HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 8396 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 8396
April 9, 2002
too-T'lleft To the Mayor and Members of the City Council
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SUBJECT: OPEN RECORDS/PUBLIC INFORMATION RESPONSE
ADMINISTRATION, FY2001-2002
The purpose of this report is to provide a mid-year status and growth analysis of subject program. The City's
procedures for responding to requests for public information according to the terms of the Texas Public
Information Act(Texas Government Code, Chapter 552) are articulated in Administrative Regulation D-1.
The Records and Information Management Office performs the receipt, distribution, and tracking of virtually
all formal requests received by the City, with systematic review for release performed by the Law
Department. Staff from Records Management and Law also provide Citywide training on the concepts and
requirements of the Act. The dual program mission is to ensure the security and integrity of information
being released from the City and to make the City more responsive to the public.
The volume of requests for public information received by the City continues to grow in dramatic fashion,
nearly doubling for the same time frame last fiscal year. There are three primary reasons for this..
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1. The public and press continue to grow in their awareness of, and interest in, the provisions of the
Public Information Act. This is a clearly quantifiable, statewide trend.
2. Certain requests not previously recognized as naturally falling under the provisions and obligations
of the Act are now being handled with proper attention and care.
3. Some requests for information previously handled casually by departments are now being
centrally logged and tracked. Through the use of facsimile and electronic scanning, this adds virtually
no time to the response. In the event that the Law Department requests review of that information,
any delay is in direct proportion to the extent to which this requirement was neglected in the past, and
is far outweighed by the reduction of legal risk to the City in releasing sensitive or protected
information. Law is working with departments to establish lists of information not requiring review
and for which departments release public information at will. In those cases, logging is then primarily
a tool for reporting the volume, nature, and target of public information requests received by the City,
which was not previously carried out.
The following is a breakdown of departmental public information requests received by the City in the first six
months of Fiscal 2001/2002,with rounded percentages. Also included are monthly, average, and comparative
totals:
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS NO- 8396
April 9, 2002
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council
SUBJECT: OPEN RECORDS/PUBLIC INFORMATION RESPONSE
ADMINISTRATION, FY2001-2002
Request Volume Totals by Month FY'01 FY'02
daily daily
IT Solutions(PD) 348 30% total av,e total ayg
Police 175 15% October 73 3.3 197 8.6
Human Resources 167 14% November 59 3.0 192 9.6
Water 107 9% December 60 3.0 133 6.6
Development 106 9% January 144 6.9 218 10.4
Fire 86 7% February 156 7.8 207 10.3
Environmental Mgt. 85 7% March 152 6.9 228 10.8
Code Compliance 58 5% Mid-Year Totals 644 5.4 1,175 9.4
Law 44 4% Percentage Increase 82%
T/PW 37 3%
Finance 20 2% PUBLIC INFORMATION REQUESTS
City Secretary 13 1%
IT Solutions 12 1% 250.
Human Relations 11 0.9%
Municipal Court 7 0.6% 200-
Health 6 0.5%
150
PACS 4 0.3%
Engineering 3 0.3% 100
Equipment Services 1 0.1%
[1,ibrary 1 0.1% 50
Mayor&Council 1 0.1% 0
Public Events 1 0.1% Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. March
Retirement 1 0.1% ■FY01 Requests ®FY02 Requests
7-00 1 0.1%
[NOTE: The sum of departmental totals is considerably greater than the mid-year cumulative total because many requests target
information in more than one department.]
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r1r ,"ry W. Jackson
.cy Manager
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS