ORA Logs (Department of Procurement)
| Multi Request | ORA Logs |
| Submitted | June 4, 2023 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Andrew Free
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
From: Department of Procurement
Good afternoon,
You have contacted the City of Atlanta, Department of Procurement. Please be advised that the Department of Procurement (DOP) does not maintain any such log, therefore we do not have any documents responsive to your request.
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From: Andrew Free
Hi,
Thanks so much for your help with this request! I really appreciate it.
Sincerely,
Andrew Free
From: Department of Procurement
You are most welcome.
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From: Andrew Free
Before submitting a new ORA request, can you please confirm that your office doesn’t assign case/tracking numbers to requests? That’ll help us formulate what to ask for next time.
From: Department of Procurement
We do use such a tracking system.
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From: Andrew Free
Okay. That’s super helpful to know. Thank you for your quick response!
Would that system be capable of generating a report containing a list of the numbers assigned and connecting those numbers to requests received?
We could request a copy of all the requests your office received, and that would require a lot, I imagine, from you all in terms of time spent on search, review, redaction, etc., and a lot from us in terms of search fees.
Or we could just request the reports the tracking system generates, if such reports already exist. We acknowledge Ga law doesn’t require you to create anything new in response to our request.
Or we could seek the metadata from the open records email inbox containing stuff like subject, sender, date and recipient, and then cull the responses.
Our goal is to figure out what requests have been received and how they’ve been disposed of by your office. If there’s a methodology you’d prefer, or one you’d flatly refuse, for us to figure this out, please let us know before we file?
Thanks for your assistance in reducing workload while we expand transparency!
Andrew
From: Department of Procurement
Good afternoon, Andrew.
I would like to assist the best I can. From what I can tell, based on your request, we do not have such capability. If you would like to call me to see how I can better know how to assist you, you can use the mobile number below to reach out to me.
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From: Andrew Free
Okay.
Can you please provide me copies of all Open records requests received by your office since Jan 1, 2023?
From: Department of Procurement
Greetings,
The Department of Procurement does not store emails or records in a way that allows us to provide this information as requested.
Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.
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From: Andrew Free
Sure thing!
Could we hop on the phone and discuss? I think I may be able to reframe this request based on a conversation with Ms. Denius in the Transparency Office.
Specifically, i would like to request all emails sent or received between January 1, 2023 and the present by accounts in the Department of Procurement that interact with the public in response to electronically submitted Open Records Act requests.
Please use the following search terms or phrases: “Open Records Act” “GORA” “ORA” “FOIA” “Georgia Open Records Act” “open records request” or “public records request”.
Would this allow a reasonable search?
Many thanks in advance,
Andrew Free
From: Department of Procurement
Good afternoon, Mr. Free.
The Department of Procurement (DOP) is in receipt of your request for Public Records received via email on Friday, June 16, 2023. Pursuant to O.C.G.A. §50-18-71(d) requiring a response within three business days, and because the City of Atlanta was closed on Monday, June 19th in observance of the Juneteenth holiday, DOP’s statutorily required response is due to you by no later than today, Thursday, June 22, 2023. Please accept this correspondence as DOP’s statutorily required response to your request.
You have requested the following:
* All emails sent or received between January 1, 2023 and the present by accounts in the Department of Procurement that interact with the public in response to electronically submitted Open Records Act requests.
* Containing the following search terms or phrases: “Open Records Act” “GORA” “ORA” “FOIA” “Georgia Open Records Act” “open records request” or “public records request”.
The email account that is designated by DOP to send and receive email correspondence is OpenRecords-Procurement@atlantaga.gov<mailto:OpenRecords-Procurement@atlantaga.gov>. Your email search will be submitted to and processed by our server team which will generate a preliminary “hit count” of the number of times your specified search terms/phrases appear within the relevant data set. That hit count will be used to generate an estimate of time and cost to make responsive email records available.
Please note that responsive email records may be redacted to remove exempt information as allowed by O.C.G.A. §50-18-72(a). In particular, based on your specific search criteria, your request and the type of records requested, it is possible that redactions will be made pursuant to, but not limited to:
O.C.G.A. §50-18-72(a)(20)(A) Records that reveal an individual’s social security number, mother’s birth name, credit card information, debit card information, bank account information, account number, utility account number, password used to access his or her account, financial data or information, insurance or medical information in all records, unlisted telephone number if so designated in a public record, personal email address or cellular telephone number, day and month of birth, and information regarding public utility, television, internet, or telephone accounts held by private customers, provided that nonitemized bills showing amounts owed and amounts paid shall be available.
O.C.G.A. §50-18-72(a)(21) which provides an exemption from disclosure for: “Records concerning public employees that reveal the public employee’s home address, home telephone number, personal mobile or wireless telephone number, day and month of birth, social security number, insurance information, medical information, mother’s birth name, credit card information, debit card information, bank account information, account number, utility account number, password used to access his or her account, financial data and information other than compensation by a government agency, unlisted telephone number if so designated in a public record, and the identity of the public employee’s immediate family members or dependents.”
O.C.G.A. §50-18-72(a)(41) which provides and exemption for: “Records containing communications subject to the attorney-client privilege recognized by state law”.
O.C.G.A. §50-18-72(a)(42) which provides and exemption for: “Confidential attorney work product”.
If you agree with the search criteria stated above, we will initiate a request to begin the search and keep you updated on the count result and cost. Please just reply to this email to agree.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
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From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Georgia Open Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on June 5, 2023. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Department of Procurement
God Morning Mr. Free,
On June 22, 2023 we responded to your request confirming the information you were requesting. Please confirm if the below info is correct and if you would like to move forward with your request.
If you have any further questions please reach out.
Thank you,
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From: Andrew Free
Thank you for your follow up.
This is correct and I would appreciate it if you would move forward with processing.
Best regards,
Andrew Free
From: Department of Procurement
Good Afternoon
The DOP is working on your request and will have a status update by Thursday, July 20, 2023.
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From: Department of Procurement
Greetings, Mr. Free.
Following the performance of a preliminary search of email records, based on the criteria you provided, the Department of Procurement has identified approximately 1.637 potentially responsive emails. To review each email to determine whether it is responsive and does not include any information which is exempt from production in accordance with the Georgia Open Records Act, including but not limited to that which is exempt from production under the attorney/client privilege or the attorney-work product doctrine (OCGA Secs. 50-18-72(a)(41) and (a)(42)) is estimated to take approximately 5.46 hours at a rate of 300 emails reviewed per hour.
Pursuant to the Georgia Open Records Act
the charge for the search, retrieval, or redaction of records shall not exceed the prorated hourly salary of the lowest paid full-time employee who, in the reasonable discretion of the custodian of the records, has the necessary skill and training to perform the request.
OCGA Sec. 50-18-71(b)(1)(A)
The hourly salary of the lowest paid full-time employee of the Department of Procurement, who in the reasonable discretion of the custodian of the records, has the necessary skill and training to perform the actions necessary to complete the search retrieval and redaction of the emails which are not estimated to contain information subject to the attorney/client privilege or the attorney-work product doctrine is $26.44 per hour. It is estimated that it will take this employee 3.64 hours to complete their review and redaction of the emails which are not estimated to contain information subject to the attorney/client privilege or the attorney-work product doctrine.
The hourly salary of the lowest paid full-time employee of the Department of Law, who in the reasonable discretion of the custodian of the records, has the necessary skill and training to perform the actions necessary to complete the search, retrieval, and redaction of the emails is $39.81 per hour. It is estimated that it will take this employee 1.82 hours to complete their review and redaction of the emails which are estimated to contain information subject to the attorney/client privilege or the attorney-work product doctrine.
Accordingly, we estimate that the cost to complete the search, retrieval, and redaction of the records which you have requested to be $168.69. Pursuant to the Georgia Open Records Act, as the costs for production of the records exceed $500.00, the Department of Procurement requires that you pre-pay the cost of production. Upon your agreement to do so, we will provide you with an invoice and payment instructions. Upon our receipt of your payment, we shall provide an estimated date by which you will receive your requested records.
Upon your agreement to begin the process and confirm that you will pay the cost associated, we will begin the process of retrieving, redacting, and forwarding the information to you, along with an invoice and payment instructions.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
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From: Andrew Free
Thanks very much for this information. Can you please provide more information on the search terms used and methodology used to employ them?
This would help us decide whether to narrow in the hopes of reducing costs.
Many thanks,
Andrew Free
From: Department of Procurement
Good Morning-
The following search terms were used to search per your request:
Date Range: January 1, 2023 - Present
Search Terms:
* “Open Records Act”
* “GORA”
* “ORA”
* “FOIA”
* “Georgia Open Records Act”
* “open records request”
* “public records request
Regards,
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From: Andrew Free
Okay. That’s super helpful on terms.
As an alternative to the beginning an individualized review of potentially responsive emails themselves, would it be possible to narrow so that only emails which include non-COA email domains are included? That would ELIMINATE anyone communications internally between COA officials, and thus significantly limit (I hope), the universe to only the records responsive to the actual request, which, to be clear, was meant to capture (1) records requests sent TO your office; and (2) responses to requestors sent FROM your office.
Would eliminating any emails that only have City of Atlanta email addresses reduce the universe?
Thanks again for your prompt response!
Best regards,
Andrew Free
From: Department of Procurement
Good afternoon-
The DOP has received your request; however, we are unable to narrow down to the specifications you requested below. Please let us know if you would like to proceed with original request or if you have any further questions.
Thank you,
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From: Andrew Free
Can you please explain why you’re not able to determine the addresses of senders and recipients of emails using the exact same search function you used to generate the initial results? It seems an awful lot like the City is selectively applying the search technology.
What was the methodology you used to formulate the fee bill?
This response creates a haystack to put needles in, rather than facilitating the efficient, cost-effective transmission of public records.
Thanks!
From: Department of Procurement
Good Morning,
The DOP has received your request. We are currently in the process of determining if we have the documents you are requesting. We will have a status update to you by Friday, August 4,2023.
Thank you,
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From: Andrew Free
Thank you!
From: Department of Procurement
Good Morning Mr. Free-
We are still in the process of getting the info you have requested. I hope to receive a final number by today August 7, 2023 but hopefully no later than tomorrow Augus 8, 2023. I will keep you updated.
Thank you,
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From: Andrew Free
Thanks very much for the update!
From: Department of Procurement
Greetings, Mr. Free.
Following the performance of a preliminary search of email records, based on the criteria you provided, the Department of Procurement has identified approximately 893 potentially responsive emails. To review each email to determine whether it is responsive and does not include any information which is exempt from production in accordance with the Georgia Open Records Act, including but not limited to that which is exempt from production under the attorney/client privilege or the attorney-work product doctrine (OCGA Secs. 50-18-72(a)(41) and (a)(42)) is estimated to take approximately 2.97 hours at a rate of 300 emails reviewed per hour.
Pursuant to the Georgia Open Records Act
the charge for the search, retrieval, or redaction of records shall not exceed the prorated hourly salary of the lowest paid full-time employee who, in the reasonable discretion of the custodian of the records, has the necessary skill and training to perform the request.
OCGA Sec. 50-18-71(b)(1)(A)
The hourly salary of the lowest paid full-time employee of the Department of Procurement, who in the reasonable discretion of the custodian of the records, has the necessary skill and training to perform the actions necessary to complete the search retrieval and redaction of the emails which are not estimated to contain information subject to the attorney/client privilege or the attorney-work product doctrine is $26.44 per hour. It is estimated that it will take this employee 1.98 hours to complete their review and redaction of the emails which are not estimated to contain information subject to the attorney/client privilege or the attorney-work product doctrine.
The hourly salary of the lowest paid full-time employee of the Department of Law, who in the reasonable discretion of the custodian of the records, has the necessary skill and training to perform the actions necessary to complete the search, retrieval, and redaction of the emails is $39.81 per hour. It is estimated that it will take this employee 0.99 hours to complete their review and redaction of the emails which are estimated to contain information subject to the attorney/client privilege or the attorney-work product doctrine.
Accordingly, we estimate that the cost to complete the search, retrieval, and redaction of the records which you have requested to be $91.85. Pursuant to the Georgia Open Records Act, as the costs for production of the records exceed $500.00, the Department of Procurement requires that you pre-pay the cost of production. Upon your agreement to do so, we will provide you with an invoice and payment instructions. Upon our receipt of your payment, we shall provide an estimated date by which you will receive your requested records.
Upon your agreement to begin the process and confirm that you will pay the cost associated, we will begin the process of retrieving, redacting, and forwarding the information to you, along with an invoice and payment instructions.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
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From: Andrew Free
Thanks very much for all this information.
I would like to further narrow the scope of responsive records, if you’ll let me?
To do so, can you please help me understand:
What possible attorney-client privilege or attorney work product review would be needed for emails sent outside the City’s servers - i.e., to folks other than Atlanta’s lawyers? ACP and AWP materials sent to third parties is waived. I.e., it’s not entitled to a privilege, and thus, requires no review. I thought that’s what we were aiming for when we narrowed the universe of responsive records.
The responsive records set of 893 potentially responsive emails is about half the original one you described. Presumably that is because we eliminated all the intra-City emails, and only included emails that went in or came out from the public. But maybe that’s not a safe presumption.
The City has ONE outside public records counsel I’m aware of — Strickler Sullivan. How many records would be responsive if we only included responsive records that contained a Strickler Sullivan link to responsive documents?
Thank you again for all the assistance you’ve provided!
Best regards,
Andrew Free
From: Department of Procurement
Good Morning-
The DOP has received your request and in the process of collecting data you have requested.
Thank you,
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From: Department of Procurement
Good afternoon, Mr. Free.
Please accept this email as a clarification of my last correspondence to you.
The estimate of costs I provided ($91.85) is based on the preliminary hit count we received from our server team. As this amount is less that the $500 statutory threshold for prepayment, no prepayment of any costs is required at this time. All that is need from you to proceed with this request is an acknowledgement of your willingness to incur estimated costs in excess of $25.
The estimate provided is intended to be a maximum potential cost based on the preliminary count of the number of times your search terms “hit” within the relevant data set. The cost of a review for attorney-client privileged materials would only be included if there is any correspondence on which an attorney is included. While unlikely, given the parameters of your search, that can only be determined after the data is actually retrieved, which has not happened yet. Also, the privilege review would (if necessary) only be applied to the specific email records on which an attorney for the City is included, not the entire data set.
If you would like to proceed with this search as currently worded, I will be happy to provide you with an updated estimate of costs and more specific information about whether a privilege review is necessary once the data is retrieved from the server.
Thank you,
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From: Andrew Free
Thank you for the clarification!
Please proceed with processing. We agree to pay fees above $25.
Andrew Free
From: Department of Procurement
Good Afternoon-
The DOP has received your request and will proceed.
Thank you,
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From: Department of Procurement
Good Afternoon-
Per your request, please see link attached. Invoice will follow from finance department. Should you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out.
[Folder icon] Andrew Free<https://cityofatlanta-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/tkappler_atlantaga_gov/EpOs-cy5FfdAmllRH7TJWk0BkVb2OJ8cFAHJzoII-fUXDA?e=CPk62a>
Thank you,
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