Politics & Government
OPINION: How Redwood City Subverts The Public Records Act Process!
An op-ed in the Daily Post made me think of how Redwood City subverts the Public Records Act process! Simple give the information away!
A timely op-ed in the San Mateo Daily Post made me think of how Redwood City subverts the Public Records Act (PRA) process! Think it is hard? Wrong! Just give away the information for free to a third party.
In the case noted in the op-ed in the San Mateo Daily Post the city of Milpitas is using "an insidious technique that some elected officials and government employees have used to subvert the public’s right to know what they’ve been up to. It’s known as a 'reverse California Public Records Act' lawsuit." A bit more complicated then Redwood City's solution it is a two step process that requires an initial lawsuit that makes the information private. Click on the link to the op-ed above to learn more.
At a Docktown community meeting, here in Redwood City, this past week we were discussing how Redwood City does this by giving all the information regarding Docktown away in our case to Overland, Pacific & Cutler. I know that they did this through a consent calendar item that I spoke against on March 27th item 6-1-c (http://agendas.redwoodcity.org/sirepub/pubmtgframe.aspx…)
Find out what's happening in Redwood City-Woodsidefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
In the more than fifty times that I have spoken in public comment, this is the only time that the city felt the need to have Mr. Aaron Aknin, the assistant city manager, follow up with me to try and explain why they had done this which he claimed to be for privacy reasons. As I stated in my public comment:
"Personally I am shocked to think that the city doesn't value this information and is willing to simply turn it over for FREE. We are in the Information Age. Information is not only power but has extraordinary value. Why would city staff be recommending that even though the city currently owns this information it should be given away for free."
Find out what's happening in Redwood City-Woodsidefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Not all together unexpectedly now it turns out that all the information is privileged and not available through California's Public Records Act Request (PRA) or the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). What a way for a city to be able to do things in whatever clandestine manner they so choose. Find a third party company and give them the rights to the information. It is really unconscionable.
What is your city doing in this regard?
