About Cambria

If you weren’t at Thursday’s meeting and haven’t caught in on SLO-span (or listened at Slo-span.org), you must have a busy life. The meeting was only four hours this month, with much of the meeting spent listening to public comment. The “meat” of the meeting was public comment and the public hearing on the Water Master Plan EIR.

But I must first address something Tammy Rudock reported as part of her notes from the Brown Bag lunches. She said that I (Amanda Rice) asked that the CCSD loan documents to me and implied I was asking for the loan to circumvent the 20 cent per page fee. What she didn’t mention, and what regular readers of AboutCambria.com already know, is that I didn’t just want to borrow them for my own personal fun, I offered to return all loaned documents along with PDF versions on CD (or other E-storage medium) accompanied by an index of the documents. I was making an offer of my time and skill to address the document management issues the CCSD is clearly facing.

I shared the shock of Director Funke-Bilu at the amount of time the district clerk (and other staff) spend providing documents to satisfy public records requests. I submit that it would save staff time and district funds to have documents requested scanned and indexed, available on the CCSD web site (in addition to, perhaps, an in office computer accessible to the public).

The California Public Records Act specifically provides for public agencies setting up processes that will minimize staff time, while maximizing access to public records. From the Government Code:

6253. (e) Except as otherwise prohibited by law, a state or local agency may adopt requirements or itself that allow for faster, more efficient, or greater access to records than prescribed by the minimum standards set forth in this chapter.

6253.1. (a) When a member of the public requests to inspect a public record or obtain a copy of a public record, the public agency, in order to assist the member of the public make a focused and effective request that reasonably describes an identifiable record or records, shall do all of the following, to the extent reasonable under the circumstances:

(1) Assist the member of the public to identify records and information that are responsive to the request or to the purpose ofthe request, if stated.

(2) Describe the information technology and physical location in which the records exist.

(3) Provide suggestions for overcoming any practical basis for denying access to the records or information sought.

(b) The requirements of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) shall be deemed to have been satisfied if the public agency is unable to identify the requested information after making a reasonable effort to elicit additional clarifying information from the requester that will help identify the record or records.
(c) The requirements of subdivision (a) are in addition to any action required of a public agency by Section 6253.
(d) This section shall not apply to a request for public records if any of the following applies:

(1) The public agency makes available the requested records pursuant to Section 6253.

(2) The public agency determines that the request should be denied and bases that determination solely on an exemption listed in Section 6254.

(3) The public agency makes available an index of its records.

My offer to the CCSD stands: I am willing to donate my time and skills in document management to creating electronic versions of public records (especially frequently requested records) along with an index of the documents. I never suggested I should simply be loaned the documents to scan and post on AboutCambria.com and not provide anything in return. I would also be providing a service that could reduce the amount of time Kathy Choate spends responding to public records requests. In my opinion, this is more than a fair exchange, and one I’m willing to discuss in more detail if the general manager and district clerk will reconsider my request. The bottom line is providing easier access to public records helps everyone in the community. There is, of course, justifiable concern about loaning out the original and only version of a document, an issue that would need to be addressed.

Government Code 6250 (CPRA) says “In enacting this chapter, the Legislature, mindful of the right of individuals to privacy, finds and declares that access to information concerning the conduct of the people’s business is a fundamental and necessary right of every person in this state.” The guidelines of the code represent a MINIMUM standard. With the exception of some specific kinds of documents (all specified in the code), any agency may adopt policies that provide for MORE and EASIER access to public records than the law allows. It’s too bad that this staff seems to cling to the very letter of CPRA, not the spirit.

Below are some additional resources regarding CPRA. If you have a good source of your own or know of a community doing things differently, please send amanda an email @aboutcambria.com

Download the complete text of the California Public Records Act from aboutCambria.com’s Library

Read more about the Brown Act, CPRA and other public form law visit Californians Aware’s web site. Their mission is to foster the improvement of, compliance with and public understanding and use of, public forum law, which deals with people’s rights to find out what citizens need to know to be truly self-governing, and to share what they know and believe without fear or loss.

Access to Public Records in Electronic Formats; Costs
6253.9. (a) Unless otherwise prohibited by law, any agency that has information that constitutes an identifiable public record not exempt from disclosure pursuant to this chapter that is in an electronic format shall make that information available in an electronic format when requested by any person and, when applicable, shall comply with the following:
(1) The agency shall make the information available in any electronic format in which it holds the information.
(2) Each agency shall provide a copy of an electronic record in the format requested if the requested format is one that has been used by the agency to create copies for its own use or for provision to other agencies. The cost of duplication shall be limited to the direct cost of producing a copy of a record in an electronic format.
(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (2) of subdivision (a), the requester shall bear the cost of producing a copy of the record, including the cost to construct a record, and the cost of programming and computer services necessary to produce a copy of the record when either of the following applies:
(1) In order to comply with the provisions of subdivision (a), the public agency would be required to produce a copy of an electronic record and the record is one that is produced only at otherwise regularly scheduled intervals.
(2) The request would require data compilation, extraction, or programming to produce the record.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require the public agency to reconstruct a record in an electronic format if the agency no longer has the record available in an electronic format.
(d) If the request is for information in other than electronic format, and the information also is in electronic format, the agency may inform the requester that the information is available in electronic format.
(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit an agency to make information available only in an electronic format.
(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require the public agency to release an electronic record in the electronic form in which it is held by the agency if its release would jeopardize or compromise the security or integrity of the original record or of any proprietary
software in which it is maintained.
(g) Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit public access to records held by any agency to which access is otherwise restricted by statute.

This just in:

More than just the one chapter presented by the CCSD’s blue ribbon committee on Build-out Reduction, the latest document available here at aboutcambria.com is the 62 page more comprehensive report and analysis provided by RBF Consulting to the CCSD in August 2005.

Download it from the library . Find it fast using the dropdown menu or browse the available documents.

And COMING VERY SOON:

(possibly as you read this post)

CCSD Budget Expenditure Reports for most of 2007. These detailed records show where every penny is spent. And they will be available in AboutCambria.com’s Library, along with other public records, as they become available. Transparency is only useful if we take advantage of the access to become better informed.

The CCSD has published the agenda for the upcoming meeting. The agenda is also available in the library of AboutCambria.com – in the CCSD category. To view the CCSD documents in the library, just select CCSD from the drop down menu just under the page title and click “Go”. Other items that will added to the library include minutes (as they become available) and the other numerous documents, EIRs, studies, and more. Most of the items here are subject to the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) and/or CPRA (California Public Records Act), but not all of them can be found on the CCSD website right now.

Tammy Rudock has said that the district’s website is being reworked and improved. Perhaps when the new site goes up, more public documents will be accessible. At the last Brown Bag Lunch with Tammy, I asked her about whether the “new” site will include access to the public documents, both current and historic. She indicated current and future documents (agendas, reports, minutes and such) would be available on the new site, but thought it would be unlikely that other archives would become available online, due to the time it would take to scan, catalog and upload the older documents.

I believe that openness and transparency are essential attributes if a public agency wants to build trust, especially in the current political climate. The more access to public records, the better informed people can become about how our community got to where it is. By making it easier for people to find and read the agendas, reports and minutes, the district could reduce the time spent explaining the history and how we got where we are. In this spirit, I asked Tammy if it would be possible to set up a process whereby I could “check out”archived documents, scan them, then return them to the district, along with copies of the electronic documents for CCSD use. I think the offer would address two issues getting in the way of public access: the realistic priorities and constraints on staff time and the prohibitive cost of obtaining documents (at 20 cents per page, the Water Master Plan alone would cost close to $125). Of course, my motive in volunteering to scan thousands of pages of CCSD records was only mostly altruistic. I am also motivated by my desire to read the “primary documents” history of my community’s struggles with water issues and desalination. I want to better understand how we got here, without the tint of political agenda or personal interpretation that has accompanied most town histories I have heard. As a child, I somehow came to the conclusion that democracy works best when people are well-informed on the issues and public officials are best when they act in the best interests of the community. And that belief about government and democracy has stuck, even as it was modified by the understanding that in the real world it doesn’t always work like it does in theory. (Two other considerations came to mind as I offered to scan the records: 1.) To cover the expense involved, at 20 cents per page,I’d have to work more, which would mean I wouldn’t have time to scan OR read the records. and 2) Once I scan the records, the paper versions wouldn’t see much action…a waste of trees and the energy to make and recycle the paper, not to mention the environmental and actual cost of ink.)

The fundamental precept of the CPRA is that governmental records shall be disclosed to the public, upon request, unless there is a specific reason not to do so. Cases interpreting the CPRA have emphasized that its primary purpose is to give the public an opportunity to monitor the functioning of their government. The greater and more unfettered the public official’s power, the greater the public’s interest in monitoring the governmental action. But public records requests can begin to take a lot of staff time, especially since a public agency is supposed to not only provide the documents and information requested, but are also “generally required to assist members of the public in making focused and effective requests for identifiable records.” The summary of the CPRA (2004) goes on to state, “One legislatively-approved method of providing assistance is to make available an index of the agency’s records.” (Government code section 6253.1 (d) (3))

Tammy told me she’s need to think about whether or not this arrangement would be workable. I submit that an “index of the agency’s records” would be a natural by-product of building an electronic archive of CCSD records, and as described in the summary of the CPRA, an index could save staff time currently spent procuring and copying records for public records requests. This benefit could outweigh concerns the CCSD may have and the CPRA clearly states “…a local agency may adopt requirements for itself that allows for faster, more efficient, or greater access to records than prescribed by the minimum standards set forth in this chapter.” (Gov’t Code 6253 (e) )

All lawspeak and code aside, it is in the community’s interest (the interest with greater weight) to have better access to CCSD records, current and historic. I intend to follow up on this request, since our busy general manager probably has an extensive to-do list and a written request seems entirely appropriate, if not required. What are your thoughts?

On March 10, the CCSD held a Town Hall Meeting to discuss the 2008 Goals the Board had approved in January. There were about 100 Cambrians there. Unlike all regular CCSD meetings, this one was not recorded by API for broadcast on Channel 21. But the meeting was recorded on video by a professional camera person hired by a private citizen. And now you can get a copy to watch for yourself. The 5 hour meeting is on a 2 DVD set. The DVD set costs only $10. This covers the cost of duplication and production. Any amount above actual cost will be used to help defray the cost of recording the next town hall meeting. To get your copy and learn more, call Leslie Richards at (805) Cambria-4-0404. (that’s 924-) Or email DVD @ aboutcambria.com.   Leslie also plans to have a number of copies of the town hall meeting DVD at this week’s CCSD meeting (March 27, 2008).

AboutCambria.com’s document library has a new look and some new documents. Recently added that may be of interest: (1) The Board Packet prepared by the CFRC and provided to the CCSD Board and staff prior to the March 6 CCSD meeting. (2) The Draft of the SLO County Growth Management Ordinance (currently in public review)

The library spans several pages, with 15 items per page. If you have a specific document in mind, you can narrow the choices by date and by category using the drop down boxes at the top of the page. As the collection grows, the topics will be refined and hopefully make it easier to use.

The new library was developed using a WordPress Plugin called Publications Archive Manager. I was glad to find it and hope it will continue to work with WordPress 2.5, which is soon to be released.

Posted by Anne Winburn. This is just my opinion.

What a great turn out, last night at the PROs meeting with the community on the Community Park EIR. The new designers of the park…”FIRMA” were there to present, answer questions and take in feedback, along with the PROs board and a couple of CCSD Board members and staff. The plan is beautiful and top notch professional.
HOWEVER, I HAVE SOME CONCERNS. Some new information for me as a result of attending the meeting was the discovery that:

• FIRMA, the new design firm, was never given the results of the 2004 CCSD PROs (Parks, recreation and open space committee of the CCSD) survey. read here nor the PROs summary outline of the survey results, read here.
• With direction from CCSD, FIRMA has been designing to someone’s personal interest decision to mandate a sports mutiplex extravaganza. Based on the hard data that is available to date and contained herein, the multiplex that is being developed does not match the solicited and stated recreational needs/wants of the community.
• The Project was to be a community park, to meet the needs of the community of Cambria and also to be enjoyed by residents of and visitors to SLO county. The official terms of the agreement between the County and the CCSD for development of a community park can be read here.

EXCERPT: In 2003, The CCSD was ” seeking to purchase certain property known as the East/West Ranch to preserve for open space preservation and public recreation use and intends to set aside approximately 50 acres of said property as a community park serving the recreational needs of Cambria.” The desired outcome by the County in exchange for $500,000 is “the district and the county and its residents will have the benefit of increased outdoor recreation facilities.

• I am afraid a lot of community money has been spent on design development without relevant and on-target design objectives. To remedy that, I suggest the design objectives be reviewed and ammended by the community before any more design work is paid for. I don’t know exactly how much has been spent. Perhaps someone can find that out.

While the intent of the agreement between the County and the CCSD was, I am sure noble and generous; the project has escalated to one that is:

• Largely off base from the stated recreational needs of the community
• Does not design to the demographics of the community
• out of scale with our small community
• Fraught with “Significant, adverse, and unavoidable environmental impacts” on every environmental category

NEED FOR MORE SOCCER FIELDS There was one speaker who stated that there are not enough soccer fields for the 7 soccer teams (not sure if that includes adults and children ) that exist in Cambria. That is a lot of soccer teams for Cambria.

• Where do those 7 soccer teams play now?
• Are they allowed to use sports fields at the three different schools in Cambria? If not, why not?
• Can sports fields be added where some already exist like at schools or even a church, for instance? (utilize existing parking, bathrooms, etc)
• Is there anywhere in San Simeon that could handle the addition of Soccer fields? What about somewhere at San Simeon State Campground?

IN CLOSINGI have received many calls and drop-ins from people in the community who feel similarly. We will get together to discuss all of this soon. If you would like to get together with a group to discuss possible strategies to stop this heinous and blatant over-development of our environmentally sensitive open space please e-mail me or call me. I am in the Book. Thank you.

Overview: The Sunshine Campaign

The Sunshine Week alliance has begun a yearlong Sunshine Campaign project to bring the discussion of open government issues to election campaigns from president to local city council. While the initiative expands the scope of Sunshine Week to cover the entire election season, there still will be myriad events, coverage and other activities during Sunshine Week 2008, March 16-22.

The Sunshine Campaign is designed to spur campaign conversation — and commitment — to open government during the presidential race and continuing on through to city council contests. Journalists, and anyone else with the opportunity, are encouraged to ask every candidate for public office to explain his or her positions on open government and Freedom of Information issues.

Read more.

This site (and the sites they link to) is just what the community ordered. And it just so happens this week is Celebrate Sunshine and Demand Open Government week. Take a minute to check out their cause and their site. Check out the political cartoons and some of the campaigns.

As a detour (like you have the time!), head on over to Get Grandpa’s FBI Files and use the FOIA to procure the scoop on not just Grandpa, but nearly any relative you can prove is deceased. Want to know if you have an FBI file? Visit their sister site Get My FBI File Both sites are free and use the well-chosen tag-line “because if you don’t ask…you’ll never know…” Check it out!

Download a PDF of the Agreement between the CCSD and the County regarding the acquisition of the Eas-West Ranch (now known as Fiscalini Ranch Preserve).

The county contributed $500,000 toward the purchase of the ranch and this is the agreement CCSD made with the county to get the money. Below are some excerpts from the contract, signed by Vern Hamilton as general manager.
Joint Use Agreement
BETWEEN THE CAmbria Community SERVICES DISTRICT AND THE COUNTY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO
FOR ACQUISITION OF CAMBRIA COMMUNITY PARK
This Agreement is made this a day af may 2003, between the CAMBRIA COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT (“DISTRICT’), a public entity in the State of California and the COUNTY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO (“COUNTY”), a public entity in the state of California, with reference to the
following facts*
1. The DISTRICT and COUNTY are authorized under the authority Of the California Government Code, Section 6500 et, seq,, jointly to provide any services for which each might individually be responsible.
2. The DISTRICT is seeking to purchase certain property known as the East West Ranch to preserve for open space preservation and public recreational use and intends to set aside approximately 50 acres of said property as a community park serving the recreational needs of
Cambria. as shown oil Exhibit A, “East West Ranch” attached hereto and incorporated herein; by reference.
3. The DISTRICT and COUNTY have determined a need for additional public recreational facilities within the unincorporated community of Cainbria and both desire to made accommodations for such needs,
4. The DISTRICT and COUNTY believe a joint effort to finance the purchase of a site for such outdoor recreational facilities rather than to provide separate and less appropriate facilities would be in the best interest of bothe entities and the citizens within the DISTRICT and the COUNTY as a whole.
5. The DISTRICT will have the benefit of additional outdoor recreational facilities, which might otherwise be beyond the ability of the district to purchase without the COUNTY’s finanacial contribution.
5, The COUNTY and its residents will receive the benefit of increasd outdoor recreational facilities for children and adults at a considerable savings and viability than if the COUNTY were to undertake such a project at its own expense.
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing, and the other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the parties agree as follows:

…..

SECTION II – Terms of the Agreement

This agreement shall be in effect for a period of 5 years, unles earlier terminated persuant to the provisions of the Agreement. The term shall commence upon the execution of this Agreement by both the COUNTY and the DISTRICT. During the period of this agreement the DISTRICT agrees to complete the purchase of the East West Ranch and begin the planning and development process of an approximately 50 acre portion of said Ranch as a community park for use by all residents of the COUNTY under the same conditions and costs as it provides such services to residents of the DISTRICT.

…..

SECTION VI – Default

…. Should the District fail to successfully acquire the East West Ranch or be able to provide an approximately 50- acre community park site resulting from said acquisition, the DISTRICT shall return all COUNTY contributed funds.

From the CCSD website, the new well level readings charted.

If you have been following the CCSD’s activity over the last month, the name Jim Ragan will be a familiar one. Jim was one of the candidates for the open Board of Directors seat. (Read more about the interviews here.) The Board (lead my Mr. Sanders) chose to appoint Muril Clift ( a candidate, now director, I personally support) after a deadlocked vote on Jim Ragan. Clearly, Ragan’s decades of experience facilitating participation and public buy-in, not to mention his experience working with the Army Corps of Engineers, had impressed Joan and Peter. When Mr. Sanders again nominated Mr. Clift, Mrs. Cobin and Mr. Chaldecott apparently decided if they couldn’t change Sanders’ mind, they’d better back his choice, so the board could move forward. (DISCLAIMER: This is assumption on my part: I have no powers of ESP as near as I can tell and I haven’t talked with any board member about their reasoning process). Perhaps the board, now with their new director, could prevail upon Mr. Ragan to share some of his experience. In a recent email to me he wrote:

 As you know, I have some major experiences in public involvement.  Statistically over 30 years, I can probably cite over 300 public meetings, public hearings, public workshops, town hall meetings, and the like that I have facilitated on publicly controversial plans and projects.  In virtually all of them, agency/plan/project opponents outnumbered agency/plan/project proponents.  If they had prevailed, none of my projects would have gone forward.

Sometimes people in these meetings suggested taking a vote.  I always rejected it.  The attendees represented themselves only and did not represent the people who were not there.  The attendees always accepted my decision. Dissenting voices show up because this is their forum to be heard.  Supporters don’t, for whatever reason.  Over the years, I occasionally suggested to agencies that they try to “pack” meeting halls with supporters.  But they didn’t and couldn’t.  Today, I know that it was a dumb recommendation.  People do not have to attend public meetings.  If you go to a few CCSD meetings, you can certainly understand why.  People shouting at Board members (with occasional return volleys) interspersed with boring reports while sitting in highly uncomfortable folding chairs does not support the CCSD process.  Most people do not want confrontation.  A few do–actually a very small minority.

We elect boards such as CCSD to represent us and expect them to seek our input.  But we don’t necessarily expect them to agree with our input.  Democracy is never well served when boards succumb solely to the dictates of people speaking at public meetings.

I’ve posted this at Mr. Ragan’s request and think it has something important for all of us to hear. Thank you, Mr. Ragan.  I, for one, hope you will stay involved.