CITY OF PACIFICA
COUNCIL AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT
6/12/2023
1 SUBJECT:
Consideration of “Records Cleanup Day” Event and Related Activities RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Consider and by motion direct staff to adopt a records management practice for a Pilot 2023 “Records Cleanup Day” event and related activities similar to the City of San Mateo’s records management practice of a “Records Cleanup Day” per the City of Pacifica’s response to the recommendation contained in the San Mateo County Grand Jury Report “A Delicate Balance between Knowledge and Power: Government Transparency and the Public’s Right to Know”.
STAFF CONTACT:
Sarah Coffey, City Clerk
(650) 738-7307
[email protected]
BACKGROUND:
On August 18, 2022, the City of Pacifica received the formal Grand Jury Report entitled, "A Delicate Balance between Knowledge and Power: Government Transparency and the Public’s Right to Know" dated August 9, 2022 (Attachment A). The City of Pacifica's response, as approved by City Council at the October 24, 2022 City Council meeting, was transmitted to the San Mateo County Grand Jury and is provided as Attachment B.
The California Public Records Act (PRA) requires that inspection or disclosure of governmental records be available to the public upon request. The PRA’s purpose is to promote government transparency in California. The San Mateo County Grand Jury researched how the cities in San Mateo County meet the requirements of the California Public Records Act. The 2021-2022 San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury sought to understand how San Mateo County’s 20 cities respond to PRA requests, including: cities’ policies and procedures for handling requests; the types of records requests they receive; the training of key employees, elected officials and appointed officials about PRA-related matters; and how legal changes may impact cities with regard to fulfilling PRA requests. They also reviewed methods used by cities for increasing efficiency in records requests processing and records management policies and practices that facilitate effective compliance with the PRA.
Through their research, the Grand Jury found that the City of San Mateo reported a unique method for encouraging city staff in one element of the effective management of public records by holding a “Records Clean Up Day” which tasked employees with reducing the number of duplicate records, preparing records for off-site storage, imaging and indexing electronic records, and identifying electronic records eligible for destruction in accordance with the city’s records retention schedules. The Grand Jury concluded with one of their recommendations to all other cities in San Mateo County that 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 Clean Up Day.”
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At the conclusion of the Grand Jury’s investigation and report, the Recommendation made to the City of Pacifica was as follows:
R4. By June 30, 2023, the city council should direct staff to review and consider adopting a records management practice analogous to the City of San Mateo’s “Records Cleanup Day.” (Response requested from Pacifica)
The City of Pacifica’s response to this Recommendation per its October 24, 2022 correspondend was as follows:
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 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 Cleanup 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.
The City of Pacifica’s Administrative Policy No. 8 “Records Management and Information Management Program Policy”, which was adopted by Resolution No. 64-2020 approved by City Council at the meeting held on November 9, 2020, is attached for reference as Attachment C.
DISCUSSION:
In accordance with the Grand Jury’s recommendation R4 and the City’s response, staff is recommending the following practice for a 2023 pilot Records Clean-Up Day and related activities. The intent is to comply with the recommendation to bring the proposal for this practice back to Council for consideration by June 30, 2023 and to implement the practice as directed by Council following this consideration. The focus of this recommendation is not to review and recommend any amendments to the existing Administrative Policy No. 8 “Records Management and Information Management Program Policy” and attached Records Retention Schedules which were previously developed specific to the City of Pacifica through an agreement with consultant Records Control Services, Inc. and City staff and adopted by Council on November 9, 2020. The Administrative Policy No. 8 is attached for reference and information only. The Records Retention Schedules included with the Administrative Policy document various specific categories of documents and identify the recommended retention period / life cycle of those records pursuant to State Record Retention laws, the California Public Records Act, professional standards and guidelines and the City’s specific needs and preferences.
The City Clerk will work with each department / division to confirm and/or identify their designated Records Coordinator. The City Clerk will engage with consultant Records Control Services, Inc. (Bruce Meier) to schedule staff training for Records Coordinators and key department / division staff in effective implementation of the City’s Records Management and Pacifica City Council 3
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Information Management Program Policy and Records Retention Schedules and to inform staff on best practices for effective records management, organization and compliance. It is anticipated that staff training will be scheduled and completed in late Summer / early Fall 2023.
Following training, the City Clerk will coordinate, through submission of a Records Clean-Up Staff Plan Form (included as Attachment D), a Staff Plan from each department / division to identify their selected priority goals and activities for the Records Clean-Up Day. Departmentspecific records clean-up goals may include preparing paper records for destruction in accordance with Administrative Policy No. 8 policy, procedures and retention schedules; inventorying records, preparing records for off-site storage, email clean-up, scanning or imaging hard copy records to create electronic versions, ensuring website content is up-to-date, etc.
The Records Clean-Up Day 2023 will be scheduled to coordinate with preparation for City staff to move from the temporary location of Civic Center operations at the Pacifica Community Center to the renovated Civic Center Campus on Santa Maria Ave. / Francisco Blvd. once the construction of that facility is completed. It is anticipated that this will occur in Winter 2023, and the Records Clean-Up Day scheduled to occur by the end of the calendar year 2023. Records Clean-Up Day will entail an on-site shred truck at the Community Center to facilitate destruction of physical records that have been reviewed and approved for destruction in accordance with Administrative Policy No. 8 as well as festive activities to celebrate staff’s efforts in achieving their goals in records management according to their Staff Plan: a food truck, contests and prizes, encouraging casual dress for the day. This will create an enjoyable environment to celebrate the task of records management that may otherwise become overlooked in the day-today operations of departments and bring the focus of good records management to the forefront of staff’s consciousness, with a reward for being good records stewards.
Following the pilot 2023 Records Clean-Up Day, the City intends to resume ongoing evaluation and compliance with the existing Administrative Policy No. 8 “Records Management and Information Management Program Policy” with departments prioritizing the specific timing of records review and destruction within their individual schedules with support from the City Clerk to prompt departments for periodic reviews.
RELATION TO CITY COUNCIL GOALS AND WORK PLAN:
The recommended actions are consistent with the following Council adopted Goals:
• Enhance Organizational and Fiscal Sustainability
FISCAL IMPACT:
The fiscal impact of accepting this report and implementing the recommendations can be addressed within budgeted resources.
ORIGINATED BY:
City Clerk
ATTACHMENT LIST:
Attachment A: Grand Jury Report "A Delicate Balance between Knowledge and Power:
Government Transparency and the Public’s Right to Know"(PDF) Attachment B: City's Response to Grand Jury Report (PDF) Pacifica City Council 4
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Attachment C: Administrative Policy No. 8 “Records Management and Information Management Program Policy” (PDF)
Attachment D: Draft City of Pacifica Records Clean-Up Day Staff Plan Form (PDF)