Under California law, government records are supposed to be available for inspection by the public during normal business hours.
It doesn’t always work out that way.
Last fall, U-T Watchdog requested a variety of documents, including inspection records, invoices and purchase orders from the construction of the new $4.7 million lifeguard tower at Children’s Pool beach in La Jolla.
A reporter visited the Facilities Department during business hours in September to obtain some of the requested records in person. Roy Kirby, a city facilities manager, had the requested documents in hand but declined to release them.
“I don’t know what to tell you,” Kirby said when U-T Watchdog cited the California Public Records Act. “I’m going to follow the city’s rules.”
Kirby said city procedure prohibited him from releasing public records to the public without approval from the city attorney and other staff involved in a new online records portal called NextRequest. All records had to be released through the NextRequest process, he said.
Is new portal speeding or slowing city records requests? »
The U-T has been attempting to review compliance with public records law under the NextRequest system. City officials declined to release data contained in the portal for such a review. Using publicly posted data, U-T Watchdog determined that requests are taking 14.5 days on average — not including pending requests that are not visible to the public.
Craig Gustafson, a spokesman for Mayor Kevin Faulconer, said nobody is required to use NextRequest. If users prefer an alternative route, the city provides documents via email or hard copies in person, he said.
Gustafson said the city has received more than 3,000 requests — a record high — and filing one has never been easier.
“Once those records are uploaded [to NextRequest], they are then available for anyone to see in a searchable database,” Gustafson said. “This is an unprecedented level of transparency provided to the public for about $20,000 a year.”
He said the city has received fewer than 10 complaints about NextRequest since it launched in March.
The records system is powered by a San Francisco-based vendor of the same name. It requires users to create an account and provide various information about themselves to request records through an online form.
Experts say a system like NextRequest could end up tacking on additional red tape and preventing some members of the public from access to the government they fund with their taxes.
According to David Cuillier, University of Arizona’s School of Journalism director and former chairman of the Society of Professional Journalist’s Freedom of Information Committee, an online portal can be a great tool for local governments, but it shouldn’t be the only option available.
San Diego says it runs no reports to track progress on city record requests »
“It’s excluding a bunch of people that don’t have regular access to the internet, or maybe don’t feel comfortable using it,” Cuillier said. “It just seems like they’re shutting out a large portion of the population that may be in need of information, but can’t get it.”
According to Jodi Cleesattle, a California government attorney on the Society of Professional Journalists Freedom of Information Committee, a city is entitled to establish rules on how to process requests.
“It’s supposed to be set up where people have easy access, but there can be someone overseeing requests so that sensitive information is not released,” Cleesattle said. “Unfortunately, that does mean there could be more delays in the process.”
The law states that such rules are allowed — but only if the procedures “allow for faster, more efficient, or greater access to records.”
According to city emails, Charlene Ayers of El Cajon wrote several messages to Faulconer’s office expressing her frustrations with the new system.
On Nov. 11, Ayers requested a report that was submitted to the City of San Diego’s Park and Recreation Department in June. Ayers mentioned in the request that the report, which studied sea lions in the La Jolla Cove area, was also referenced in a La Jolla Light article in July.
Three days later, city staff asked if Ayers had tried asking the “City of La Jolla” for the report.
“Did you really say that La Jolla is its own city? It is not,” Ayers replied. “Please get someone to address this request who knows that La Jolla is under the City of San Diego’s jurisdiction.”
City staff later said the message was meant as a suggestion, since going through the La Jolla Town Council might be quicker than using the city’s public records process.
“I merely suggested what I did thinking it would be easier for you to obtain [the report] that way,” said the city’s response. “Our Park & Recreation department will respond to you. Please let us know if you are successful in obtaining the report sooner.”
According to NextRequest records, the report was posted online about a week later, but Ayers encountered another road-block in the process.
She was unable to create an online account to access the documents. Ayers said she alerted city staff to the problem and heard back from Lea Fields-Bernard, the city’s Public Records Act request coordinator.
“We have been available to the public since March and you are the only person from whom I have received this complaint,” Fields-Bernard said in an email to Ayers.
“As a longtime user of the Public Records Act, this is the lamest of any system that I have encountered,” Ayers said in an email to Gustafson. “Multiple delays… then apparently the document became available yesterday but there was no way I could access it, if it exists, because this system would not let me set up an account. Turning this public service over to a private agency was a very bad idea.”
Ayers said she eventually received the report via email from Gustafson. The entire process took 20 days.
Keach said city staff are currently working with NextRequest and other stakeholders to ensure community members have access to information on the portal, including data on the city’s performance responding to requests.
“We are also examining ways to communicate more efficiently with requesters throughout the process,” she said. “So all parties are clear on the information being requested and released.”
Has a San Diego city official ever told you a public records request must be submitted through the NextRequest system? Tell Lauryn Schroeder via Twitter or Email.
