CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA

Council Report
August 5, 2014
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Jason Stilwell, City Administrator
Submitted by: Jason Stilwell, City Administrator
Subject: Consideration of a Resolution Adopting the California Public Records Act
Response Policy.
______________________________________________________________________________
Recommendation(s): Policy discussion of the City Council.
Executive Summary: The California Public Records Act (CPRA) is set forth in California
Government Code Section 6250 et seq. It is the policy of the City of
Carmel-by-the-Sea that the CPRA be construed broadly in favor of public
disclosure consistent with the law. It is the policy of the City of Carmel
by the Sea to provide public access to all public documents, not exempt
from disclosure during regular City office hours. To that end, the
purpose of this policy is to provide procedural guidelines for disclosure
of the City of Carmel by the Sea public records pursuant to the CPRA.
The City has Administrative policies and Council policies as established in
Council Policy C89-1 (Resolution 89-33). The purposed is to express the
policies of the City Council and staff of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea and
the implementation guidelines by establishing lines of authority and
setting forth standards for the content of policies and procedures
without, in any way, limiting or restricting the Council or City
Administrators authority to act by ordinance, resolution, agreement,
motion or other expression of City direction or intent.
Policy 89-1 further states that policies and procedures will:
Be directives of the City Council or City Administrator (directed to
the staff) and be Citywide in scope
State management principles, precepts, and standards
Provide decision-making guidelines and operating parameters for
the City Council and staff
Provide standard answers for questions frequently asked and that
anticipate and provide for action
August 5, 2014 Regular City Council Meeting
Page 136
Delineate courses of action required; and/or document
interdepartmental agreement and coordination for recurrent
and/or ongoing situations

All policies and procedures will emanate from the City Council or, from the City Administrator if
policies for City employees.
Analysis/Discussion: Ensuring local residents have full access to any and all information at
City Hall is a top priority. In November 2011 the City created the
California Public Records Act response procedures.
February 6, 2014 City adopted Administrative Policy AP-201 setting forth a Public Records
Response Policy establishing the purpose, policy, and procedures for the
City responding to California Public Records Act requests.
The procedures and Administrative Policy is consistent with
requirements and facilitates the ability of the City to respond quickly to
all information requests including official public records request.
Fiscal Impact: None
Budgeted (yes/no) Funding Source( general fund, grant, state)




Previous Council
Action/Decision History: None
Attachment: Resolution













Reviewed by:
City Administrator City Attorney Administrative Services
Asst. City Admin. Dir of CPB Dir of Public Svcs
Public Safety Dir Library Dir Other______________
City Engineer




August 5, 2014 Regular City Council Meeting
Page 137
CITY COUNCIL
CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA

RESOLUTION 2014-

A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA ADOPTING CITYS CALIFORNIA PUBLIC RECORDS ACT RESPONSE POLICY.

WHEREAS, the California Public Records Act (CPRA) is set forth in California Government
Code Section 6250 et seq. It is the policy of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea that the CPRA be
construed broadly in favor of public disclosure consistent with the law. It is the policy of the
City of Carmel by the Sea to provide public access to all public documents, not exempt from
disclosure during regular City office hours. To that end, the purpose of this policy is to provide
procedural guidelines for disclosure of the City of Carmel by the Sea public records pursuant to
the CPRA; and

WHEREAS, it is important the City maintain consistency in the process for responding to
California Public Records Act (CPRA) requests. This City Council Policy is to serve as guidance
and direction in processing the Citys Public Records Act responses; and

WHEREAS, the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea adopt the Procedures for the CPRA and act within
the policy set forth; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARMEL-
BY-THE-SEA DOES:

1. Adopt the California Public Records Act Response Policy Exhibit A to improve upon
the public access to all public documents, not exempt from disclosure during regular
office hours.

PASSED AND ADOPTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA on
this 5th day of August 2014 by the following roll call vote:

AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS:
NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS:
ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS:
APPROVED:

_________________________
Jason Burnett, Mayor
ATTEST:

_______________________________
Lori Frontella, MMC, Interim City Clerk
August 5, 2014 Regular City Council Meeting
Page 138

Exhibit A

THE CITY OF
Carmel-By-The-Sea
CITY COUNCIL POLICY
PUBLIC RECORDS RESPONSE POLICY

I. PURPOSE

The California Public Records Act (CPRA) is set forth in California Government Code
Section 6250 et seq. It is the policy of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea that the CPRA be
construed broadly in favor of public disclosure consistent with the law. It is the policy of
the City of Carmel by the Sea to provide public access to all public documents, not exempt
from disclosure during regular City office hours. To that end, the purpose of this policy is
to provide procedural guidelines for disclosure of the City of Carmel by the Sea public
records pursuant to the CPRA.
II. POLICY

It is important the City maintain consistency in the process for responding to California
Public Records Act (CPRA) requests. This City Council Policy is to serve as guidance and
direction in processing the Citys Public Records Act responses.
III. PROCEDURES

Whenever possible public records/documents should be made available at the time of
the request. There is no requirement that a requester seeking to view a public
record/document must put the request in writing.
It is the goal of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea is to respond to PRAs as quickly as
possible.
Public Records Act requests for information received by any employee or official of the
City should be forwarded to the City Clerks Office;
The City Clerks Office:
Notify City Attorney and provides copy of request
maintains the Public Records Act request / media inquiry log,
assigns numbers to received requests,
refers the request to the appropriate Department Director(s), and
monitors deadlines apprising those involved in preparing the response of
impending deadlines,
General Rules

Policy No. CP-__

Date Approved:__________

City Council Approval: Resolution

August 5, 2014 Regular City Council Meeting
Page 139
maintains a record of the responses.
The Department Director is responsible for compiling the records and the substance of
the request, meeting deadlines, and requesting legal review by the City Attorney to
assure that produced documents comply with legal requirements of disclosure;
If at any time during the process there are legal questions concerning the validity of a
request or a possible exemption of a record, the City Clerk/Department Director shall
seek a legal opinion from the City Attorney.
When redactions are permitted they should be precise (individual words or
clauses versus sentences or paragraphs when possible).
For each redaction, as would be required if the redactions were challenged in
court, we need 1) the legal authority for the redaction, 2) why the authority
applies to the redaction (i.e. there is a redaction in the first sentence of
paragraph 2, case X vs. X holds that social security numbers must not be
disclosed, this redaction is a social security number). Such redactions shall be
documented in the redactions log.
If other information is withheld, it shall be noted in the redactions log.
The City Attorney shall provide written approval of the redactions log, if any, prior
to its dissemination.
The redactions log, if any, shall be included in the response to the party making
the CPRA request.
Transmittal letters should accompany the request, response documents, and the
redaction log. Transmittal letters should include:
The date of the response referencing the request and referencing any prior
correspondence relating to the request;
The City issued CPRA file number as reference;
The request from which the response is provided and authority for the response;
Whether the response includes disclosable records;
Method for obtaining the response and any associated required payment;
The specific knowledge paragraph: Every effort has been made to search for
all of the records which might fall within the scope of your records request, and,
as such, the City believes that its search is quite thorough. However, if you have
knowledge of a specific document which has not been provided in response to
your requests, please notify the City and the City will be happy to search for and,
if found; provide the document(s) to you unless, of course, it is exempt from
disclosure pursuant to Government Code 6254 and/or other applicable privilege.
The legal authority paragraph: If you are aware of any legal authority that
would require disclosure of documents in addition to those identified above,
please advise the undersigned and the City will reconsider its position
accordingly.

August 5, 2014 Regular City Council Meeting
Page 140