Fresno suspends its responsibility to provide public records. That’s too far, expert says
While putting in place emergency measures to respond to coronavirus on Thursday, the Fresno City Council suspended its requirement to respond to public records requests.
“Non-essential city services may be suspended, including but not limited to responding to requests under the California Public Records Act,” the ordinance says.
City officials, including Councilmember Miguel Arias, stressed the public records measure was temporary and approved it along with protections for those close to eviction.
“We are intending to suspend it (public records response) for a small period of time and continue it after we’re able to get over the significant emergency before us,” Arias said during the meeting.
Curbing public records requests, or what is often called a PRA, was met with skepticism from the journalistic community.
Government agencies may be inundated and short-staffed during the response to coronavirus, slowing the city’s ability to respond to requests, but rejecting records requests would be an overreach, according to David Snyder, the executive director of the First Amendment Coalition.
“They might say ‘It will take us longer,’” he said. “To simply say they’re not going to process requests is an extreme request.”
Both the city of Fresno and Fresno County have declared a state of emergency during the coronavirus outbreak, allowing them to avoid normal processes to help expedite responses to the virus.
“During times of crisis, government powers are at their peak,” Snyder said. “That means the ability to abuse that power is at its peak.”
PRAs are routinely used by journalists to uncover documents or other dealings conducted by city staffers and public officials that would not otherwise have come to light.
For example, a Fresno Bee investigation from earlier this month showed a Madera County social worker intentionally discarded hundreds of child abuse reports last year. The story became public only after a reporter filed months of records requests. State officials also confirmed to The Bee they were not aware of the issue until after the reporter dug into it.
The access to public records is also protected under the First Amendment.
The response to the virus has made ripples in requesting public records in agencies outside the area.
The city of Chicago implemented a plan to reject requests for public information amid coronavirus efforts on Wednesday but then hours later reversed that decision, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The FBI made changes to records requests during the coronavirus outbreak, according to Buzzfeed News. Those making requests must do so on paper through traditional mail rather than any electronic means.
