City Plays Shell Game, Hide-and-Seek With Citizenry

by Dennis Evanosky

When something is a matter of public record, it should be just that: public and on record for all to review. However, the way the City of Oakland handles its public records demands at the very least an investigation, and perhaps some drastic changes.

According to my sources and based on my own experience, the city has been playing some very strange games with its files, particularly those that need public review and comment.

In an ongoing campaign with the city, neighbors concerned about Rettig Avenue and the landslide that caused its closure in 1998 have had a particularly difficult time gaining access to all pertinent records. One neighbor told me that fundamental documents did not become available for public viewing until the day after the initial public comment period ended.

But let's start at the beginning. Let's say you simply want to go to City Hall and look at a "public" document. Good luck! Once you take the time out of your working day (perhaps taking less money in your paycheck to do so), you learn your trip has been in vain.

According to the neighbors, interested parties are directed to the city's Planning and Zoning department, whereas the significant documents are located in Building and Engineering Services. After you get to the right department, you learn (in one case in the most impolite terms) that you need an appointment with a senior engineer in order to view the department's "active" documents.

Once you're privileged enough to review the documents, you may find pertinent documents missing. Why? The city is conducting its business with these files backwards. Rather than waiting for all the pertinent files to be in the folder and then opening the file for public comment, the city chooses to open the file for comment and then wait for the documents in the file to catch up. In some cases, the citizens of Oakland have to take matters into their own hands (and at their own expense) to assure pertinent files are available.

On Friday, July 23, the first day of public notice for the Rettig Avenue files, interested neighbors went to the Planning and Zoning department to view and photocopy documents from the public records. They discovered several documents missing. They had wasted their time.

The following Monday, these neighbors spoke to a supervisor and informed him that documents were missing from the file. This supervisor told the neighbors that one of the reports that belonged in the file was not even completed. At this point, don't you think the city should have stopped the clock on the review deadline until the file was complete?

On Tuesday, July 27, the neighbors returned to see the files. No documents were available. They went to Building and Engineering Services for help. No one could provide the documents: Public Works had "checked them out." When they returned to the Planning and Zoning counter, a public servant "scolded us for not telephoning first to notify them that they wanted to view the file," the neighbors said.

They waited to see the bureaucrat in charge of the file. When he brought the file, again no documents were available. Then a wild-goose chase ensued. They were referred back to Building and Engineering Services and told to contact other bureaucrats. They sent e-mails and were instructed to make an appointment. Isn't this something the public servant in charge of the case could have done for them in the first place instead of sending the neighbors after wild geese?

Then the neighbors were told something very interesting: They could look at the "public"documents but not photocopy them. It seems some of the documents did not have proper release forms, another reason to stop the clock running on the public-comment deadline.

When the neighbors visited the Building and Engineering Services counter two days later, the people at the counter could not find the file. An hour later, help arrived in the form of a senior engineer who was able to retrieve the file. However, one week into the public review period, the final "Peer Review Report" was not in the file, and the neighbors were not permitted to have copies of anything that did not have City of Oakland identification.

At this point, the neighbors spoke to the public servant in charge of the file. "He accused us of not speaking with him about the files earlier in the week," the neighbors said. They had to remind him that they had spoken to him two days earlier and that no documents were available.

City officials did extend the public comment period, but not until the neighbors insisted they do so. Even then, neighbors had to fight to get all pertinent documents placed into the file; one neighbor even had to create the required permission slip for some of the parties to sign.

The extension provided neighbors two weekend days to review and comment on the final draft of the Peer Review Report.

To get this done, private citizens had to intervene. They had to do the bureaucrats' job (without the bureaucrats' pay, of course), getting release forms signed and preparing a fax document for the interested parties to sign and return to Building and Engineering Services.

None of this need happen if the city would change its policy along with the attitude of some of its public servants regarding reviewing public records. The clock should not run on public comment on any file until the city has that file completely ready for review.