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Council Member Gale Brewer opens the fiscal 2026 preliminary budget hearing for the Committee on Oversight and Investigations
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Council Member Gale Brewer, chair of the Committee on Oversight and Investigations, opens the fiscal year 2026 preliminary budget hearing for the Department of Investigation (DOI). She introduces the purpose of the hearing, provides an overview of DOI's budget, and expresses concerns about adequate funding for the department.
- Brewer highlights DOI's successful work over the past year, including coordinating with federal partners and issuing policy recommendations to city agencies.
- She emphasizes the importance of holding elected officials and agencies accountable.
- The committee plans to discuss the commissioner's plans for the coming year, including DOI's oversight role, federal funding resources, and staffing needs.
Gale Brewer
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Good morning.
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Thank you very much.
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Welcome to the fiscal twenty twenty six preliminary budget hearing for the committee on oversight and investigations.
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I am Gail Brewer.
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I am the chair of the committee.
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And today, we will review the Department of Investigation's fiscal twenty twenty six needs of the Department of Investigation and, frankly, the needs of the public.
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The department of investigation promotes and maintains integrity and efficiency in government operations across our city.
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DOI's fiscal twenty twenty six preliminary budget totals 55,000,000, including 24,600,000.0 for personal services to support 293 positions, I think it should be more, and 30,400,000.0 for other than personal services.
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I thank commissioner Stauber for and her team at DOI for their steadfast work over the past year.
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The Department of Investigation has successfully coordinated with federal partners, performed important investigations, and issued policy and procedural recommendations to city agencies, all with a very restrictive budget, and I'm sure we'll hear more about that.
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I look forward to continuing our conversations regarding oversight hearings.
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We have a lot of work ahead.
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Holding elected officials and agencies accountable should be a top priority for everyone.
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Today, we are interested in learning about the commissioner's plans for the department in the coming year, including DOI's role with the city as an oversight department, its federal funding resources, a general topic today's world, as well as how we can work together to improve in baseline the department staffing needs.
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The plan does include an additional 10 investigative and support positions according to the mayor.
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However, the committee is concerned that after years of reductions, the department is not adequately funded.
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We would like to discuss the concerns we have regarding its current budget.
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We would like to discuss budgetary decisions made by the administration and highlight the important role oversight agencies play in city government.
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I thank our committee staff and the Oversight and Investigations Division for their hard work.
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Owen Kotowski, Jack Storey, Nicole Kotam, Alex Yeoblan, Erica Cohen, Zachary Mayer.
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He has another name, but I just go with the short one, Kevin Frick, Katie Suneese, and my staff, Sam Goldstein.
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I'm looking forward to the hearing from the commissioner and I thank her and her staff.
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I don't think we have any colleague here yet, but now I'm gonna call on our counsel to swear in the commissioner.