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Q&A
Chair presses MOIA on delayed responses to Council inquiries
0:40:24
·
4 min
Chair Alexa Avilés confronts MOIA Commissioner Manuel Castro about the agency's consistent lack of response to Council questions, emphasizing the importance of timely information for budget deliberations. Castro apologizes for delays and explains the approval process for responses.
- Avilés demands a specific timeframe for responses to long-overdue questions
- Castro cites approval processes as a reason for delays but commits to improving response times
Alexa Avilés
0:40:24
So in my opening statement, I mentioned a consistent lack of response from your agency.
0:40:34
And here we are at the preliminary budget meeting.
0:40:38
And if we do not get responses from your agency to questions in an adequate fashion, how does how do you expect for us to engage in a thoughtful, meaningful deliberation around your operations and your budgetary needs when you do not respond to questions?
Manuel Castro
0:41:01
Well, thank you, chair, for your concern.
0:41:06
We'll work to answer your questions here today.
0:41:10
And if we haven't gotten back to you on previous questions, you know, we do apologize for any delays in getting back to you and your team.
0:41:24
I'd love to know more about the questions that we haven't responded to you, but I would also like to say that Moya, as with any other city office or agency, has to go through a number of different approvals before we are able to respond to requests from city council and and others.
0:41:44
And that often takes a significant time to to engage with the processes in place.
0:41:52
But, again, we will work to answer as many questions during this hearing, and we'll work to get to you responses as as soon as possible.
Alexa Avilés
0:42:03
So, commissioner, I need you to commit to a very specific time frame.
0:42:09
We asked questions last year for several months, which I don't know if it's a problem of competence, if it's a problem of lack of staffing, which we've pointed out and we will get into.
0:42:26
But we cannot sit here in a deliberation when this agency can't even respond to basic questions, and we have sent them several times.
0:42:34
And I think it is both irresponsible to sit here and just ignore the fact that this continues to occur.
0:42:43
So I need your finite commitment to fully respond to all the questions that we have sent over on the record in a timely we are way past the deadline, like, eminently.
Manuel Castro
0:42:58
Well, here with me are two very important deputy commissioners in my team, which I'm proud to say have been pillars of our office.
0:43:14
We work together to respond to questions.
0:43:17
Generally, it takes two weeks for us to develop responses.
0:43:21
But as I just share with you, we're not an independent body.
0:43:26
We need to go through a number of different approval processes before the information gets to you, but you have our commitment from our office to be able to respond to questions.
0:43:38
But when once these things leave our offices, there are a number of other steps that need to happen before we are able to get to you.
Alexa Avilés
0:43:49
Six months.
0:43:50
You haven't responded to questions in six months.
0:43:53
Owasso has the same problem.
0:43:56
Owasso also, we have sent over questions, and we have no responses from you.
0:44:01
You have a doubled budget.
0:44:03
And what is the excuse for Owasso not being able to respond in a timely fashion?
Molly Schaefer
0:44:07
So we have less than half the budget of Moya which we mentioned in testimony.
0:44:13
But in in terms of the actual questions that you're talking about, we're gonna get them to you by the end of the week.
0:44:18
We are under the same constraints that Moya are, that we are not an independent body.
0:44:23
We operate in an infrastructure with a lot of different approval processes, but we commit that those questions that you're asking about we will get to you by the end of the week.