Town staff overwhelmed by public records requests
By Luisa Loi
La Conner Community News
After dealing with some particularly demanding requests for documents, the Town of La Conner is looking into its procedures to balance Public Records Act duties with efficient use of staff time.
Tuesday, Town Administrator Scott Thomas — who is also the designated public records officer — presented a draft policy that, if adopted, could help achieve this balance, asking the Town Council to submit any feedback before convening for a vote at a future meeting.
If the resolution is adopted, most requestors shouldn’t notice much of a difference, he wrote in an email to La Conner Community News. Simply, the policy would explain the process and include specific instructions on how to submit a request, eliminating any confusion and helping inquirers write clear and detailed queries. For large and complex requests, however, the turnaround may be slower because the policy would limit the amount of time staff can spend responding to the requests each month, he wrote.
The Public Records Act requires the Town to adopt rules to facilitate public access to the records. Furthermore, it requires the Town to keep and make available a current index of all public records, unless doing so is too demanding and interferes with its operations, according to the draft resolution.
Thomas wrote that the Town has received several inquiries that have been quite time consuming for its small team to fully address — such as recent requests for information relating to La Conner Live’s summer concert series, and some past requests for records on development projects in town.
He estimated that the Town typically receives a couple of requests per week, with staff responding within five business days. Most are routine and only take about 10 to 15 minutes for the necessary records to be found. On the most recent requests, however, he estimated he has spent over 20 hours and, as of Tuesday afternoon, he was not done.
Thomas suspects that, next year, the Town may choose to buy software that helps automate and keep the request process “manageable and efficient.”
Luisa Loi is a general assignment reporter for La Conner Community News.
Photo by Nancy K Crowell/La Conner Community News
