Freshman Councilmember Perry Woodward introduced his signature
open government ordinance to the city council, and the body gave it
an initial thumbs-up by directing staff to analyze its costs and
feasibility before looking at it again in January.
Freshman Councilmember Perry Woodward introduced his signature open government ordinance to the city council, and the body gave it an initial thumbs-up by directing staff to analyze its costs and feasibility before looking at it again in January.
“During my campaign I pointed out (Bay area governments’) trends toward transparency,” Woodward told the council after being sworn in Monday night along with Councilmembers Bob Dillon and Cat Tucker. “Many cities have gone further than what’s required under the Brown Act,” Woodward added in reference to Milpitas, Benicia, Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose.
Woodward’s “sunshine” ordinance, as it’s called, will supersede the Brown Act, the state’s current open government law, and make it easier for residents to get government documents other than through Public Records Act requests, which can take weeks.
In San Jose, the Santa Clara County district attorney has told the city’s Sunshine Reform Task Force, which aims to do much of what Woodward’s ordinance calls for, that the city cannot require police to divulge case files and investigative material. California does not require police to release records, unlike some other states, so San Jose’s potential pro-transparency policies could be the state’s first if the DA yields to the task force.
Woodward, who comes from a law enforcement family, admitted that police records are city records, but he cautioned that his proposal respects the necessary autonomy of the Gilroy Police Department and does not encroach on its discretionary authority to withhold department records from public inspection.
Santa Clara County District Attorney Dolores Carr and San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis contend that going beyond the Public Records Act could imperil police investigations by revealing witnesses, informants and police strategies. They have also said that weakened crime fighting could, in turn, jeopardize state-wide security, thus rendering the local ordinance impotent.
“It is a matter of city legislation related to matters of statewide concern,” Woodward said of the San Jose issue. “If a criminal suspect has read the newspaper and knows about the investigation, then it puts the police at disadvantage during interrogation.
“My ordinance steers away from this issue … but it requires that the police chief get training on what is public and what is not public,” Woodward said. “He (or she) will be aware that we have a very strong policy in Gilroy of openness, so unless there is an investigative or prosecutorial need for investigation, he (or she) should err on side of being forthcoming.”
Though the San Jose issue was not discussed Monday night, Mayor Al Pinheiro and Councilman Dion Bracco said they would like to see what staff has to say about Woodward’s ordinance and other cities’ sunshine efforts. Councilman Peter Arellano took the hardest line by saying that he thought the city was doing just fine when it comes to candor.
“I’m not sure where this is going. I’m not saying I don’t want transparency, but I am saying we have transparency,” Arellano told his colleagues. “I don’t think there’s anything we’ve done that is not open.”
For the past two months, the Dispatch has filed a series of PRA requests to obtain the draft reports and city e-mails associated with a consultant’s study of the GPD. The newspaper is still awaiting an additional response.
Woodward’s ordinance would allow residents to bypass and/or streamline PRA requests by creating an Open Government Commission: a five-member body of transparency-minded residents appointed by the council. They will facilitate records requests and report to the council periodically, Woodward said, but Dillon and other councilmembers expressed concerns Monday night about the potential costs of Woodward’s ordinance. Hence the council vote to have staff study the price of implementing Woodward’s ordinance.
“I anticipated concerns over the costs and efforts on behalf of the city staff, so I suggest that we have a cost analysis done by staff and a legal analysis done by the city attorney (San Jose-based Berliner Cohen) to see if there are any problems,” Woodward said. “I want to keep this moving forward, so staff should report back no later than the January retreat.”
The council will hold its semi-annual policy summit Jan. 26, 27 and 28. One issue that is certain to come up will be the sunshine ordinance’s requirement that the city tape all closed sessions to discourage what Woodward called forays into topics “that ought not be discussed in closed sessions.”
State and local laws allow for legal and personnel matters and union negotiations to be held behind closed doors, but Woodward’s ordinance mandates that the salaries and benefits of councilmembers and high-ranking city employees also be discussed in open session.
Regardless, if Woodward’s ordinance passes, Bracco said recording any closed sessions would allow the city’s three unions to view the tapes and adjust their negotiation strategies accordingly during salary talks with the city.
Woodward attended his first closed session meeting Monday night to discuss the hiring of the next police chief. When he emerged from the council chambers, Woodward declined to share any information from the meeting, during which City Attorney Linda Callon likely informed the new council of the legal repercussions of doing so.
Still, Woodward’s 31-page ordinance calls for more detailed council agendas and record-keeping and requires that councilmembers submit any topics of conversation to City Clerk Shawna Freels before meetings. This would end the current practice of councilmembers broaching topics off the cuff at the end of meetings.
Within 12 months of the ordinance’s potential passage, Freels would also have to compile an index of documents for each department, agency, task force, commission and elected officer. Department heads, who must receive open government training under the ordinance, would also become part-time liaisons, updating their particular Web sites regularly with documents and happenings and answering residents’ questions on where they could find a certain department materials.
