Ceres council declines to post all public-records responses online now, citing cost and confidentiality concerns

Council members on June 9 discussed a referral to post public-records-request responses on the city website. Council Member Casey framed the proposal as a transparency measure: posting requests and responses would let the public see both requests and staff answers.

City staff and the city attorney warned the council the change would impose significant, unbudgeted labor and technical costs. The city clerk said public-records requests already occupy roughly 60% of one full-time employee’s time and that many requests arrive outside the city’s online "Next Request" portal; compiling and posting responses — including multi-document packages and video footage — would be labor-intensive. The city attorney flagged legal and confidentiality issues, noting police-department records in particular are often disclosable only to specific individuals and would require additional legal review before public posting.

Council members expressed support for the concept but disagreed on scope and budget. Several asked staff to return with a clearer policy, cost estimate and a proposed scope that excludes records that cannot be released; others said they would not support the effort without funding and clearer procedures. The council did not adopt a policy and made no budget allocation on the item.