[Ord. No. 1330 §9, 4-21-2014]
A.
In order to protect reasonable expectations of privacy on the part
of persons having dealings with the City, City records containing
information or entries of a personal, confidential, private or proprietary
nature, including, but not limited to, income, sales data, financial
circumstances, household and family relationships, Social Security
numbers, dates of birth, insurance information and other information
which reasonable persons generally regard as private and not a customary
subject for public discourse, which information or entries have been
provided to the City by one complying with regulations requiring the
disclosure of such information, shall be excised from copies of City
records disclosed or provided to members of the public other than
those persons to whom the information or entries pertain. Persons
desiring access to information or entries excised from such records
may file a supplementary written request with the City Clerk for disclosure
of material to be specified in the request, which request should state:
B.
Comments On Disclosure; Hearing.
1.
The City Clerk may afford all interested parties, including
the persons to whom the information pertains, a reasonable time within
which to comment on the requested disclosure prior to acting further
on the request. If an interested person objects to the disclosure
of the requested information, the City Clerk may conduct a hearing
at which all interested parties may be heard. At such hearing the
Clerk shall consider, among such other factors as may be reasonable
and relevant:
a.
The requirements and intent of State law, City ordinances and
this policy;
b.
The legitimate expectations of privacy on the part of interested
parties;
c.
The personal, confidential, private or proprietary nature of
the information at issue;
d.
Whether the information was obtained by the City under compulsion
of law or was freely and voluntarily provided by the persons objecting
to the disclosure; and
e.
The public purposes to be served by disclosure of the requested
information.
2.
If the City Clerk determines that disclosure is legally required
or would otherwise serve the best interests of the public and that
such requirements or purpose outweigh the legitimate concerns or interest
of the persons to whom the information pertains, the Clerk shall provide
the requested information to the requesting party.
C.
In addition to or in lieu of the hearing described above, the City Clerk may afford all interested parties a reasonable opportunity to seek judicial review of or relief from the proposed disclosure. The City Clerk may also utilize the procedures for judicial determination and/or opinion solicitation provided in Code Section 120.100(F).
D.
Records and information that have been closed or deemed confidential
pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter, Chapter 610, RSMo., and
other relevant State and Federal laws and regulations are to be treated
as confidential by all employees and elected and appointed officials
of the City.
1.
It shall be grounds for disciplinary action for any employee
of the City to:
a.
Violate the confidentiality relating to such records or information;
b.
Access, copy or remove closed and/or confidential information
without the specific consent of the custodian thereof and without
being in the normal course of performing such employee's duties
for the City;
c.
Provide or discuss closed records or confidential information
with any person other than as a necessary part of performing such
employee's duties for the City; or
d.
Divulge, discuss or disclose information or records addressed
in any closed meeting of a public governmental body, other than as
a necessary part of performing such employee's duties for the
City.
2.
Elected and appointed officials of the City are also expected
to maintain the same strict standards of confidentiality required
of employees. Breach of the confidentiality standards established
by this Chapter and required of employees in this Section may be grounds
for removal from office or other sanctions as may be deemed appropriate
by the body of which such official is a member or by the Board of
Aldermen.
