Approval of a Five-Year Agreement with Govinity, Inc. for Legislative and Public Meeting Management Software Services. 

Adopt a resolution approving a five-year agreement with Govinity, Inc. for legislative and public meeting management software services in an amount not to exceed $182,500 and authorizing the City Manager to execute the necessary documents.

Nicolle Hall, CMC, Deputy City Clerk

The city currently uses Granicus Peak Agenda Management for agenda preparation, publication, and public meeting functions. Staff has experienced ongoing operational and customer support issues, including a software outage during the September 3, 2026, Finance Subcommittee meeting when Granicus customer support was unavailable by phone. On another occasion, Granicus staff was unable to provide a solution to a technical issue, requiring city staff to develop code-assisted workarounds using AI tools. These recent examples are representative of ongoing issues that led staff to evaluate alternative meeting management solutions.

Govinity combines the city's meeting management functions into four integrated modules. Tenure manages boards and commissions; Agenda supports staff report drafting, routing, approvals, packet assembly, and public posting; The Record provides streaming, captioning, transcription, minutes, and a searchable public archive; and Live provides live clerk minutes, voting, in-chamber display, and meeting-night controls. Microsoft 365 and single sign-on integration are also included.

For departmental staff, Microsoft 365 integration will allow staff to prepare staff reports in Microsoft Word while remaining within the agenda workflow, providing a more familiar and efficient drafting process.

Accessibility is a key benefit of the Govinity platform. The system meets WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards, which are guidelines designed to make websites and online information accessible to people with disabilities. Features include keyboard navigation, screen-reader support, accessible agenda packets, live captions, searchable transcripts, and meeting records linked to agenda items. These features make City meeting information easier for the public to access and help the city meet accessibility requirements. Govinity also provides translation tools to make meeting information available in other languages.

Granicus sales and customer support staff have advised City staff that Granicus is no longer investing staff time or financial resources in updating the version of Peak currently used by the City. To obtain updated functionality, the city would need to transition to a more expensive Granicus product. Such an upgrade would require another software transition and additional cost, while not addressing the City's ongoing concerns regarding Granicus customer service and technical support.

Govinity provides meeting-focused customer support, including live in-app assistance during evening meetings. The city will have a dedicated implementation and support team, role-based training, and an engineer on standby for the first live-broadcast Council meeting. This responsive support is particularly valuable when technical issues arise during live public meetings.

Implementation is scheduled to begin in October 2026, with full transition by July 1, 2027. Staff recommends Govinity based on its functionality, accessibility, ease of use, customer support, and lower recurring cost.

The Govinity annual subscription is $35,000, compared with the City's current Granicus cost of $37,525, saving $2,525 annually. The five-year agreement totals $182,500, including $7,500 for implementation, migration, and training, for an estimated five-year savings of $5,125.