Article III — Public Information

Whenever in this Article the following words or phrases are used, they shall mean:

A.

"Agency" means an agency of the city of Oakland.

B.

"Department" means a department of the city of Oakland or a department of the Port Department of the city of Oakland.

C.

"Public information" means the content of "public records" as defined in the California Public Records Act (Government Code Section 6250 et seq.) whether contained in public records or in oral communications.

(Ord. 12483 (part), 2003; Ord. 11957 § 00.18, 1997)

Release of public records by a local body or by any agency or department, whether for inspection of the original or by providing a copy, shall be governed by the California Public Records Act (Government Code Section 6250 et seq.) in any particulars not addressed by this Article. The provisions of Government Code Section 6253.9 are incorporated herein by reference.

(Ord. 12483 (part), 2003; Ord. 11957 § 00.19, 1997)

Release of oral public information shall be accomplished as follows:

A.

Every Agency director for the city and Redevelopment Agency, and department head for the Port shall designate a person or persons 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 name of every person so designated under this section shall be filed with the City Clerk and posted online.

B.

It shall be the duty of every designated person or persons to provide information on a timely and responsive basis to those members of the public who are not requesting information from a specific person. It shall also be the duty of the person or persons so designated 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 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 agency or department and does not materially misrepresent the agency or department 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. 12483 (part), 2003; Ord. 11957 § 00.21, 1997)

Every local body specified in Section 2.20.030(E)(1) 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 which the clerk or secretary of such local body has distributed to, or sent on behalf of, a quorum of the local body concerning a matter that has been placed on the local body's agenda within the previous thirty (30) days or is scheduled or requested to be placed on the agenda within the next thirty (30) days. Excepted from the communications file shall be commercial solicitations, agenda and agenda-related material, periodical publications or communications exempt from disclosure under the California Public Records Act or this chapter. 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.

(Ord. 12483 (part), 2003; Ord. 11957 § 00.22, 1997)

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 contracts, memoranda of understanding or other matters subject to negotiation and pending a local body's approval need not be subject to disclosure until final action has been taken.

B.

Litigation Material. Unless otherwise privileged or made confidential by law, records of all communications between a local 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):

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 position in question.

The professional biography or curriculum vitae of every employee who has provided such information to the city, Redevelopment Agency or the Board of Port Commissioners excluding the home address, home telephone number, social security number, date of birth, and marital status of the employee.

The job description of every employment classification.

The exact gross salary and paid benefits available to every public employee.

Any adopted memorandum of understanding between the city or Board of Port Commissioners and a recognized employee organization.

D.

Law Enforcement Information. The Oakland Police Services Agency 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. 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. 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.

The Oakland Police Services Agency 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, Redevelopment Agency and Board of Port Commissioners 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 until and unless that person is awarded the contract. All bidders and contractors shall be advised that information covered by this subdivision will be made available to the public upon request.

F.

Budgets and Other Financial Information. The following shall not be exempt from disclosure:

Any proposed or adopted budget for the city, Redevelopment Agency and the Port Department, 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, Redevelopment Agency or Board of Port Commissioners or their standing committees.

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 or other services whose records are confidential by law.

(Ord. 12483 (part), 2003; Ord. 11957 § 00.23, 1997)

A.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law and subject to the requirements of this section, a written request to inspect or obtain copies of public records that is submitted to any department or agency or to

any local body shall be satisfied no later than three business days unless the requestor is advised within three business days that additional time is needed to determine whether:

The request seeks disclosable public records or information;

The requested records are in the possession of the agency, department or local body;

The requested records are stored in a location outside of the agency, department or local body processing the request;

The requested records likely comprise a voluminous amount of separate and distinct writings;

Reasonably involves another agency, 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; or,

There is a need to compile data, to write programming language or a computer program or to construct a computer report to extract data.

B.

All determinations made pursuant to Section 2.20.230(A)(1)-(6) shall be communicated in writing to the requestor within seven days of the date of the request. In no event shall any disclosable records be provided for inspection or copying any later than fourteen (14) days after the written determination pursuant to 2.20.230(A)(1)-(6) is communicated to the requestor. Additional time shall not be permitted to delay a routine or readily answerable request. All written requests to inspect or copy documents within three business days must 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. 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 "Immediate Disclosure Request" and a number by which the requestor may be contacted.

C.

An Immediate Disclosure Request is applicable only to those public records which have been previously distributed to the public, such as past meeting agendas and agenda-related materials. All Immediate Disclosure Requests shall describe the records sought in focused and specific language so they can be readily identified.

D.

The person seeking the information need not state a reason for making the request or the use to which the information will be put.

(Ord. 12483 (part), 2003; Ord. 11957 § 00.24, 1997)

No record shall be withheld from disclosure in its entirety unless all information contained in it is exempt from disclosure by law. 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. 12483 (part), 2003; Ord. 11957 § 00.25, 1997)

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 ordinance 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.

(Ord. 12483 (part), 2003; Ord. 11957 § 00.26, 1997)

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 agenda 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 agency, department or the city may, rather than making the copies itself, contract at market rate to have a commercial copier produce the duplicates and charge the cost directly to the requester.

E.

No charge shall be made for a single copy of a Draft or Final Environmental Impact Report and Environmental Impact Statement.

F.

All fees permitted under this section shall be determined and specified in the city of Oakland Master Fee Schedule, as amended.

G.

Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as intending to preempt any fee set by or in compliance with State law.

(Ord. 12483 (part), 2003; Ord. 11957 § 00.27, 1997)