Public Records Act

Public Records Act

Downloadable Application to Examine District Records

BOLINAS COMMUNITY PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT PUBLIC RECORDS ACT PROCEDURES

 

  1. DISCLOSURE POLICY

 

All records of the District are public records, and except as hereinafter specified, any person may examine such records and may obtain copies of any such records in accordance with these procedures.

  1. CONFIDENTIAL RECORDS

 

The following District records are not subject to disclosure either because they are specifically exempted from disclosure by Government Code 6254 or because the public interest served in not disclosing them clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure:

 

  1. Records pertaining to pending or threatened litigation including any confidential communications between the District or its officers or employees and its attorneys and any work product of such attorneys.
  2. Personnel, employment, and medical files of employees, except contracts.
  3. Geological and geophysical data, plant production data, and similar information relating to utility systems development which have been obtained in confidence from any person.
  4. Records of complaints to or investigations conducted by the District for law enforcement purposes.
  5. Test questions, scoring keys, and other examination data used to administer employment examinations.
  6. Real estate appraisals made for or by the District relative to property acquisitions until the property has been acquired, except where disclosure is required by eminent domain law.
  7. Information required from any taxpayer in connection with the collection of local taxes which is received in confidence where the disclosure of the information to other persons would result in unfair competitive disadvantage to the person supplying the information.
  8. Engineering or feasibility estimates and evaluations made by or for the District relative to prospective public supply and construction contracts until all of the contracts have been entered into.
  9. Residential water bills and water usage records, except for the requester’s own household.
  10. District customer list.
  11. Records the disclosure of which is exempted or prohibited pursuant to federal or state law, including, but not limited to, provisions of the Evidence Code relating to privilege.

 

  1. PROCEDURE TO EXAMINE RECORDS

Any person may apply to the District General Manager for permission to examine specified District records.  Application to examine the District minute books, or any single document of any length, or any number of documents totaling 4 pages or less may be made orally.  All other applications must be in writing.

 

The General Manager will act upon each application as soon as feasible and shall permit the Applicant to examine any District records, other than “confidential records” as defined in section 2, unless the public interest served by nondisclosure of the specified records clearly outweighs the public interest served by their disclosure.  In case of doubt the General Manager may obtain the opinion of the District’s attorney before acting upon an application.  Where the requested records are “confidential records” or where the public interest served by nondisclosure clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure, the General Manager shall deny the request in writing stating the reason for such denial.  (Oral applications may be denied orally.)

 

In case of denial the Applicant may appeal to the District Board of Directors by filing a written appeal with the District within 5 days of receipt of the denial.  Such appeal shall be dated and signed, and shall contain (1) Applicant’s name, address and phone number, (2) specific records requested, (3) purpose of request, and (4) a brief statement as to why Applicant believes the requested records are not exempt from disclosure and why the public interest would best be served by disclosure of such records.  The Board of Directors will hear the appeal at its next regular meeting which is scheduled 10 or more days after the date of the appeal is filed.  The Board of Directors shall review the request de novo.

 

When examination of records in permitted, such examination may ordinarily be conducted during normal District business hours.  However, Applicants who have applied in writing to examine large numbers of documents, voluminous documents, or documents not well identified or not readily available and for which search must be made may be required by the General Manager to make an appointment to examine such records outside of normal District business hours.

 

  1. PROCEDURE AND FEES TO COPY RECORDS

Any person may purchase a copy of any public record which he is entitled to examine.  The Applicant shall pay the District in advance the direct cost of duplication of such records.  4 pages or less of letter size or legal size documents shall be charged at the rate of 50 cents per page per side.  Requests for more than 4 pages must usually be copied outside of normal district hours and require employee overtime.  Accordingly, 5 pages or more of letter size or legal size documents shall be charged at the rate of 75 cents per page per side.  The General Manager may also increase said rates by an amount sufficient to cover the additional anticipated direct District duplication costs for the copying of records which require extra labor to copy due to the age, condition, legibility, size, or location of such records or due to other factors.  Multiple requests from the same Applicant shall be considered as a single request for purposes of determining the copying fee.