ORA Logs (Atlanta Mayor's Office)

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Georgia Open Records Act, I hereby request the following records:

All logs of open records requests received by your office from January 1, 2023 to the present.

Thank you!

I

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 3 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Andrew Free

Okie doke.

If that’s truly the case, how do you track the requests and let people know you’ve responded?

Thank you,

Andrew

I see. But no logs or tracking numbers are created? And no reports showing how it does so that lists the requests?

So, like, how do you [i.e., the City] know that this occurs if you have no log or record that proves it? Color me skeptical.

In any event, please provide copies of all requests requests the Executive Office responded to since Jan 1, 2023. I am not seeking the responsive records themselves. Just the requests and correspondence.

Thank you!

Sure.

We’ll try this another way:

For any email account used by the Executive Office to send or receive Open Records request correspondence between May 1, 2023 and the present, please task a search for all emails or calendar notifications, containing the word “request” AND any of the following terms: “open record” “open records” “public record” public records” “GORA” or “ORA”

For each responsive hit, please provide the following metadata:
1. Date & time sent/received
2. Sender
3. Recipient
4. cc/bcc
5. Subject line
6. Attachment size (if any)

I can do this all day. I’m sure you can, too.

Andrew

Good morning, Kimberly,

Here is the City of Atlanta’s publicly posted retention schedule for official records, including those maintained by the Executive Office: https://www.atlantaga.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/45144/637183212443630000#page9

On page 11, 06-RS-05B, requires preservation of records relating to Open records for 3 years. This means: “Inquiries from members of the public and/or other government officials requesting access to information under the Georgia Open Records Act.”

It’s unclear to me how the Executive Office is able to ensure compliance with the Retention Schedule currently posted on the Transparency Office’s website, which requires retention of Open Records request correspondence for 3 years, if you maintain no comprehensive list of requests received and responded to. So I checked out the City’s Records Management policy, also posted to the Transparency Office’s website, as required by City Ordinance. That policy is available here: https://www.atlantaga.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/45146/637183212457570000#page9

Section 5 of the Records Management Policy says: “All Department Heads shall cause to be created and preserved, records containing adequate and proper documentation of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures and essential transactions of their respective departments.”

To accomplish the Records Management policy, Atlanta Departments, including the Executive Office, must appoint a Records Officer, pursuant to Section 6: https://www.atlantaga.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/45146/637183212457570000#page9. That Records Officer is required to “create/update an annual inventory of the department/unit’s records.”

Because the Retention Schedule requires Atlanta departments/units (including the Executive Office) to retain Open Records Requests, and because the Records Management Policy records the Records Officer to create and update an inventory of the records that must be retained, the Executive Office would be in violation of the City’s own policies if the first answer you provided is true—i.e., that there is no log of Open Records Requests received and responded to by the Executive Office.

You previously informed me, “the executive office responds to open records requests in accordance with the Georgia Open Records Act.” You pointedly avoided representing that the Executive Office is in compliance with municipal law. So now’s your chance to do that.

The City of Atlanta’s Retention Schedule requires the Executive Office to preserve public records request correspondence for 3 years. The City of Atlanta’s Records Management Policy requires the Records Officer to create and update an inventory of the records that must be preserved under the Retention Schedule. So the City of Atlanta’s records policies, promulgated in accordance with Municipal Ordinance.

Can you please confirm that the Executive Office is out of compliance with the Records Management Policy’s Inventory requirement for Open Records Requests?

Thank you very much!

Andrew Free
Is the Executive Office out of compliance with Atlanta municipal law and the City’s own Records Management Policy and Retention Schedule?

Thank you, Kimberly!