[img]1739|right|Mr. Nachbar||no_popup[/img]A proposed gut-sized, incentive-driven overhaul of the 45-year-old state Public Records Act intended to discourage inquiries, will not affect Culver City, John Nachbar, the City Manager, said this morning.
Nearly everyone who has spoken on the record – except for legislators and Gov. Brown, the true catalyst for the changes – uniformly has lined up against any adjustments. Opponents believe perceived transparency in government would correspondingly shrink.
“I don’t know what Sacramento’s motivation is,” Mr. Nachbar said. “It may be similar to last year” when the Legislature said city governments could decide for themselves whether to obey laws requiring posting of all agendas. That was deemed a cost-saving measure.
The changes, approved last week by the Legislature, await the governor’s signature to become law.
This year, allegedly also in the name of cost-cutting, Gov. Brown is close to signing an amended law that drops the provision requiring governments to respond within 10 days to a request or to aid inquirers to locate the exact documents they are seeking.
Local governments also could refuse requests without explanation.
Supposedly, community governments had been in the habit of billing Sacramento for expenses incurred by the public records requests, and Mr. Brown wants to halt or severely slow that practice.
“I don’t think that we have sought reiumbursement (from Sacramento) for compliance with the law,” Mr. Nachbar said. “Some cities do, I know.
“I cannot foresee that we would be altering our approach to doing business the way we always have.”
While City Hall has processed nine public requests this week, it handles five in an average week, Mr. Nachbar said.
