Agenda Item #13.8
For Council Meeting of: June 6, 2023
CITY OF SANTA ROSA
CITY COUNCIL
TO: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
FROM: DINA MANIS, INTERIM CITY CLERK
CITY CLERK’S OFFICE
BRIAN TICKNER, CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT SUBJECT: DECLARATION OF LASERFICHE AS A TRUSTED SYSTEM
AGENDA ACTION: RESOLUTION
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended by the City Clerk’s Office and the Information Technology Department that the Council, by resolution, declare Laserfiche as a Trusted System for the management of official City records and the automation of record retention requirements.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Adoption of the proposed resolution lays the groundwork for a city-wide initiative to modernize the City’s records management program with procedure updates and policy development that will allow for application of new records management technology with the declaration of Laserfiche as a “trusted system,” permitting official City records to be stored and maintained as electronic digital copies instead of physical hardcopy files. These initial steps allow the City to align with industry best practices for more efficient control over official City records and supports Council 2022/23 goals of 1) organizational excellence by leveraging PG&E settlement funds to implement process improvements and best practices to prioritize the customer service experience; and 2) advances the City’s efforts towards carbon neutrality by providing a framework that can support the efficient management of “digital-born” records, reducing the amount of paper used by the City and reducing the City’s vehicle carbon footprint by relying less on storing and retrieving physical hardcopy records from the City’s offsite storage facility.
BACKGROUND
Designating a Trusted System - The California Public Records Act defines records as “any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public's business prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics.” While many records today are received in electronic format, the City has many records in paper format.
State laws and regulations have been enacted to allow government agencies to convert paper records to electronic formats. Storing records electronically is a cost-saving measure, reducing the need for onsite and offsite storage and management of voluminous paper records, and allows the City to provide easier and quicker access to records.
In order to retain records electronically and dispose of the paper version, the legislative body of an agency must declare a “trusted system.” Under California law (Government Code section 12168.7), “a ‘trusted system’ means a combination of technologies, policies, and procedures for which there is no plausible scenario in which a public record retrieved from or reproduced by the system could differ substantially from the public record that is originally stored.” Additionally, the Secretary of State has adopted Trustworthy Electronic Document or Record Preservation regulations (Chapter 15, Division 7, Title 2 of the California Code of Regulations), which govern the recording, storing, and reproducing of records in electronic media where the intent is to destroy the original hardcopy and maintain the electronic copy as the official Record.
Updating the Records and Information Management (RIM) Policy - During the last twelve months, and in compliance with the Resolution RES-2022-029 using funds from the PG&E settlement funds, the City Clerk’s Office, and the Planning and Economic Development and Information Technology Departments have developed governance for the oversight of records and allowing the application of retention requirements with the use of technology through a Records and Information Management (RIM) policy in order to designate a “Trusted System”. The governance requirements of the RIM policy include updates to the City’s Records Retention Schedule (updated May 2023), and development of procedures for saving official records and the deletion of obsolete records from Laserfiche.
PRIOR CITY COUNCIL REVIEW
On February 15, 2022, the City Council, by Resolution No. RES-2022-029, approved use of PG&E settlement funds to implement a Trusted System. On August 9, 2022, the City Council, by Resolution No. RES-2022-171, approved an agreement with ECS Imaging, Inc. to implement a trusted system for digitized records.
ANALYSIS
The City Clerk’s Office has worked with City departments and the City’s records consultant to ensure the City's enterprise content management system, Laserfiche, and the records stored within the system, are kept in accordance with the State's Trusted System requirements and the Trustworthy Electronic Document and/or Record Preservation regulations. In addition, the Planning and Economic Development Department has been serving as a pilot department for this process prior to future citywide roll-out.
Laserfiche has audit capabilities to track records as they are added, deleted, and viewed in the system. Permissions and restrictions for security have been established in Laserfiche along with roles and responsibilities to ensure only appropriate personnel have access to records.
Records Management Procedures, included as Exhibits B and C to the resolution, have been developed for the standardization of organizing records and the application of the retention requirements from the Retention Schedule (Exhibit D) and to provide for the routine searching, scanning, uploading, saving, importing, and disposing of records in Laserfiche during the normal course of business.
Collectively, the City's comprehensive Records and Information Management Policy, Records Retention Schedule, the Records Management Procedures, and the Laserfiche technology constitute a Trusted System in accordance with state law.
Staff recommends adopting a resolution to declare Laserfiche as a “trusted system” and the repositories for the management of City records and the automation of retention requirements, allowing staff to convert paper records for storage electronically.The process of converting existing paper records to an electronic format will be a long-term, ongoing process, conducted as resources are available for scanning and digitizing of records.
FISCAL IMPACT
Approval of this action does not have a fiscal impact on the General Fund.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
This action is exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) and 15378 in that there is no possibility that the implementation of this action may have significant effects on the environment, and no further environmental review is required.
BOARD/COMMISSION/COMMITTEE REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Not applicable.
NOTIFICATION
Not applicable.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 – SOS Records Preservation Regulations
Resolution
Exhibit A – City of Santa Rosa Records and Information Management Policy Exhibit B – City of Santa Rosa General Procedure for Saving Records into Laserfiche Exhibit C – City of Santa Rosa Procedure for Deleting Records from Laserfiche Exhibit D – City of Santa Rosa Records Retention Schedule
PRESENTER
Dina Manis, [email protected]
Brian Tickner, [email protected]
DESIGNATION OF LASERFICHE AS A TRUSTED SYSTEM
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