A.
The City Clerk shall be the Records Access Officer.
B.
The Records Access Officer is responsible for ensuring
appropriate response to public request for access to records pursuant to the
provisions of the Freedom of Information Law. The Records Access Officer may
delegate response to an appropriate department head when necessary.
The Records Access Officer shall maintain a reasonably detailed current
list by subject matter of all records in the possession of the city, whether
or not the records may be available for public access. The subject matter
list shall be sufficiently detailed to permit identification of the category
of the record sought and shall be updated not less than twice per year. The
most recent update shall appear on the first page of the subject matter list.
Department heads shall maintain a reasonably detailed list by subject matter
of the records currently in their custody, and shall supply same to the Records
Access Officer.
A.
A written request is generally required for public access
to records.
B.
A response shall be given within five business days of
the receipt of any request reasonably describing the record or records sought.
C.
A request shall reasonably describe the record or records
sought. Whenever possible, a person requesting records should supply information
regarding dates, file designations or other information that may help to describe
the records sought.
D.
If the Records Access Officer does not provide or deny
access to the records sought within five business days of receipt of a request,
he or she shall furnish a written acknowledgment of the receipt of the request
and a statement of the approximate date when the request will be granted or
denied.
E.
If the request is granted, the Records Access Officer
shall provide access for inspection of the records sought. A copy of such
record may be supplied to the person requesting the same, upon payment of
the fee prescribed therefor, and the Records Access Officer shall certify
to the correctness of such copy if requested to do so.
The fee for copies of records shall be $0.25 per page not exceeding
nine inches by 14 inches in size, or the maximum fee permitted under the Freedom
of Information Law as it may from time to time be amended. The fees for other
types of copies or transcripts and for certificates shall be the reasonable
amounts as the Records Access Officer shall establish. The fees charged by
the Records Access Officer for records shall not exceed the actual cost of
reproducing such record, except when a different fee is otherwise prescribed
by law.
The Records Access Officer shall, in accordance with this article, make
available for public inspection and copying all records, except that the Records
Access Officer may deny access to records or portions thereof which are not
subject to disclosure in accordance with the provisions of the Public Officers
Law or any other applicable state or federal statute. The Records Access Officer
may deny a request if he or she can certify that the city does not have possession
of such record or that such record cannot be located after a diligent search.
A.
Denial of access to records shall be in writing.
B.
Within 30 days after the written denial of access, any
person denied access to a record may appeal, in writing, such denial to the
Corporation Counsel, who shall hear such appeals pursuant to the Freedom of
Information Law.
C.
Within 10 business days of the receipt of such appeal,
the Corporation Counsel shall explain, in writing, to the person requesting
the record the reasons for further denial or provide access to the record
sought.
D.
A copy of all appeals and the Corporation Counsel's
determination shall be forwarded to the Committee on Open Government.
