Department of Neighborhood Empowerment
Newsletter

June 24, 2004

Databases and the Public Records Act

We have recently received several e-mails expressing concern regarding the applicability of the Public Records Act as it relates to stakeholder e-mail lists for the Neighborhood Councils.

This issue will be the subject of a comprehensive opinion by the Office of the City Attorney regarding databases and the Public Records Act. Until that opinion is issued, we urge you not to act on misinformation or the advice of anyone other than the Office of the City Attorney.

Each request under the Public Records Act is different. The request, the records that are in possession of the Neighborhood Council, and the exemptions that may exist under the Public Records Act privacy must be analyzed on a case-by-case basis. You should not attempt to draw generalizations or reach uninformed decisions for your own Neighborhood Council based on anyone else's legal assertions or conclusions. For your purposes, when you receive a request under the Public Records Act, you should immediately contact your Project Coordinator who will work in conjunction with the Office of the City Attorney to assist you in providing a proper response under the Act. (Please see the attached guidelines.)

The Office of the City Attorney is the legal counsel for the Neighborhood Councils and independent actions by board members in contravention of that advice may bear repercussions that expose the individual board members to liability for which the City may not provide indemnification. The City Attorney will defend actions of the Neighborhood Councils and its board members, just as they do for city employees, as long as the board members act within the course and scope of their duties. Please remember that intentional action in contravention of the law is the type of activity for which there may be no indemnification provided by the City.

Generally, Neighborhood Councils are reminded that they should only retain information from members of the public that would not be objectionable if that information were subject to public disclosure. Neighborhood Councils should remind their stakeholders that the information that the stakeholders provide to the Neighborhood Councils, where the Neighborhood Council retains that information, may be subject to disclosure upon receipt of a request under the Public Records Act. Information will be used for network and database, including Internet capability, and made available to the public. Stakeholders should provide, at a minimum, one method of contact that they do not have any objection if that method of contact is made public. (Please note our August 21, 2002 newsletter explained how people could obtain free e-mail addresses that can easily be used for Neighborhood Council correspondence. It invited people to visit two web sites for a list.)

Please contact your Project Coordinator if you require any further assistance. Your ongoing patience with this ever-evolving process is greatly appreciated!

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The Public Records Act and Neighborhood Councils
City Attorney Handout - 11/01/03
(pdf format)

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Greg Nelson

866 / LA HELPS
213 / 485-1360
213 / 485-4608 fax
done@mailbox.lacity.org email
www.lacityneighborhoods.com website