Crime Free Housing and Criminal Nuisance Ordinance Information Request

Jenny Wadhwa

Thank you for your interest in public records of the City of Spokane.  Your request has been received and is being processed.  Your request was received in this office on August 02, 2023 and given the reference number P008316-080223 for tracking purposes.
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Description of Records Requested: To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Washington Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:

Any and all records from the past two years (July 2021-July 2023) regarding "crime-free" housing and nuisance property ordinances that will be referred to as “program” and "ordinance" respectively, in this request but could be known (but not limited to) as “Crime Free Housing Program” and "Chronic Nuisance Properties" as described in Spokane's Code of Ordinances Chapter 10.08 A.

Please provide any and all written records (including but not limited to hard-copy documents, memos, emails, word processor documents, PDF documents, PowerPoint files, images files, video files etc.) regarding the Program and Ordinance including but not limited to:

• any training/presentation materials used in communication, promotions, workshops, seminars, etc

• criminal background checks performed on prospective tenants

• evictions filed by property owners and number of tenants evicted as a result of the program and ordinance

• suspensions or revocation of a residential rental license, against property owners who fail to comply with the requirements of the ordinance or program

• police calls, reports, citations, or arrests, collected by the municipality police department for the purpose of enforcing the ordinance and program

• meeting minutes and correspondence between municipality officials, regarding the implementation and enforcement of the program and ordinance

• all documents concerning the passage of the nuisance ordinance and any amendments to it, including communications with City elected officials, city staff, and others, and any data relied upon or reviewed as a part of the passage or amendments to the nuisance ordinance since July 2021 to present.

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 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Jenny Wadhwa

Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/

Your request will be forwarded to the relevant City department(s) to locate the records you seek and to determine the volume and any costs associated with satisfying your request.  You will be contacted about the availability of the records in question.
You can monitor the progress of your request at the link below and you'll receive an email when your request has been completed.  Again, thank you for using the Spokane Records Center.
City of Spokane

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If you wish to submit a response, update an existing request, check the status of an already submitted request, or submit a new public records request, please do so by replying to this notification or go through your “My Request Center” account on the City’s public records request portal
In accordance with the Public Records Act (PRA), RCW 42.56.520, this message acknowledges receipt of your PRA request, received by the City of Spokane on August 02, 2023.  This request has been assigned tracking number P008316-080223.  Please use this number in any communications concerning this request.
Specifically, you requested: To Whom It May Concern:”

Pursuant to the Washington Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:

Any and all records from the past two years (July 2021-July 2023) regarding "crime-free" housing and nuisance property ordinances that will be referred to as “program” and "ordinance" respectively, in this request but could be known (but not limited to) as “Crime Free Housing Program” and "Chronic Nuisance Properties" as described in Spokane's Code of Ordinances Chapter 10.08 A.

Please provide any and all written records (including but not limited to hard-copy documents, memos, emails, word processor documents, PDF documents, PowerPoint files, images files, video files etc.) regarding the Program and Ordinance including but not limited to:

• any training/presentation materials used in communication, promotions, workshops, seminars, etc

• criminal background checks performed on prospective tenants

• evictions filed by property owners and number of tenants evicted as a result of the program and ordinance

• suspensions or revocation of a residential rental license, against property owners who fail to comply with the requirements of the ordinance or program

• police calls, reports, citations, or arrests, collected by the municipality police department for the purpose of enforcing the ordinance and program

• meeting minutes and correspondence between municipality officials, regarding the implementation and enforcement of the program and ordinance

• all documents concerning the passage of the nuisance ordinance and any amendments to it, including communications with City elected officials, city staff, and others, and any data relied upon or reviewed as a part of the passage or amendments to the nuisance ordinance since July 2021 to present.

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 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Jenny Wadhwa

Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/
Our procedure is to locate records, review them for exemptions, and then prepare them for your inspection and/or copying.  The undersigned will be coordinating with other City departments in the collection and production of responsive records.
Your request has been forwarded to staff in the City's Police Department for review and compiling of any responsive records.  We reasonably anticipate requiring until on or about September 14, 2023, to provide an installment for your request.  We will follow up with you on or about that date regarding the status of your request.  If public records become available in advance of this estimate, we will let you know.  Conversely, if City staff encounters a need to extend our estimate, we will advise accordingly. If clarification is needed as we proceed, we will advise as such.
Sincerely,
Sabrina Groves
Administrative Specialist

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If you wish to submit a response, update an existing request, check the status of an already submitted request, or submit a new public records request, please do so by replying to this notification or go through your “My Request Center” account on the City’s public records request portal
This is a follow up to my August 10, 2023, message to you regarding your August 2, 2023, public records request assigned tracking number P008316-080223.

Regarding your request, are you attempting to seek records on Spokane C.O.P.S. (Community Oriented Police Services) “Crime Free Rental Property Program (CFRP)”?  Please clarify.  If so, you will need to contact Spokane C.O.P.S. for a determination as to what, if any, records that entity may hold.  Contact information for Spokane C.O.P.S. can be found on their website at the following link: Spokane C.O.P.S. (spokanecops.org).  Also, you can view information on the C.O.P.S. CFRP program at the following link: Crime Free Rental Property Program (CFRP) (spokanecops.org).

If you are attempting to seek records from the City of Spokane, clarification of your request is needed to enable City staff to proceed with an adequate search for responsive records, if any, to your request.

We note that your request references SMC 10.08.A. This SMC has been repealed, and the Chronic Nuisance Properties is now under SMC 10.68. I have made available under your “My Request Center” account, on the City’s public records request portal (GovQA), a copy of Ordinance ORD C36289 (codified under SMC 10.68). When you state you are seeking records regarding “nuisance property ordinances,” is this the ordinance you are referring to? Please clarify. Also, we note your request states “ordinances.”  If there is another ordinance you are referring to, please advise and clarify as to what, if any, other ordinances you are referring to.

We also note that your request is seeking records regarding “’crime-free’ housing.” For this portion of your request, are you seeking records regarding the landlord tenant ordinances? The three landlord tenant ordinances (ORD C36330, ORD 36366, and ORD C36417) are available by accessing your account via the My Request Center on the City’s public records request portal (GovQA). Please be advised that Ordinance ORD C36417 was just passed on August 21, 2023, and City Clerk’s Office staff is currently in the process of obtaining signatures.

Further, with respect to the portions of your request which refers to “the Program and Ordinance,” “the program and ordinance,” “the ordinance or program,” “the ordinance and program,” City Clerk staff are unclear as to the specific ordinance (or ordinances) you are referring to under these portions of your request. Are you referring to one or all three ordinances referenced above – C36289, C36330, C36366, and ORD C36417?  If not, what ordinance or ordinances do you mean or are you referring to you in your request? Please clarify.

In case it may be helpful or of assistance, ordinances (from 2004 to present), including those made available to you today, along with any supporting documents, can be located by visiting the City Clerk’s Public Records search tool on the City’s website at the following link: https://publicdocs.spokanecity.org/cityclerkrecords/. Once on this site you can type in the respective provided ordinance numbers or search under keywords for which you are seeking ordinances for. If you have any issues utilizing the site, please let me know.

In one portion of your request, you reference “Any and all records from the past two years (July 2021-July 2023)” and under another section you state “all documents…since July 2021 to present (which we understand to be August 2, 2023, which is the date of your request).  Unless you advise differently, we will plan to utilize the end time frame of August 2, 2023, for your request (once clarifications have been received).

For the portion of your request which states, “including communications with City elected officials, city staff, and others” and “correspondence between municipality officials, regarding the implementation and enforcement of the program and ordinance,” did you wish City staff to perform an email search?  If so, we note that your request did not provide search terms under which you wish for us to perform an email search. For example, did you wish us to only search under “Crime Free Housing Program” and “Chronic Nuisance Properties,” or are there other search terms you would like us to utilize?   Please clarify.

Once the above clarifications have been provided, we will proceed with a search for responsive records, if any, to your request.  If further clarification is needed as we proceed (once the clarifications have been provided), we will let you know.

Please provide the above requested clarifications within 30 days of today’s date, or by September 21, 2023. Once clarification is received, we anticipate requiring approximately 45 days from the date clarification is received within which to provide a next installment for your request.

If no such clarifications, as requested above, are received from you by September 21, we will consider your request to be abandoned in its entirety, and we will subsequently close it, and a new request would be required after September 21.

Sincerely,

Sabrina Groves
Administrative Specialist

If you wish to submit a response, update an existing request, check the status of an already submitted request, or submit a new public records request, please do so by replying to this notification or go through your “My Request Center” account on the City’s public records request portal

Dear Jenny Wadhwa:

Thank you for submitting your public records request through The Spokane Public Records Center. We would like to invite you to take a short survey on your experience.

Please click the following link if you would like to participate.
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Thank you.

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If you wish to submit a response, update an existing request, check the status of an already submitted request, or submit a new public records request, please do so by replying to this notification or go through your “My Request Center” account on the City’s public records request portal
This is a follow up to my August 22, 2023, message to you wherein I sought clarification regarding your public records request assigned tracking number P008316-080223, with any such clarification to be provided to the City Clerk’s Office by September 21, 2023.

As to our knowledge, no such clarification has been received. Section 6.1.3 of the City's Public Records Request Policy and Procedures states, in part, the following:
If the requestor does not provide clarification in response to a request by the Public Records Officer for clarification, within thirty (30) days of the clarification request having been made, the City will consider the request abandoned as to those portion for which clarification was requested but not received, and advise the requestor in writing that the request has been closed as to those portions. Should the requestor, after such closure, provide clarification, his or her clarified request shall be considered a new request and shall be processed as such, and other public records requests can be processed ahead of such a clarified request.

Therefore, we are considering your request to be abanndoned and closed, and a new request would be required for any records you may still be seeking in this matter.

If you feel there has been any misunderstanding or if we may be of further assistance, please advise.

Sincerely,

Sabrina Groves
Administrative Specialist