What’s at stake:

Councilmember Brandon Vang announced Thursday city reforms he’d propose to address gaps in transparency and oversight of city contracts revealed in a Fresnoland investigation published the day prior.

Less than a day after a two-part Fresnoland investigation into under-the-radar city contracts and expenses, Councilmember Brandon Vang announced city reforms he’d champion moving forward. 

In a Thursday statement, Vang said there’s a critical need to strengthen the city’s policies on contracting and “pass-through costs” — which is the main focus of the second half of Fresnoland’s investigation published Wednesday. 

“Current practices evaluate contracts individually rather than holistically and cumulatively, creating gaps in oversight,” Vang wrote in his statement. “When multiple contracts relate to the same scope of work and project, the total investment of taxpayer dollars must be viewed as a whole and subjected to City Council approval.”

While Vang, along with Councilmember Nick Richardson, held a very brief Wednesday news conference with few details about how they’d address gaps in transparency revealed in Fresnoland’s investigation. Vang’s Thursday statement offered a few more details. 

Vang outlined that the reforms he’d push for include ensuring that several contracts going to the same consultant with the same scope of work that cumulatively are worth more than the city’s contracts threshold must go before the Fresno City Council for approval.

It appears that already is current policy, but in the case of Luis Chavez — who formerly held the council seat Vang currently occupies — he was not prevented from entering into two $100,000 contracts with the same consultant for the same work.

Vang also said he wants to establish strict requirements for “pass-through costs.”

Even though payments between Chavez and political consultant Alex Tavlian’s company were greater than the city’s $100,000 contracts threshold, City Manager Georgeanne White told Fresnoland that more than $30,000 in Facebook ads don’t count toward it. That’s because they’re viewed as a pass-through expense, according to an internal legal memo that White and other city officials have cited — and refused to share with Fresnoland.

Vang also said he wants pass-through expenses to be included in a project’s total costs to the city. Vang is also seeking to implement mechanisms to safeguard public funds more generally, although his statement didn’t go into detail. 

“My responsibility is to the people of the City of Fresno,” Vang said in the statement” I remain committed to protecting taxpayer dollars, restoring public trust, and advancing policies that ensure accountability and transparency.”

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