Moreno Valley to launch Laserfiche public records portal Feb. 17, resident raises transparency concerns

Moreno Valley officials told the City Council at a Feb. 10 study session that the city will go live with a new public records portal powered by Laserfiche on Feb. 17, offering a searchable repository of ordinances, resolutions, meeting minutes, agreements and past public-records responses.

Paul Bradvicka, a management analyst in the city clerk’s office, led the demonstration and walked council and the public through how to submit requests, required contact fields, the request-details section and an upload button for supporting documents. Bradvicka said requesters will receive an automated email acknowledging receipt and that documents produced in response to requests answered on or after Feb. 17 will be posted to the portal’s “past public record responses” area. He also showed an AI-summary feature meant to provide a short description of folder contents to help users locate responsive documents.

Bradvicka described search options that include keywords, document titles, full-text search, reference numbers and date ranges; he said the portal will hold materials dating back to the city’s incorporation where available and that resolutions and ordinances typically appear in the repository one to two days after meetings. The presentation included instructions for opening, viewing, downloading and printing documents and mentioned an upload limit for supporting files (presenters referred to both 25 megabytes per file and an ability to attach multiple files during the demo).

During public comment on the item, resident Christopher Baca praised the portal’s usability but raised concerns about transparency. Citing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) involving Highland Fairview, Baca said he had been told by a city official named Mohan that information about how the MOU originated is not public and accused city leadership of withholding records. “You’re hiding something,” Baca said, and urged the council to release the records rather than requiring litigation. The city did not provide a substantive response in the recorded public-comment segment.

Council members thanked staff for the work and asked procedural questions about how far back the portal’s public postings would go; Bradvicka said the current plan is to post documents for requests answered from Feb. 17 forward and that backfilling older request responses remains a topic for further discussion. He also said staff will provide training and that standard operating procedures for using the portal will be available on the city website.

The clerk confirmed that the portal will display a PRA (public records act) number for each posted response and that the city intends to make many routine public documents — including agreements and resolutions — available through the repository. The city did not cite a legal authority by name during the presentation; no formal vote or action was taken. The portal’s scheduled launch date is Feb. 17 and staff said outreach (press release, social posts and a video) will accompany the rollout.