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Council moves to curb commercial public-records requests with ordinance 7-98
Summary
Council introduced Ordinance 7-98 to limit excessive commercial-purpose public-records requests; staff said the change would let the clerk screen requests that impose heavy operational burdens such as bulk GIS or transaction data requests.
The City Council introduced Ordinance 7-98, a public-records amendment intended to reduce the burden of large or commercial-purpose requests on city staff.
Staff member 'Cali' described recent requests that prompted the change, saying one requester asked for detailed road-segment data and speed-limit changes, and another asked for broad transactional records. "It's just to collect data," Cali said of the requesters' stated intentions. The proposed ordinance would allow staff to require additional information and to screen requests that appear commercial in purpose to avoid excessive workload on the clerk/treasurer's office.
Council members noted other municipalities have adopted similar carve-outs and that state statute contains provisions allowing such screening; the ordinance was introduced and scheduled for adoption at a subsequent meeting.
