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Council asks law department and staff to improve public-records process and retention practices
Summary
Council members asked the law department to review how the city processes public-records requests, how records and video are retained and formatted, and whether an ordinance or dedicated staff role could improve responsiveness and formatting of records delivered to requesters.
Cleveland Heights council members discussed problems with how public-records requests are processed and formatted and asked the law department to research best practices for logging requests, record retention, video storage and responsive formatting.
A council member described a public-records response that yielded 7,000 pages because each email was exported to a separate page and said that format made the records difficult to use. Another council member said some municipalities assign a public-information officer or a designated records manager to oversee requests and recommended looking at an ordinance or practice to formalize the process.
The law department confirmed that public-records requests are routed through its office and processed by email, and the council asked for examples of best practices used by other cities, including how to log and manage requests, how long video should be retained and how to provide responsive documents in practical formats.
Ending: Council directed the law department and city staff to research public-records processing, retention schedules and formatting best practices and to return recommendations, including whether an ordinance or a designated staff role would improve responsiveness.
