Pomona Municipal Code § 2-1102 Records open to inspection by public generally

(a) Records inspection in execution of office. All city records that are exempt from general public inspection under state law shall be subject to inspection by the mayor or any councilmember, providing such inspection is in the public interest and in the execution of the office of the mayor or councilmember requesting the inspection. To so qualify, such inspection must be in connection with ascertaining the method or manner used by a city department in conducting its business that would assist the inspecting mayor or a councilmember to determine any of the following:

(1) If funds are being properly expended.

(2) If employment is being made in a way that is not discriminatory.

(3) If the operation of the department is being conducted in the most efficient manner.

(4) If employees are being dealt with fairly and in accordance with rules, regulations, and policies established by the city council.

(5) If complaints of citizens are being expeditiously handled.

(6) If officers and employees are carrying out their duties in accordance with rules, regulations, and policies established by the city council.

(7) If any officer or employee has misappropriated city property or funds.

(b) Duty of confidentiality upon inspecting officers. If the mayor or a councilmember is to inspect records that are exempt by law from inspection by the general public, the officer or employee permitting such inspection shall inform the mayor or councilmember making such inspection and explain that the contents of such records are confidential. Such oral instructions shall be followed by written notification with copies filed with the city attorney and city clerk. Upon receiving the warning of the confidentiality of such records, the mayor or councilmember who inspects them shall be under the same obligation concerning the confidentiality as the custodian of such records, and a breach of such confidence shall, in addition to any other penalty provided by law, constitute a misdemeanor.

(c) Conditions imposed upon certain inspections. Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b) of this section, the following conditions are imposed upon records inspection by the mayor or any councilmember:

(1) Any files or records concerning any litigation in which the mayor or councilmember is a party adverse to the city's position shall only be disclosed if permitted by a four-fifths vote of the council or gained through court discovery procedure.

(2) Test questions or keys to tests, unless the sole reason is to determine whether or not such tests are fair and not discriminatory, with the burden of showing that such is the reason upon the mayor or councilmember who wishes to make such inspection, with the right of the custodian of such tests and keys to appeal to the city council if such custodian feels such is not the reason.

(3) Police reports and records involving felonies, unless the reason for such inspection is to determine whether or not a police officer or police official has properly carried out his duties, with the burden of showing that such is the reason upon the mayor or councilmember who wishes to make such inspection, with the right of the custodian of such records to appeal to the city council if such custodian believes such is not the reason and not in the public interest to disclose the contents of such records.

(4) Any record made confidential on account of any physician-patient relationship by the laws of evidence of the state, unless the patient grants permission to such inspection.

(5) Any record prohibited from disclosure on account of any law of the state, the United States or other sections of this Code shall not be disclosed to the mayor or any councilmember, unless it can be clearly demonstrated that such law would not apply to the mayor or councilmember.

(d) Appeal by custodian of records. Notwithstanding any subsection of this section, the chief of police or the human resources/risk management director who is aggrieved by what he deems to be unwarranted inspections by the mayor or any councilmember of records in his custody may file a written petition with the city council setting forth the reasons why he believes inspection of such records by the mayor or councilmember is not in the public interest or in the execution of the office of the mayor or the councilmember and, therefore, should not be permitted. The city council, after hearing both the reasons by the custodian why inspection should not be permitted and the reasons why the mayor or councilmember should be permitted to make inspections, may order that such records may not be inspected by the mayor or councilmember upon a four-fifths vote of the entire council.

(e) Availability of information in records to special panel through councilmember. Any special panel named by the city council to make investigations of any policy of the city may, through a councilmember, obtain records that could be made available to such councilmember under this section, but such panel member shall be subject to the same confidentiality as a councilmember or any other officer who is custodian of such records. However, the councilmember who obtains such information and makes it available to such panel shall, in regard to personnel records or matters involving hiring practices, withhold the name, age, race, telephone number, address and number of dependents and personal references of the person whose records are being submitted to the panel.

(f) Request for inspections made through department heads. Any request for inspections made pursuant to this section of material exempt from public inspection under state law shall be made to the department head.

(Code 1959, § 2-80; Ord. No. 2410, § 1 (part))

State Law reference— Right of access to public records of elected officials, Government Code § 6252.5; exemption from inspection of public records, Government Code §§ 6253.2 et seq., 6275 et seq.

(a) Inspection at reasonable times. Except those city records exempt from inspection by virtue of law, public records shall be made available to the public for inspection at reasonable office hours of the city department having possession of such records. However, prior to permitting a member of the public to inspect such records, the head of the department involved may require the member of the public requesting to see such records to wait a reasonable time if it is necessary for the department staff to assemble such records or if such records are being used in connection with some work in process being done by that department.

(b) Limitations as to time. If a member of the public wishes to inspect a number of records and such inspection necessitates the member of the public seeking to inspect such public records to have access to the filing cabinets in which the records are kept, such inspection may be limited to either one hour at the beginning of the working day or one hour at the end of the working day, at the discretion of the head of the department involved, so as to not interfere with the regular use of the filing cabinets and work area by city personnel using them in the course of city business.

(c) Prohibition on removal. Any member of the public examining such records shall not remove them from the file without permission of the department head and, in any event, shall not remove them from the department.

(d) Requesting copies and cost. If copies of the records are requested by any member of the public, such person requesting copies shall pay for the cost of such reproduction as determined by the department head based upon both the cost of the process of reproducing the documents and the staff time involved in making such reproductions. If numerous copies are requested, such copies shall not be made until pressing city business has been taken care of first, and no department shall be required to allow inspection of such documents by the public if it substantially interferes with the department's primary function and purpose.

(e) Penalties for damages. Any member of the public who is permitted to examine public records pursuant to this section and who mutilates, damages, or destroys any records so inspected shall, in addition to any other penalty provided by law, also be liable to the city in money damages for the cost of not only the reproducing of the document but all other consequential damages caused by such loss, mutilation, or damage.

(f) Protection of critical records. When a record is very critical and it would be extremely difficult to reconstruct if lost or destroyed and such loss or destruction would result in great harm to the operation of the city department, a department head may prescribe that a member of the department staff accompany the member of the public making such inspection to ensure that no loss or destruction occurs.

(g) Charge for staff time. The department head shall prescribe a reasonable charge based upon the time devoted by the staff to permit members of the public to inspect such records, which charge shall bear a reasonable relationship to the cost of the department staff involved. If the member of the public seeking inspection of such records is without any funds to pay for the cost of the duplication of records or for the staff time to accompany him in inspection of critical and irreplaceable records, the city council may grant a waiver of fees prescribed by the department head for such inspection.

(h) Fee exclusions. No fees shall be charged for inspection of records when no special staff time is involved and no reproduction or use of equipment is involved.

(i) Inspection of special forms of records. Should the records sought to be examined be data processing cards, microfilm, or magnetic tape, the person requesting such inspection may use the facilities of the city to interpret the data processing cards, inspect the microfilm or monitor the magnetic tape, but the use of such city facilities may only be during times when not otherwise used by the departments and staff. The cost of use of such facilities by the public shall be paid for by the member of the public using such facilities, together with the cost of the time of the operator of such facilities if provided by the city as determined by the department head in charge of such facilities. If the member of the public is without funds to pay such charge, the city council may waive such fees.

(j) Interference with operations. In any event, whether the records sought to be inspected are in the form of documents or some other form, their inspection shall be made in such a manner as not to handicap or interfere with the orderly operation of the department having such records; nevertheless, department heads shall make every effort to assist the public whenever possible in facilitating inspection of records as public servants.

(Code 1959, § 2-81; Ord. No. 2410, § 1 (part))

State Law reference— Inspection of public records, Government Code § 6250 et seq.