Chapter 2.54
RECORDS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
Sections:
2.54.030 Ownership of public records
2.54.040 Inspection of public records.
2.54.050 Withholding records from inspection.
2.54.060 Right to receive copy of public record.
2.54.080 Adherence to federal, state and local rules required.
2.54.090 City clerk—Coordinating duties.
2.54.100 Responsibilities of city departments.
2.54.110 Destruction of public records.
2.54.010 Purpose.
The purpose of this chapter is to provide for the proper and efficient management of the public records of the city. (Ord. 609 § 1, 1977).
2.54.020 Definitions.
(a) "City clerk" means the city clerk or the designated representative of the city clerk.
(b) "Disposition" means the allocation of public records to a particular location according to their categorization, or for destruction.
(c) "Public record" means any writing, regardless of physical form or characteristics which is created, owned, used, maintained, or retained in the conduct of city business and preserved as evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities, or because of the informational value of data contained therein. "Public record" does not include the records and files of the city attorney customarily maintained in his office and those certain records which are not retained by the city in the ordinary course of business. Such exempt records include, but are not limited to, preliminary drafts notes, interagency or intra-agency memoranda, messages and notes customarily discarded, confidential communications from the city attorney, stenographic notes, tapes used in transcription, and rough drafts.
(d) "Records center" means a central repository for housing all inactive records until they have met their specific retention requirements, or other records which are stored and preserved from destruction due to legal, operating or historical reasons.
(e) "Records management" means the systematic control of the creation, acquisition, processing, use, protection, storage, and final disposition of all public records, including the establishment and maintenance of a system of filing and indexing public records.
(f) "Retention schedule" means the document describing records maintained by city departments and specifying, in accordance with statutory requirements or evaluation, the period of time established for their retention which must elapse before destruction may be made of a body of records.
(g) "Writing" means handwriting, typewriting, printing, photostating, photographing, and every other means of recording upon any form of communication or representation, including letters, words, pictures, sounds, or symbols, or combination thereof and all papers, maps, magnetic or paper tapes, photographic films and prints, magnetic or punched cards, discs, drums, and other documents. (Ord. 609 § 2, 1977).
2.54.030 Ownership of public records.
All public records shall be the property of the city; and, in this regard such records shall be delivered by outgoing officials and employees to their successors. (Ord. 609 § 3, 1977).
2.54.040 Inspection of public records.
Except as in this chapter, provided, every person shall have the right to inspect any public record, according to procedures established by the City Council or its designated representative for such inspection. The following records shall be exempt from inspection:
(a) Preliminary drafts, notes interagency or intra-agency memoranda, or other records which are not retained by the city in the ordinary course of business or are not defined as a public record in subsection (c) of Section 2.54.020 hereof;
(b) Records pertaining to pending litigation to which the city is a party, or claims made pursuant to Division 3.6 of Title 1 or the California Government Code, until such litigation or claim has been finally adjudicated or otherwise settled;
(c) Personnel, medical, or similar files, the disclosure of which would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy;
(d) Records relating to complaints to or investigations conducted by, or records of intelligence information or security procedures of the police department or any such investigatory or security files compiled by the city for correctional, law enforcement or licensing purposes;
(e) Test questions, scoring keys, and other examination data used to administer a licensing or employment examination;
(f) The contents of real estate appraisals, engineering or feasibility estimates and evaluations made for or by the city relative to the acquisition of property or to prospective public supply and construction contracts, until such time as all the property has been acquired or all of the contract agreement obtained; provided, however, the law of eminent domain shall not be affected by this provision;
(g) Information required from any taxpayer in connection with the collection of local taxes which is received in confidence and the disclosure of which to other persons would result in unfair competitive disadvantage to the person supplying such information;
(h) Library or historical materials made or acquired and presented solely for the purpose of reference or exhibition;
(i) Records the disclosure of which is exempted or prohibited pursuant to provisions of the Evidence Code relating to privilege;
(j) Statements of personal worth or personal financial data required by a licensing agency and filed by an applicant with such licensing agency to establish his personal qualification for the license, certificate, or permit applied for.
Nothing in this section is to be construed as preventing the city from opening its records concerning the administration of the city to public inspection, unless disclosure is otherwise prohibited by law. (Ord. 609 § 4, 1977).
2.54.050 Withholding records from inspection.
The city may justify withholding any record by demonstrating that the record in question is exempt under applicable provisions of the California Government Code, or that on the facts of the particular case, the public interest served by not making the record public clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure of the record. (Ord. 609 § 5, 1977).
2.54.060 Right to receive copy of public record.
Any person may receive a copy of any identifiable public record or copy thereof. Upon request, an exact copy shall be provided unless it is impracticable to do so. A request for a copy of an identifiable public record or information produced therefrom, or a certified copy of such record, shall be accompanied by a fee in an amount established by resolution of the City Council. (Ord. 609 § 6, 1977).
2.54.070 City Council duties.
The responsibility for the keeping and management of all public records of the city shall rest with the City Council. (Ord. 609 § 7(a), 1977).
2.54.080 Adherence to federal, state and local rules required.
It shall be the duty of each officer and employee of the city to protect, preserve, store, transfer, destroy or otherwise dispose of, use and manage public records only in accordance with applicable federal, state or local law, or such rules as may be promulgated or approved by the City Council. (Ord. 609 § 7(b), 1977).
2.54.090 City clerk—Coordinating duties.
It shall be the duty of the city clerk to coordinate the records management program for the city. In this regard, the city clerk may, among all other things that may be required for the proper and efficient management of the public records of the city:
(1) Develop and circulate such instructions and regulations as may be necessary and proper to implement and maintain the records management program;
(2) Advise and assist city departments in the preparation of records inventory and retention schedules;
(3) Provide and maintain a records center to house records no longer required in active office areas, but which records require further retention due to legal, operating or historical reasons; and maintain an index to all records stored in the center;
(4) Advise and assist city departments in reviewing and selecting material to be transferred to the records center for preservation;
(5) Advise and assist, as the city clerk deems necessary, city departments in conducting surveys, studies and investigations as will assist in promoting a proper and efficient records management program for the city, including information retrieval systems;
(6) Submit records retention schedules which affect the destruction of records to the City Council for approval;
(7) Develop procedures for the protection of city records against natural or other disasters. (Ord. 609 § 7(c), 1977).
2.54.100 Responsibilities of city departments.
City departments shall establish and maintain an active, continuing program for the economical and efficient management of the public records of the department. Such program shall, among other things, provide for:
(1) Effective controls over the creation, maintenance and use of public records in the conduct of business;
(2) Promotion of the maintenance and security of records deemed appropriate for preservation;
(3) Segregation and disposal of records of temporary value in accordance with established retention schedules.
Those public records which are not required in the current operation of the office where they are made or kept, and all public records which can properly be abolished or discontinued, shall be destroyed in accordance with subsection (a) of Section 2.54.110, or shall be transferred to the records center so that the selected historical records of the city may be centralized, made more widely available, and insured permanent preservation. (Ord. 609 § 7(d), 1977).
2.54.110 Destruction of public records.
(a) Generally. The City Council may, by approving the records retention schedules, grant to city officers and department heads the authority to destroy duplicate records less than two years old if they are no longer required in accordance with the retention periods established in the schedules. Requests for the destruction of original records, without making a copy thereof and in accordance with established retention schedules, shall be forwarded to the city attorney for his written consent and to the City Council for its approval as provided by provisions of the California Government Code governing municipalities. This section does not authorize the destruction of original records of:
(1) Records affecting the title to real property or liens thereon;
(2) Court records;
(3) Records required to be kept by statute;
(4) Records less than two years old;
(5) The minutes, ordinances, or resolutions of the City Council or of a city board or commission.
This section shall not be construed as limiting or qualifying in any manner the authority provided in subsection (b) for the destruction of records, documents, instruments, books and papers in accordance with the procedure therein prescribed.
(b) Conditions of Destruction. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), the city officer having custody of public records, documents, instruments, books, and papers, may, without the approval of the City Council or the written consent of the city attorney, cause to be destroyed any or all of such records, documents, instruments, books, and papers, if all the following conditions are met:
(1) The record, paper, or document is photographed, microphotographed, or reproduced on film of a type approved for permanent photographic records by the National Bureau of Standards.
(2) The device used to reproduce such record, paper or document on film is one which accurately and legibly reproduces the original thereof in all details.
(3) The photographs, microphotographs, or other reproductions on film are made as accessible for public reference as the book records were.
(4) A true copy of archival quality of such film reproductions shall be kept in a safe and separate place for security purposes.
No page of any record, paper or document shall be destroyed if any such page cannot be reproduced on film with full legibility. Every such unreproducible page shall be permanently preserved in a manner that will afford easy reference. (Ord. 609 § 7(e) and (f), 1977).