks (auto-captions; names and numbers may be misheard)
Meeting agenda: City Council & Zoning Meeting - October 20, 2026

About 11 minutes across 1 meeting (from transcript timestamps; approximate).

Meeting	Minutes
2026-10-20 - City Council	11

2026-10-13 - Committee of the Whole — Background remarks on difficulty obtaining police spending and public works schedules (no separate time counted).
2026-10-20 - City Council — Spoke 58:02-1:01:13, 1:04:50-1:10:25 and again 1:35:17-1:37:05.