The U.S. Senate has taken a positive step and passed Bill 3111: The Faster FOIA Act of 210. This bill would establish a commission to study delays in processing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the system for charging fees and granting waivers and the increased use of FOIA exemptions to deny access. In addition, it will develop administrative and legislative recommendations for addressing each of these areas. The bill made it through the Senate and is currently in the House.
Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) introduced this bill to update the existing FOIA law that ensures public access to U.S. government records and deems the government responsible to present requested records to the public. It’s the ultimate open government law and just like any law, it needs updating and improvements. We all know how slow government can be and this bill will identify the methods to reduce delays in processing FOIA requests.
How will this affect/improve Alameda? Back in April, there was a dispute between the Interim City Manager and City Council over whether or not SunCal paid for her salary. SunCal is paying the City of Alameda through an escrow account and it was found to be paying for City staff members that attend city planning meetings. After questions were raised, the ICM revealed that she does not bill directly to SunCal and instead mostly bills to the General Fund. It looked as if the City was making a profit from the escrow account while billing to the General Fund.
Hopefully, with this new bill, we can ask for and receive the City of Alameda’s timesheets and internal emails to avoid all these speculations and find the answers.
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If the City of Alameda receives payments from SunCal, it makes perfect sense that the city should let SunCal know how that money is being spent. Otherwise, who knows where all that money's going? It's no wonder city officials are so reluctant to govern with transparency.
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