UKIAH, 3/18/23 — Mendocino County was recognized as one of America’s “worst in government transparency” last week by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and investigative news platform Muckrock, which awarded a “Foilie” to county officials in honor of Ordinance No. 4507 — local legislation passed last year that introduced unlawful fees to access public records in clear violation of state law. The dubious award puts the Board of Supervisors in such questionable company as the FBI, NSA, Cyber Ninjas and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Read the full list of Foilie awards here.
“The Foilies regularly recounts outrageous public records fees that seem clearly aimed at discouraging specific records requests. But those are usually one-off efforts aimed at specific requests. This award to officials in Mendocino County, Calif., is based on their creation of a fee system that appears designed to discourage everyone from requesting public records,” EFF staffers wrote.
The California Public Records Act authorizes government agencies to pass on the direct cost of record reproduction to requesters of public records, which includes the government’s copy or printing costs but nothing else. Ord. 4507, however, authorized the county to bill records requesters for staff time spent searching for, reviewing and possibly redacting records prior to release.
“Mendocino County’s ordinance is on shaky legal ground. The California Public Records Act does not give state and local government agencies the authority to assess their own search fees, review fees, or even fees to redact records. The law only allows agencies to charge the public what it costs to make copies of the records they seek,” writes the EFF.
Attorneys for The First Amendment Coalition (FAC) notified the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors that Ord. 4507 is unlawful in advance of its passage, and an open letter urging the board to reconsider was cosigned by almost every media outlet in the region. But on the advice of County Counsel Christian Curtis the board passed the ordinance in a unanimous vote.
Six months in
“It’s one of the votes that I really regret making,” Haschak said.
Third District Supervisor John Haschak recently found out that officials from other government agencies share the FAC’s legal opinion, and has since had second thoughts. Ord. 4507 went into effect in August, 2022, and a staff report on its implementation was placed on the consent calendar agenda for a regular meeting of the board on Feb. 8 7. Haschak had it “pulled” for further discussion, saying he no longer believes these fees to be on “solid legal ground.”
According to Haschak, officials from Orange County informed him that counties are legally authorized to recover direct costs of document reproduction — but not staff time — during a presentation to the California State Association of Counties (CSAC).
“Charging when we shouldn’t be charging puts us at a risk [of a lawsuit] I think, so I would like to have the board reconsider this ordinance because it could be detrimental to us in the long run,” Haschak said. His motion died later in the meeting for lack of a second, however.
“Obviously, we’re on the forefront of this issue. No other county is doing this. And if we lose, then we’re liable for all the [legal] fees the people suing us generate … So I’m worried about that. There are times when maybe Mendocino County wants to be on the forefront. I don’t think this is that issue,” Haschak said.
Haschak also expressed concerns about causing a “chilling effect” on transparency efforts, and those fears were confirmed in a staff report stating that the average number of requests received per day dropped from 4.5 in early 2022 to just 3.5 — which represents a 22% reduction if accurate. The report also indicates that 91 requests “have likely been abandoned” by the requester.
“That’s what courts will look at,” Haschak said.
Public comment
“When there’s a new pothole people call me and yell at me, and I don’t hear anybody yelling about public records requests,” said 5th District Supervisor Ted Williams. “If there’s anybody concerned they can show up at our meeting.”
During the public comment period that immediately followed their discussion, however, Ord. 4507 was criticized by five community members including, Michael Katz with the Mendocino Cannabis Alliance, David Drell of the Willits Environmental Center, and The Mendocino Voice’s Publisher Kate Maxwell.
“County counsel is framing this as a success because requests are going down and because people are being stymied,” Maxwell said. “I think that is something that is counter to government transparency and is deeply concerning.”
A full accounting of public comments received by the board regarding Ord. 4507 has been requested from the county to provide additional context on Williams’ comment. Constituents can reach the board at (707) 463-4221 or bos@mendocinocounty.org.
The Voice offered all five supervisors, as well as Mendocino County CEO Darcie Antle and County Counsel Curtis, an opportunity to comment on their Foilie. Haschak thanked The Voice for covering this issue, but declined to comment on the Foilie. Board Chair Glenn McGourty and Vice-chair Maureen Mulheren reached out separately with offers to streamline specific public records requests, but also declined to comment on the award.
PREVIOUSLY:
- Mendocino County to charge fees for public records
- Free press advocates caution Mendocino County on new public records fee ordinance
- Open letter to Mendocino County supervisors: new public records fees will cost more than they save
- Letter from the publisher: Mendocino County wins “worst” for government transparency (opinion)
I was born and partially raised in the county . I have spent my entire adult life here . I am 52 yrs old . .,all of these people on council, all of them of my generation no doubt . Never ever have I been so unbelievably ashamed of my generation . I am stunned by the ruthlessness of their actions . What a bunch of soyless narcissist !!! I suppose that it is what we get for allowing th root of all evil to make our world go round . Are they so worthless that they have to steal from good hard working people trying to do the right thing !! To those less thann people , you know who you are , you greedy low life thieving scum , there is a special place in hell for you . You have destroyed this wonderful beautiful county with your ugliness . That’s right . You are freaking ugly evil people on the inside and out !! Ugly nasty people !!!
You nailed it. They are the worst of the worst.
Does this finding make anyone else wonder WHY or WHAT is being kept from inquiring minds? Mendoville politics…… very strange indeed.
That’s cute. So Mendo County. They will be spending more than they collect defending lawsuits about violating the California Public Records Act FOIA provisions. Go team.
Does anyone have an idea how many times Christian Curtis has given the board wring advice? It seems to keep happening and the county gets into legal trouble. This costs the taxpayers money.
Please fire Christian Curtis now
They continue to put on our local news continually something new instead of what we’ve been asking for a long time and that is what happened with the investigation of the three different sets of books that the Board of Supervisors have. Why does no one speak of this and why did it Blow Away In The Wind? Come on guys do something that we have actually asked for! Our news agency seem to be scared to death to bring this up again or to let us know what’s actually going on. Worthless news agencies that are local and bought out by the Board of Supervisors evidently.