Chapter 4.12
PUBLIC INFORMATION
Sections:
4.12.010 Release of documentary public information.
4.12.020 Release of oral public information.
4.12.030 Public review file – Policy body communications.
4.12.040 Non-exempt public information.
4.12.060 Immediate disclosure request.
4.12.070 Withholding restrictions.
4.12.080 Justification for withholding.
4.12.100 Web site information.
4.12.110 Requests made by email.
4.12.120 Policy regarding purchase and use of computer systems.
4.12.010 Release of documentary public information.
Release of public records by a body or by any department, whether for inspection of the original or by providing a copy, shall be governed by the Public Records Act in any particulars not addressed by this chapter. The provisions of Government Code Section 6253.9 are incorporated herein by reference. (Ord. 05-06 § 1).
4.12.020 Release of oral public information.
Release of oral public information shall be accomplished as follows:
A. Every department director shall be responsible for being knowledgeable about the affairs of the respective agency or department, to facilitate the inspection and copying of public records and to provide oral public information about agency or department operations, plans, policies, and positions. The department will make every effort to facilitate the information requested and will make it a top priority.
B. It shall be the duty of the department director (or designee) or, in the case of requests not directed to a specific department, the city clerk to provide information on a timely and responsive basis to the public. It shall also be their duty to assist members of the public in identifying those public records they wish to obtain pursuant to Government Code Section 6253.1. This section shall not be interpreted to curtail existing informal contacts between employees and members of the public when these contacts are occasional, acceptable to the employee and the department, not disruptive of his or her operational duties and confined to accurate information not confidential by law.
C. Public employees and city board, commission or committee members shall not be discouraged from or disciplined for the expression of their personal opinions on any matter of public concern while not on duty, so long as the opinion is not represented as that of the city, department, board, commission or committee and does not materially misrepresent the city, department, board, commission or committee’s position. Nothing in this section shall be construed to provide rights to public employees beyond those recognized by law or agreement, or to create any new private cause of action or defense to disciplinary action. (Ord. 05-06 § 1).
4.12.030 Public review file – Policy body communications.
Every body specified in BMC 4.04.050 shall maintain a communications file, organized chronologically and accessible to any person during normal business hours, containing a copy of any letter, memorandum or other writing pertaining to the body’s duties which the clerk or secretary of such body has distributed to, or sent on behalf of, a quorum of the body concerning a matter that has been placed on the body’s agenda within the previous 30 days or is scheduled or requested to be placed on the agenda within the next 30 days. Excepted from the communications file shall be commercial solicitations, mail sent bulk-rate, agenda and agenda-related material, periodical publications or communications exempt from disclosure under the California Public Records Act or this title. Multiple-page reports, studies or analyses which are accompanied by a letter or memorandum of transmittal need not be included in the communications file; provided, that the letter or memorandum of transmittal is included in the communications file and the reports, studies or analyses are readily available for review. (Ord. 05-06 § 1).
4.12.040 Non-exempt public information.
Notwithstanding any right or duty to withhold certain information under the California Public Records Act or other law, the following shall govern specific types of requests for documents and information:
A. Drafts and Memoranda. No completed preliminary drafts or memoranda shall be exempt from disclosure under Government Code Section 6254(a) if said completed preliminary draft or memorandum has been retained in the ordinary course of business or pursuant to law or agency or department policy. Completed preliminary drafts and memoranda concerning agreements, memoranda of understanding or other matters subject to negotiation and pending a body’s approval need not be subject to disclosure until final action has been taken or said document is included as part of the public agenda packet for the body, whichever is first.
B. Litigation Material. Unless otherwise privileged or made confidential by law, records of all communications between a body’s representatives and the adverse party shall be subject to public inspection and copying, including the text and terms of any settlement agreement, once the pending litigation has been settled or finally adjudicated.
C. Personnel Information. None of the following shall be exempt from disclosure under Government Code Section 6254(c):
1. Job pool information, to the extent such information is compiled for reporting purposes and does not permit the identification of any particular individual. Such job pool information may include the following:
a. Sex, age and ethnic group;
b. Years of graduate and undergraduate study, degree(s) and major or discipline;
c. Years of employment in the private and/or public sector;
d. Whether currently employed in the same position for another public agency;
e. Other non-identifying particulars as to experience credentials, aptitudes, training or education entered in or attached to a standard employment application form used for the positioning in question.
2. The job description of every employment classification.
3. The resumes of employees, although personal information such as home address shall be deleted.
4. Any adopted memorandum of understanding between the city and a recognized employee organization.
D. Law Enforcement Information.
1. The Benicia police department shall cooperate with all members of the public making requests for law enforcement records and documents under the California Public Records Act or other applicable law. Unless disclosure of the records sought is prohibited by other provisions of state or federal law such as the TNG Order, records and documents exempt from disclosure under the California Records Act pertaining to any investigation, arrest or other law enforcement activity shall be disclosed to the public to the full extent permitted by law after the district attorney or court determines that a prosecution will not be sought against the subject involved or the statute of limitations for filing charges has expired, whichever occurs first. Information may be redacted from such records and documents and withheld if, based upon the particular facts, the public interest in nondisclosure clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure. The final decision for disclosure shall be made by the city council and the vote and reasoning of each city council member shall be made public on all nondisclosures. Such redacted information may include:
a. The names of juvenile witnesses or suspects;
b. Personal or otherwise private information related or unrelated to the investigation if disclosure would constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy;
c. The identity of a confidential source;
d. Secret investigative techniques or procedures;
e. Information whose disclosure would endanger law enforcement personnel, a witness, or party to the investigation; or
f. Information whose disclosure would endanger the successful completion of an investigation where the prospect of enforcement proceedings is likely.
2. The Benicia police department shall maintain a record, which shall be a public record and which shall be separate from the personnel records of the agency, which reports the number of citizen complaints against law enforcement agencies or officers, the number and types of cases in which discipline is imposed and the nature of the discipline imposed. This record shall be maintained in a format which assures that the names and other identifying information of individual officers involved is not disclosed directly or indirectly.
E. Contracts, Bids and Proposals. Contracts, contract bids, responses to requests for proposals and all other records of communications between the city and individuals or business entities seeking contracts shall be open to inspection and copying following the contract award or acceptance of a contract offer. Nothing in this provision requires the disclosure of a person’s net worth or other proprietary financial information submitted for qualification for a contract.
F. Budgets and Other Financial Information. The following shall not be exempt from disclosure:
1. Any proposed or adopted budget for the city, including any of their respective agencies, departments, programs, projects or other categories, which have been submitted to a majority of the members of the city council, or their standing committees.
2. All bills, claims, invoices, vouchers or other records of payment obligations, as well as records of actual disbursements showing the amount paid, the payee and the purpose for which payment is made, other than payments for social, legal or other services whose records are confidential by law. The nonconfidential portion, if any, of such records shall be disclosed.
G. Email correspondence retained in the ordinary course of business and not exempt from disclosure shall be made available within three working days upon written or oral request. All such email shall be maintained for two years before being destroyed. (Ord. 05-06 § 1).
4.12.050 Disclosure requests.
A. Notwithstanding any other provision of law and subject to the requirements of this section, a written or oral request to inspect or obtain copies of public records that is submitted to any department or to any body shall be satisfied no later than five business days unless the requestor is advised in writing within one business day that additional time is needed to determine whether:
1. The request seeks disclosable public records or information;
2. The requested records are in the possession of the department processing the request;
3. The requested records are stored in a location outside of the department;
4. The requested records likely comprise a voluminous amount of separate and distinct writings;
5. Reasonably involves another department or other local or state agency that has a substantial subject matter interest in the requested records and which must be consulted in connection with the request.
B. All determinations made pursuant to subsections (A)(1) through (A)(5) of this section shall be communicated in writing to the requestor within five business days of the date of the request. In no event shall any disclosable records be provided for inspection or copying any later than 10 business days after the written determination pursuant to subsections (A)(1) through (A)(5) of this section is communicated to the requestor. Additional time shall not be permitted to delay a routine or readily answerable request. The written request shall also contain a telephone number, email or facsimile number whereby the requestor may be contacted. The provisions of Government Code Section 6253 shall apply to any written request that fails to state a number by which the requestor may be contacted.
C. The person seeking the information need not state a reason for making the request or the use to which the information will be put, but shall be advised that providing such information may help the city assist the person finding all documents responsive to their request.
D. Unless the record request will be satisfied within one business day, an acknowledgement of receipt of the request or notification that additional time is needed pursuant to subsection (A) of this section shall be sent to the requestor if an address has been provided. (Ord. 05-06 § 1).
4.12.060 Immediate disclosure request.
A. An immediate disclosure request is a request for (1) public records which have been previously distributed to the public, such as past meeting agendas and agenda-related materials, within the past calendar year, or (2) public records such as statements of economic interests that have, by other law, a requirement to be disclosed within a specific shortened time frame. All immediate disclosure requests shall describe the records sought in as focused and specific language as possible so they can be readily identified and shall state the words "Immediate Disclosure Request" across the top of the first page of the request and on any envelope in which the request is transmitted.
B. Notwithstanding any other provision of law and subject to the requirements of this section, a written or oral request to inspect or obtain copies of public records pursuant to an immediate disclosure request that is submitted to any department or to any body shall be satisfied at the earlier of the time required by other law or no later than two business days unless the requestor is advised in writing within two business days that additional time is needed because of the volume of records sought or because the records do not qualify as subject to the immediate disclosure request procedure.
C. All determinations made pursuant to subsection (B) of this section shall be communicated in writing to the requestor within two business days of the date of the request. If additional time is needed or if the records do not qualify for an immediate disclosure request, the request shall be processed in accordance with BMC 4.12.050. (Ord. 05-06 § 1).
4.12.070 Withholding restrictions.
A. No record shall be withheld from disclosure in its entirety unless all information contained in it is exempt from disclosure by law.
B. Any redacted, deleted or segregated information shall be keyed by footnote or other clear reference to the appropriate justification for withholding. Such redaction, deletion or segregation shall be done personally by the attorney or other staff member conducting the exemption review. (Ord. 05-06 § 1).
4.12.080 Justification for withholding.
Any withholding of information shall be justified, in writing, as follows:
A. A withholding under a permissive exemption in the California Public Records Act or this title shall cite the legal authority and, where the exemption is based on the public interest in favor of not disclosing, explain in practical terms how the public interest would be harmed by disclosure.
B. A withholding on the basis that disclosure is prohibited by law shall cite the applicable legal authority.
C. A withholding on the basis that disclosure would incur civil or criminal liability shall cite any statutory or case law supporting that position.
D. The final decision for withholding information shall be made by the city council. The matter shall be scheduled for action at the next regularly scheduled city council meeting unless such meeting is more than 30 days from the date of the request for action by the council. In the event that the next regular meeting is more than 30 days away, a special meeting shall be called. If the council decides records should be disclosed, the records shall be disclosed not later than 5:00 p.m. of the next business day following the council meeting unless the council specifies some other time. Each council member’s vote and general reason shall be given and recorded in public. Detailed reasons need not be provided when such disclosure would compromise privacy or confidential matters or would subject the city to litigation. (Ord. 07-05 § 1; Ord. 05-06 § 1).
4.12.090 Fees for copying.
A. No fee shall be charged for making public records available for inspection.
B. No fee shall be charged for a single copy of a current meeting agenda.
C. A fee may be charged for:
1. Single or multiple copies of past meeting agendas or any agenda-related materials;
2. Multiple copies of a current meeting agenda; and
3. Any other public record copied in response to a specific request.
D. The city may, rather than making copies itself, contract at market rate to have a commercial copier produce the duplicates and charge the cost directly to the requester.
E. All drafts or final environmental impact reports and environmental impact statements shall be posted either on the city’s web site or on the consultant’s web site.
F. In addition to the copies routinely required for city official or staff use, the city shall require the applicant for a project that is, or will be, of widespread public interest to pay for up to 20 copies of documents such as environmental impact reports. These copies will be provided on a first-come, first-serve basis at no cost to members of the public. The city manager or designee shall determine if and how many extra copies will be required on a case by case basis.
G. All fees permitted under this section shall be determined and specified in the city of Benicia master fee schedule, as amended. When the cost of writing a receipt and collecting the fees required under this section would exceed the cost of the copies, the copying fee shall be waived. The master fee schedule shall note the maximum amount that may be waived.
H. Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as intending to preempt any fee set by or in compliance with state law. (Ord. 06-11 § 5; Ord. 05-06 § 1).
4.12.100 Web site information.
Each department shall make an effort to ensure its portion of the city’s web site is kept current. Each department shall also post public documents that are of interest to a wide number of the public. (Ord. 05-06 § 1).
4.12.110 Requests made by email.
To ensure that email requests are received, records requests made by email shall not be effective until acknowledged by a return email of the city. Immediately upon receipt of an email request for records, the employee shall promptly acknowledge the request by a return email. Departments may establish a designated staff member or designated email address to receive email records requests. (Ord. 05-06 § 1).
4.12.120 Policy regarding purchase and use of computer systems.
A. It is the policy of the city to utilize computer technology in order to reduce the cost of public records management, including the costs of collecting, maintaining, and disclosing records subject to disclosure to members of the public under this chapter. To the extent that it is technologically and economically feasible, departments that use computer systems to collect and store public records shall select these systems to ensure convenient, efficient, and economical public access to records.
B. Departments purchasing new computer systems shall attempt to reach the following goals as a means to achieve lower costs to the public in connection with the public disclosure of records:
1. Implementing a computer system in which exempt information is segregated or filed separately from otherwise disclosable information.
2. Implementing a system that permits paper reproduction of electronic copies of records.
C. Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to require the city to use a system that would prevent it from complying with the security requirements of the state and federal governments for accessing their records. (Ord. 05-06 § 1).