pages: OpenGovernmentCommission/2021-02-01.pdf, 7
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OpenGovernmentCommission | 2021-02-01 | 7 | the requests came in; that transparency and information should be available on the City's website; it may be a bit more work for staff on the front end, but on the back end the readily public has access to the information. Chair Tilos concurred with Commissioner Chen; stated he would prefer to receive the report in a format that can be filtered rather than in a PDF. Commissioner Chen stated the report format is not an issue; that she would like to be more transparent in the future ahead of the game; as an example, if there were 10 requests for information on the Wellness Center, she would like to see a paragraph stating there were 10 questions relating to the same issue, which indicates the public's concern regarding the topic; the City should be transparent about the context, rather than just listing the requests; she would like to see how the Commission could improve services by looking at all the different questions that keep popping up repeatedly; there should be a way to foresee these things in the future and be more transparent up front. Commissioner Reid concurred with Commissioner Chen's points; stated Commissioner Chen's concerns could be achieved through a filter and is doable. The Assistant City Attorney stated there are some practical considerations regarding the suggestions; the sorting of the spreadsheet sounds like a great idea, but meta data needs to be produced in order for that to happen; for each request, tags would need to be created that can be coded and then sortable; the task is achievable, but is comprehensive and at a considerable cost; another consideration is augmenting the report to include all requests, not just ones that come through the City Attorney's office; to the extent that this will impact how other departments handle and document requests, it is difficult for the City Attorney's office to commit the other departments; the comments and ideas are good, but how to effectuate it is also important. The City Clerk stated documents posted for the agenda are converted to PDF; there would have to be a different distribution if the Commission would like Excel or another sortable format; there are definitely repeated requests, but sometimes even repeated requests on the same topic are for separate pieces of information or different documents; the system devised by the City Attorney's office is very specific to their office; her department uses a simple tracking system; other departments use a similar tracking system; sometimes not every request is captured, especially, if it was a simple request which was completed immediately; the Clerk's office has compiled an online database of documents for requests that was built over time, which includes campaign filings, all of the Council records and legislation. Vice Chair Shabazz stated that he appreciates the explanation from the Assistant City Attorney and the City Clerk; he understands the challenges of the task and does not want to regulate the processes, but wants to encourage information to be available, get the metrics, and have transparency without telling staff how to do their jobs; he is concerned that the information is only the requests for the City Attorney's office; his request for the 2013 through 2018 PRAs did not come from the City Attorney's office; the list is Meeting of the Open Government Commission February 2, 2021 7 | OpenGovernmentCommission/2021-02-01.pdf |