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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd1987-599 . . . Sponsored by: Arvidson CITY OF SEWARD, ALASKA ORDINANCE NO. 599 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEWARD, ALASKA, AMENDING THE CITY CODE RELATIVE TO ACCESS TO PUBLIC RECORDS WHEREAS, the City Council of Alaska, recognizes the people's right to have access to public records; and the city of Seward, to remain informed and WHEREAS, the City Council of the city of Seward recog- nizes the people's right to privacy; and WHEREAS, it is the provide public access to so as to protect the recognizing the competing policy of the city of Seward to municipal records and information right to remain informed while interest of personal privacy; NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEWARD, ALASKA, HEREBY ORDAINS that: Section 1. Sections 2-1 and 2-2 of the Seward City Code are hereby repealed and re-enacted to read as follows: Sec. 2-1.1. Open records. Except as provided by Section 2-5 of this Code, or by other provision of municipal, state or federal law, the books, records, papers, files, accounts, writings and transactions of the city are open to inspection by the public under reasonable rules during regular office hours. The city of Seward recognizes the competing interest of personal privacy and the right of the public to have access to information concerning the conduct of the people's business. Sec. 2-1.2 Access and inspection of records. Public records may be inspected at the city office where the records are kept during the regular office hours of that particular office. All city officers and employees shall, consistent with the orderly conduct of city business, make a good faith and diligent effort to respond to requests for inspection of records made pursuant to this Code. If one or more requests by a single re- questor or agent of a requestor within a calendar month are anticipated to require more than four person-hours to complete, the city may require the requestor to pay costs for the period in excess of -1- . . . CITY OF SEWARD, ALASKA ORDINANCE NO. 599 four hours. The costs may not exceed the unit cost of salary and benefits for employees who are involved in the search. Except in the case of news organizations, authorized search costs must be paid before the records are searched. Sec. 2-1.3 Copies of records. (a) Certified copies. The city clerk shall give, on request and payment of costs, a certified copy of any public record required to be disclosed under this code. (b) Photographic or other copies. The city shall provide copies of records only at the re- quest of the requestor and at the requestor's expense. (c) Charge for copies. The charge for copies (whether certified or not) may not exceed the cost to the city, which cost may include photocopy, clerical and other costs directly related to the provision of the copies. Payment for copies must be received before making the copies, except in the case of a request from an employee or agent of a news organization. The city clerk is authorized to establish rates and charges for copies of public records, both cer- tified and photographic, and for clerical time as set forth in Section 2-1.2 and in Subsections (a) and (b) of this Section. The city clerk may, in his or her discretion, waive charges for inci- dental copies. Sec. 2-1. 4 Compilation or creation of records. Nothing in this code shall require the city to create records, compile, summarize, outline or in other ways create information from existing public records. In those instances where the city offi- cial who is the custodian of the record determines that the city has the requisite resources to compile or create records to comply with a request for information, the city may charge the requestor with the costs of such compilation or summary, which costs shall include the salary and benefits and overhead charges for the city employees who accomplished the work. Sec. This 2-1. 5 code Exemptions for particular records. article shall not be construed to -2- . . . CITY OF SEWARD, ALASKA ORDINANCE NO. 599 require disclosure of the following records or information: (a) Personnel, payroll which reveal the financial or any specific individual, the would constitute an unwarranted cy. or medical files medical status of release of which invasion of priva- (b) Records of vital statistics and adoption proceedings. (c) Records pertaining to juveniles. (d) Medical and related public health re- cords. (e) Records required to be kept confidential by federal law or regulation or by state law. (f) Trade secrets. (g) Patented and/or copyrighted material. (h) Organized, coordinated, collated, mod- ified, created, interpreted or compiled informa- tion. Nothing in this chapter requires an agency to organize, coordinate, collate, modify, create, interpret or compile records requested. Only a literal or verbatim record need be provided. (i) Police investigation complied by any agency as a part of an investigation of criminal activity, except that such records may be released to other governmental agencies if necessary for the proper administration of justice. Police information practices in regard to criminal jus- tice information shall be governed by the pro- visions of AS 12.62.010, et. seq. (j) Records held by the city of Seward or any public utility pertaining to any client, customer, tenant, operator, user or subscriber, the release of which would constitute an unwar- ranted invasion of privacy of that person or entity. (k) Records accounting or other which, if released, of engineering, marketing, technical or financial data, would provide a competitive -3- . . . CITY OF SEWARD, ALASKA ORDINANCE NO. 599 advantage to any other persons or business engaged in similar or related activities. (1) Proprietary information which a manufac- turer, consultant or provider reasonably expects to be kept privileged or confidential to protect the property interests of persons providing the information or data. (m) City personnel records, including em- ployment application and examination materials. (n) Communications between any agency and the city attorney which contain legal questions concerning potential, pending or actual litiga- tion. This subsection does not protect from disclosure documents which were public records prior to the commencement of the litigation, and public records which are otherwise subject to disclosure may not be protected from disclosure by mere submission to the attorney. Any documents marked "Confidential" which are submitted to the agency from the municipal attorney's office shall only be produced if the city attorney so author- izes. Sec. 2-6. Appeal of denial of request. In the event an individual requests information and is refused, the individual shall be notified in writing within five (5) working days of his right to appeal that decision to the city manager. If not satisfied with the ruling of the city manager, the individual shall be notified within five (5) working days of that decision of his right to appeal to the City Council at its next regularly scheduled meeting, which shall be the final and binding authority. Section 2. This ordinance shall take effect ten (10) days following its enactment. ENACTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEWARD, ALASKA, this Ilthday of January , 19 88 -4- . CITY OF SEWARD, ALASKA ORDINANCE NO. 599 AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ATTEST: THE CITY OF SEWARD, ALASKA DUNHAM, GIESELER, HILTON, MEEHAN, NOLL, O'BRIEN & SIMUTIS NONE NONE NONE APPROVED AS TO FORM: HUGHES, THORSNESS, GANTZ, POWELL & BRUNDIN, Attorneys for the City of Seward, AK . . (City Seal) 7;.~ flIJ ~ Fred B. Arvidson City Attorney Introduced By: Simutis/Hilton Introduction Date: 11/23/87 Public Hearing & ~XlX:X~ 2nd Public Hearing: Enactment Date: 12/14/87 01/11/88 01/11/88 -5-