Council debates burden of heavy public‑records requests and ways to respond

Council spent a sustained portion of the meeting discussing an influx of public‑records requests that staff say is overwhelming limited personnel and affecting other city work. Staff described repeated and sometimes intentionally broad or fake requests that require searching, redaction and legal review, and said some employees have worked weekends to keep up with statutory responsiveness timelines.

City counsel advised the council that while requesters have broad statutory rights, the city can and should push back on overly broad or vague requests, asking requesters to narrow scope so staff can identify responsive records within a reasonable time. Counsel also noted that although the city cannot generally charge for staff time spent reviewing records, it can charge for copies and should consider posting commonly requested documents online to reduce burden. Council members discussed whether limited contractor support or prioritized intake and estimation for large requests could help reduce the ongoing strain.

Council directed staff to continue working on operational measures to manage intake, prioritize common requests for publication, and estimate time for unusually large requests. Several public commenters urged transparency and recommended that ad hoc or committee meetings be held in public rather than behind closed advisory sessions, to reduce the perception of hidden decision‑making.

Council did not take legislative action but asked staff to return with options to manage workload and to consider low‑cost ways to improve public access to frequently requested records.