Want to know who's filing public records requests? City says no dice. (2024)

What could be more public than a public records request?

City of San Diego officials are refusing to release information about who is filing the hundreds of requests it receives each month on NextRequest, the city’s online records request portal, even though the information has previously been released.

When filing a request under the California Public Records Act, people usually provide their name and contact information so government agencies can notify them when records become available. That typically makes their name subject to release — along with the information they requested.

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This fall, the city has taken another course, declining to identify requesters.

U-T Watchdog requested the names and contact information of requesters as part of an ongoing effort to monitor San Diego’s compliance with the state public records law since the online NextRequest system was put in place. The city provided some information but withheld each requester’s name, employer and email address.

City communications director Katie Keach said the information was withheld under California Government Code section 6255, which says that records can be withheld when the public interest in not disclosing information outweighs the public interest in releasing it.

“In doing the balancing analysis we determined that the small benefit in having that information made public does not outweigh the significant benefit in maintaining requesters’ privacy and preserving requesters’ ability to make requests anonymously,” Keach said in an email. “There are sensitive and personal needs for requesting certain documents at times, such as police or code enforcement records.”

U-T Watchdog has no intention of publishing the personal information of each requester. It would be used internally to analyze what types of people file requests and to contact individuals to asses their satisfaction with the request process.

“It’s important for journalists to be able to reach out to citizens and find out if they’re happy with the service, or ask if their request was processed correctly,” said David Cuillier, University of Arizona’s School of Journalism director and former chairman of the Society of Professional Journalist’s Freedom of Information Committee. “You can’t check the system if you don’t know who to talk to.”

Records that are exempt from disclosure under California law include those protected by attorney-client privilege, personnel and medical records of employees, police incident reports and preliminary drafts and memos. Information about public information requests themselves is not listed as an exemption.

The city has repeatedly released the information in response to previous requests, and it also notifies requestors that their information may become public.

The online NextRequest system informs the public, “Personal information is visible only to staff by default, but requests are part of the public record and your information may be released in response to a public records request.”

One request in February of this year sought any documents released to another requester, including the requester’s email address, name and employer. The city complied.

U-T Watchdog requested in early October the name and contact information of one requester. The city complied in two days.

Keach said in those circ*mstances, the requests demonstrated a need for the information, and that was used as a part of the city’s balancing test when determining what should be released.

“At this time, you have not demonstrated a specific need to know the identity of any particular requester or their contact information,” Keach said regarding the U-T’s latest request.

The public records law does not require any person to demonstrate a need when requesting information, saying, “the conduct of the people’s business is a fundamental and necessary right of every person in this state” and “every person has a right to inspect any public record.”

In February 2016, one individual requested a log of all requests submitted to the San Diego City Clerk and other city departments during a three-month period. Nine days later the city released a log that included each requester’s name and employer.

In March 2016, U-T Watchdog requested a roster of records requests from all local agencies in the county in an effort to assess open government practices.

The city of San Diego — along with 105 other government agencies — complied by providing a log that included requesters’ names.

San Diego’s online records portal is powered by San Francisco-based vendor NextRequest. Other NextRequest customers include the city New Orleans and the city of Albuquerque. Both agencies post online the name of each requester, along with the cost for staff to process requests.

“That kind of information is routinely provided throughout the country,” Cuillier said. “The name itself is not an inherent invasion of privacy, otherwise all of these other agencies wouldn’t put the it online for everyone to see.”

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