An embattled development agency controlled by Mayor Byron W. Brown has yet to comply with a Common Council request to release the names of employees who received bonuses –and how much they were paid.

Some lawmakers said they were dismayed to learn that 19 employees of the widely panned Buffalo Economic Renaissance Corp. received a total of $7,475 in bonuses last year, according to data compiled the state Authorities Budget Office. The city agency has been plagued by so many problems that Brown announced in February plans to abolish it and overhaul the city’s economic development process.

“Why are we giving bonuses to employees in an agency that is being dissolved because of poor performance?” asked Michael J. LoCurto, chairman of the Council’s Community Development Committee.

Last Tuesday, the Council adopted a resolution sponsored by LoCurto and Council Finance Committee Chairman Michael P. Kearns calling on agency officials to disclose details regarding the bonuses. As of Monday, no information had been released.

Agency President Dennis Penman did not return calls to comment. The administration was expected to argue that the payments were not performance- related bonuses, but were payments made to nonunion employees that mirrored longevity payments given to unionized workers as part of negotiated contracts.

If that’s the case, then administration officials should divulge more details about the payments, said Niagara Council Member David A. Rivera.

According to the state, more than 2,100 workers at six area public authorities received $5.1 million in bonuses in 2009.

LoCurto, Kearns and Rivera are also upset that the mayor has yet to detail strategies for revamping the economic development process. The Council last pressed the administration six weeks ago to divulge a long-term game plan for replacing the agency. Finance Commissioner Janet E. Penksa told lawmakers at a June 16 meeting the reform is a “very complicated process” that involves outside legal experts and accountants.

Kearns said it’s disappointing that the administration has yet to announce details of a restructuring that the mayor touted during his Feb. 19 State of the City speech.

“We need a concrete time-line,” Kearns said. “We need [the administration] to outline a critical path.”

While the agency continues to monitor its existing loan portfolio, officials confirmed last month that it is not approving new loans. Rivera said the cloud of uncertainty that hovers over the city’s economic development agency is troubling to some businesses that are seeking help.

Only last week, Rivera said, he met with someone seeking to open a car repair shop in the Niagara District and looking for information about city assistance programs. He said it’s difficult to provide guidance to entrepreneurs when nobody seems to know how city programs will be restructured.

bmeyer@buffnews.comnull