Accessing City Annuities and Investments Q: I need help getting all the City’s investments (ie. Annuities) that the City has and who the beneficiary is. Is there a legal way that I can do this? Also, we did a referendum and the City Clerk would not give us any information on the City process on the referendum. The City Clerk would not assist use on the process and we gave her our form and the
Accessing Records of Parolees’ Addresses Q: Officials in one of the cities of the Coachella Valley are concerned that a disproportionate number of parolees are being released to live there by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. I requested through the Public Records Act information on all parolees the department has listed as living in the nine cities, the offense for which they went to prison, name, address, etc. CDCR provided me with the
What Constitutes a Local Agency Q: Are records from Hollywood Park OR Santa Anita Racetrack (aka Magna Entertainment Corp. and Los Angeles Turf Club) subject to public access? If so, how do I access them? They are under the jurisdictions of the California Horse Racing Board. Therefore, I believe the Brown Act may apply…? A: Your first step is to determine if you have a right of access to the information you are seeking under
Public Officials’ Personal Email Q: Does a city council member’s use of his/her personal e-mail account to discuss city business make that account subject to Public Records Act Requests? If so, is there a threshold between a single or several incidental uses and the systematic use of the personal e-mail for city business that would trigger the account’s exposure to such requests? A: Under Public Records Act (“PRA”), public records (which include “any writing containing
Air Quality District Records Q: I called the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD or “Air District”) regarding the presence of serpentine soil in a quarry near my home after reading their geology report. Serpentine soil usually contains naturally occurring asbestos and is regulated by the asbestos ATCM (Airborne Toxic Control Measure) which is currently not being utilized. The inspector called back and left a message on my answering machine saying testing was done