Chapter 1.28
PUBLIC RECORDS
Sections:
1.28.010 Maintenance of records.
1.28.020 Exemptions.
1.28.030 Procedure for inspection or copying.
1.28.040 Reimbursement for copying costs.
1.28.050 Maintenance of cost schedule.
1.28.060 Official City business.
1.28.070 Procedure for review of decision.
1.28.010 Maintenance of records.
A. All substantive and procedural rules of general applicability, including, but not limited to, ordinances and resolutions by the City Council, minutes of the regular meetings of the City Council, statements of general policy, and all public contracts, deeds, easements and leases shall be indexed and maintained in the Office of the City Clerk for the use of the City and of the general public.
B. All police records shall be maintained in the Issaquah Police Department. Access to police records shall be in accordance with the policy established by the Police Department, pursuant to:
1. Chapter 10.97 RCW, Washington State Criminal Records Privacy Act:
2. WAC 365-50-070 through 365-50-150; and
3. Federal Regulations Title 28, Chapter 1, Department of Justice, Information Systems, subpart B-29.21.
C. All other such records of the City relating to the specific function or responsibility of a particular department shall be maintained for the use of the department and the general public in the office of the particular department. Such records shall include, but not be limited to: planning policies and goals, and interim and final planning decisions; factual staff reports and studies; factual consultant’s reports and studies; scientific reports and studies; and any other factual information derived from tests, studies, reports or surveys, whether conducted by City employees or others. (Ord. 1574 § 1, 1983).
1.28.020 Exemptions.
A. The following shall be exempt from public inspection and copying:
1. Personnel information and any files maintained for City employees, appointed or elected officials, to the extent the disclosure would violate their right to privacy. The only payroll or credit check information for City employees that may be released is name, salary range, position, date of hire, and date of termination;
2. Information required of any taxpayer or City license holder in connection with the assessment or collection of any tax or license fee if the disclosure of the information to other persons would violate the taxpayer’s or licensee’s right to privacy or would result in unfair competitive disadvantage to such taxpayer or licensee;
3. Specific intelligence information and specific investigative files compiled by the Issaquah Police Department, the nondisclosure of which is essential to effective law enforcement or for the protection of any person’s right to privacy;
4. Information revealing the identity of persons who file complaints with the Issaquah Police Department, if disclosure would endanger any person’s life, physical safety, or property; provided, that if at the time the complaint is filed, the complainant indicates a desire for disclosure or nondisclosure, such desire shall govern;
5. Test questions, scoring keys and other examination data used to administer a license, employment or civil service examination;
6. Except as provided by Chapter 8.26 RCW, the contents of any real estate appraisals made for or by any agency, including the City, relative to the acquisition of property by the City until the project is abandoned or until such time as all of the property has been acquired, but in no event shall disclosure be denied for more than 3 years after the date of the appraisal;
7. Valuable formula, designs, drawings and research data obtained or produced by the City, its officers, employees and agents within 5 years of any request for disclosure thereof, when disclosure would produce private gain and public loss;
8. Working papers: Preliminary drafts, notes, recommendations and intra-City memoranda in which opinions are expressed or policies formulated or recommended, unless such a record is publicly cited by the City of Issaquah in connection with any official City action.
a. Definitions of working papers:
Preliminary
prepared drafts: Outlines or narratives in rough form, which do not have administrative approval; and are not yet a part of any agency action.
Notes: All notes taken for personal use – not definitive statements; notations used as reminders.
Recommendations: Statements advising or suggesting a particular course of action.
Intra-City
correspondence: Correspondence stating opinions or recommending a particular course of action, written exclusively for the person(s) to whom it was directed.
b. Release of working papers: The definitions of working papers are guidelines that do not prohibit the dissemination of this type of information entirely. In some instances, projected policies are released to allow for public input before a final decision is made. If the custodian of a working paper wishes to release it prior to agency action he/she must obtain the approval of the City Administrator.
c. Identification/marking of working papers: Until such time as certain working papers are publicly cited in connection with official City action, those records containing highly sensitive information may be marked INTRA-CITY CORRESPONDENCE - NOT FOR PUBLIC DISCLOSURE or CONFIDENTIAL by the originator of the document. Such records may include, but not be limited to: strategy papers for labor negotiations, land sale or purchase negotiations, and communiques between City officers and City Attorney relating to sensitive or controversial issues and/or pending litigation.
Confidential materials, marked as such, are not to be shared with any individuals other than the addressee(s), as indicated on the face of the document;
9. Records which are relevant to a controversy to which the City or any of its officers, employees or agents is a party or may be a party, but which records would not be available to another party under the rules of pretrial discovery for causes pending in the superior courts;
10. Lists of individuals (i.e., business licensees, City employees, water/sewer accounts, etc.) requested for commercial purposes; provided, however, that lists of applicants for professional licenses and of professional licensees shall be made available to those professional associations or educational organizations recognized by their professional licensing or examination board upon payment of a reasonable charge therefor;
11. All applications for public employment, including the names of applicants, resumes, and other related materials submitted with respect to an applicant;
12. The residential addresses and residential telephone numbers of employees or volunteers of the City which are held by the City in personnel records, employment or volunteer rosters, or mailing lists of employees or volunteers;
13. The residential address and residential telephone numbers of the customers of a public utility contained in the records or lists held by the public utility of which they are customers;
14. Financial and commercial information and records supplied by businesses during application for loans or program services provided by Chapters 43.31, 43.63A, and 43.168 RCW.
B. The exemptions of this section shall be inapplicable to the extent that information, the disclosure of which would violate personal privacy or vital governmental interests, can be deleted from the specific records sought. No exemption shall be construed to permit the nondisclosure of statistical information not descriptive of any readily identifiable person or persons.
C. Inspection or copying of any specific records exempt under the provisions of this section may be permitted if the King County Superior Court finds, after a hearing with notice thereof to the City and every person in interest, that the exemption of such records is clearly unnecessary to protect any individual’s right of privacy or any vital governmental function.
D. Nothing in IMC 1.28.020(A)(11) through (13) shall affect a positive duty of the City to disclose or a positive duty to withhold information which duty to disclose or withhold is contained in any other law.
E. A person’s “right to privacy,” “right of privacy,” “privacy,” or “personal privacy” as these terms are used in this chapter is invaded or violated only if disclosure of information about the person: (1) would be highly offensive to a reasonable person and (2) is not of legitimate concern to the public. The provisions of this chapter dealing with the right to privacy in certain public records do not create any right of privacy beyond those rights that are specified in this chapter as express exemptions from the public’s right to inspect, examine, or copy public records. (Ord. 1770 §§ 1, 2, 3, 1987; Ord. 1574 § 2, 1983).
1.28.030 Procedure for inspection or copying.
A. Persons wishing to inspect or copy City records should first make such request to the Office of the City Clerk. If the request is for the record maintained or indexed in a particular department, the requestor shall be so advised. All assistance necessary to help the requestor locate the particular record shall be provided promptly either by the City Clerk’s office or by the particular department; provided, that the giving of such assistance does not unreasonably disrupt the normal operations of the department or the other duties of the assisting employee. Responses to inspect or copy records will be filled according to RCW 42.17.320 or its successor.
B. The City Clerk or other City employee shall not distinguish among persons requesting records, and such persons shall not be required to provide information as to the purpose for the request except to establish whether inspection and copying would violate RCW 42.17.260(5) or other statute or ordinance which exempts or prohibits disclosure of specific information or records to certain persons. (Ord. 2384 § 1, 2004; Ord. 1770 § 4, 1987; Ord. 1574 § 3, 1983).
1.28.040 Reimbursement for copying costs.
A. Copies of written records, copies of maps, photographs including slides, copies of audio tape recordings, and copies of video tape recordings shall be made and provided by the City upon request and payment of the actual cost of reproducing same.
B. The City Clerk is directed to prepare and have on file as a public document a schedule of such costs of reproduction. In determining the cost of reproduction, labor and mailing costs shall be includable factors. The cost schedule shall include, but not be limited to, the following records: street maps, zoning maps, zoning code, Issaquah Municipal Code, reprints of various titles of the Issaquah Municipal Code, annual Issaquah Municipal Code supplements, public meeting minutes, ordinances, resolutions, verbatims, deeds, contracts, and other records of the character contemplated in IMC 1.28.010.
C. Where the request is for a certified copy, there may be an additional charge to cover the additional expense and time required for certification. (Ord. 1574 § 4, 1983).
1.28.050 Maintenance of cost schedule.
When economic or other factors require a change in the established cost schedule, the City Clerk, in consultation with appropriate department heads, may change the schedule by filing a new schedule, which shall include the effective date of the revised costs. (Ord. 1574 § 5, 1983).
1.28.060 Official City business.
A department head may provide copies of City records at no charge to individuals or government agencies doing business with the City, if the department head determines such action is in the best interest of the City. (Ord. 1574 § 6, 1983).
1.28.070 Procedure for review of decision.
A. Whenever a member of the public has requested to inspect or copy an identifiable public record and that request has been denied, such person may submit a request to inspect or copy such record in writing to the City Clerk.
B. Upon receipt of such written request, if the record requested is other than a public record, or if the public record is exempt by law from inspection and copying, the City Clerk shall determine whether such request must be granted. If the City Clerk determines that the document is not exempt, or is exempt but could be made available after deletion of exempt portions, or deletions of portions which would violate personal privacy or vital governmental interest, the request shall be granted, provided that such exempt portions shall be deleted. If the request has been for copies, copies shall be made and delivered to the requestor upon payment of the appropriate fees.
C. If the City Clerk determines that the request is for an exempt document, the requesting party shall be notified by mail within 2 business days after receipt of the written request, setting forth the reasons for the decision to deny access to the record(s).
D. If the decision is to deny access, the party challenging the City Clerk’s decision shall be advised that their only recourse is through King County Superior Court, and that there is no other appeal procedure within the City. (Ord. 1574 § 7, 1983).