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Council member says delays, legal fees block access to information; others cite redaction and workload
Summary
A council member criticized long delays and legal expenses required to obtain public records and council-requested documents, urging parties to lift barriers; staff and other members said many requests require redaction, printing and attorney review but a paralegal can often respond faster.
During agenda item H, Council member Debbie (named in the discussion) said she is "deeply concerned" about delays in getting information, the cost of legal fees to process requests, and the friction on the council that prevents timely access to records. She said the board has had trouble getting invoices, bank statements and phone bills and urged that barriers be lifted so the council can meet its duties with transparency.
Other council members and staff responded that many requests involve historic, boxed records requiring time to retrieve and redaction; one staffer noted that Esmeralda, a paralegal, can often provide quicker, less costly answers than outside counsel. The exchange included a discussion of whether confidentiality agreements were being requested appropriately and how to use the attorney general process where appropriate. The council ended the item with a pledge from several members to improve internal processes and consider procedural fixes that separate policy debate from personal conflict.
