CITY OF PACIFICA
540 Crespi Drive • Pacifica, California 94044-3422
www.cityofpacifica.org
MAYOR
Mary Bier
MAYOR PRO TEM
Tygarjas Bigstyck
COUNCIL
Mike O’Neill
Sue Vaterlaus
Sue Beckmeyer
Scenic Pacifica
Incorporated Nov. 22, 1957
October 24, 2022
The Honorable Amarra A. Lee
Judge of the Superior Court
c/o Jenarda Dubois
Hall of Justice
400 County Center; 2nd Floor
Redwood City, CA 94063-1655
Email: [email protected]
Subject: City of Pacifica’s response to “Grand Jury Report: ‘A Delicate Balance between Knowledge and Power: Government Transparency and the Public’s Right to Know’” Dear Judge Lee:
Thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on the above-referenced Grand Jury report filed on August 9, 2022. Pursuant to Penal Code § 933(c), the City of Pacifica’s response to the findings and recommendations contained in the report and indicated in the “Request for Responses” selected for the City of Pacifica are provided below. The Pacifica City Council, including the Mayor, reviewed and approved the responses at a public meeting held on October 24, 2022.
Responses to Grand Jury Findings Selected for Pacifica:
F2. The city uses a commercially available software application that includes a web portal enabling the public to easily request records and track their disposition.
Response to F2. The City agrees with the finding.
Responses to Grand Jury Recommendations Selected for Pacifica:
R4. By June 30, 2023, the city council should direct city staff to review and consider adopting a records management practice analogous to the City of San Mateo’s “Records Cleanup Day.” Response to R4. This recommendation has not yet been implemented, but will be implemented by June 30, 2023, with the city council directing staff to review and consider adopting a records management practice analogous to the City of San Mateo’s “Records Cleanup Day.” Thereafter, city staff would review a records management practice consistent with the City of Pacifica’s Administrative Policy No. 8 “Records Management and Information Management Program Policy” in which the City Clerk leads outreach to city departments and staff to emphasize a Subject: City of Pacifica’s response to “Grand Jury Report: ‘A Delicate Balance between Knowledge and Power: Government Transparency and the Public’s Right to Know’” October 24, 2022
2 commitment to educate and facilitate coordinated activities to document the annual clean-up, organization and purging of records in accordance with the City of Pacifica Record Retention Schedules. The City of Pacifica’s goal will be analogous to the City of San Mateo’s “Records Clean-up Day” as illustrated in Appendix F of the Grand Jury Report, “A Delicate Balance between Knowledge and Power: Government Transparency and the Public’s Right to Know.” The City of Pacifica agrees that the practice of an annual “Records Cleanup Day” and related activities emphasizes the importance of effective records management practices in a supportive environment that the agency conducts annually while also encouraging practices in routine records management activities that make the annual practice less burdensome.
Sincerely,
KEVIN WOODHOUSE
City Manager
cc: Pacifica City Council