Title
Clerk of the Board recommending the Board receive and file a status report on the implementation of the GovQA, Public Records Act tracking system as directed by the Board on November 15, 2016. (Refer: 11/15/16, Item 34)
FUNDING: N/A
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DEPARTMENT RECOMMENDATION
The Clerk of the Board recommends the Board receive and file status report.
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
On November 15, 2016 (Item 34) the Board received a 6-month status report on the use of the WebQA Public Records Act (PRA) tracking system and directed staff to return in February 2017 with a brief update. This update is intended to provide a status of requests received between October 25, 2016 and February 10, 2017 and to inform the Board that development of a Board Policy and procedural framework are underway, the basis of which will:
1) Improve internal processes to achieve measurable results; and
2) Serve as analysis tools for identifying staff resources going forward.
It is anticipated a draft policy and related procedures will be brought before the Board for consideration in the late spring/early summer time frame.
The countywide Average Time to Close report lists those PRA's that were received and/or completed during the reporting period (October 25, 2016 to February 10, 2015) and shows the average to be 21.18 days, including weekends and holidays. At this time, trend analysis has not been performed to identify unique circumstances contributing to the upward trend from the previous reporting period of 13.21 average days to close between April and October 2016. Staff will be taking into account the various resources necessary to perform such analysis during the policy and procedures phase which is in progress. Generally speaking, there is a 10 day requirement for responses to PRAs, with the provision for certain circumstances that notice may be made to the requestor providing the basis for a response requiring additional time. Lengthy requests, or those which seek records held in multiple locations or by multiple departments, tend to require more than 10 days.
There are many reporting features in the system and staff will continue to examine various means of measuring performance as the policy and procedures move forward. From a high level, between April 11, 2016 and February 10, 2017, there are 218 PRA's in the system, 174 of which have been completed leaving 44 active requests being processed by county staff. While this data is simple to extract, it would not have been possible prior to system implementation as PRA's were not tracked in a cumulative fashion on a countywide scale. As we progress, staff expects the system will provide the Board and public at large with data driven measurements that demonstrate how PRA's impact allocated resources which, in turn, will enable the Board to make more informed decisions in their consideration of the county's annual budget and strategic priorities.
ALTERNATIVES
N/A
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
N/A
CAO RECOMMENDATION
Receive and file the status update.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
N/A
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW UP ACTIONS
N/A
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT
Good Governance - Objective 3: Accountability with respect to laws, regulations and policy compliance.
Citizen Engagement
CONTACT
Jim Mitrisin, Clerk of the Board