Tuolumne County COP

Mr. xx

 I have received your request.  I will work to have the materials to you in a timely manner as described in CAPRA.

 Joseph Silva

 County Superintendent of Schools

Mr. xx,

 Please set up an appointment to meet early next week (November 2-6) with my Executive Assistant, Jeanie Smith.  Mrs. Smith's phone number is 536.2009.  I will have all the information our office has for you to review.  At that time you can tell me what you want copied.  I will then be able to make as assessment as to what the charges would be for printing the information for you.  I apologize for the slight delay in setting up the meeting.  The H1N1 issue has been more time consuming than anticipated.

 Joseph Silva

 County Superintendent

Mr. Silva,

 Please note that I requested the info in an electronic format.

 "Please provide the requested records in searchable electronic format, if possible, as the records are to be published on a website, and should be able to be read with a screen reader in order to be ADA compliant for the visually impaired."

 I will call Jeanie Smith.

 Thank you,

 xx

Mr. xx,

 I am aware of your request.  I am not required to provide it in the format you requested, simply to provide it.  I look forward to meeting with you.

 Joseph Silva

County Superintendent

Jeanie Smith
Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent
Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools
Phone: 209-536-2009

Ms. Smith,

Thank you for calling today and setting an appointment for a document review on 10 November 2009, at 1:00 p.m., for my California Public Records Act (CA PRA) request dated October 6, 2009.

Did I understand you correctly?

You stated that the attorney for Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools advised you that:

1.       “the Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools does NOT have to provide ANY documents in an electronic format”

2.        “the Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools only has to provide [me paper] copies of these records” even though the Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools “may be in possession of these records in an electronic format”

3.       “the Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools does not have to provide any records that did not originate with an employee of  the Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools, even though the Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools may be in possession of these records.”  The example you provided was “The Unification Ballot Initiative.”

Please provide:

A.      The name of the attorney for Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools

B.      Legal citation for statements made in sections 1, 2, and 3 above

C.      Duplication fee schedule

Thank you,

xx

Dear Mr. xx:

I spoke with our attorney today.  He clarified for me that you are entitled to any documents we have maintained here in the county office.  He did confirm that I am not required to create electronic formats for any of the documents you are interested in, but if I have it in an electronic format, you are entitled to that.  We do not keep agendas or minutes electronically.  We do, however, have a disk with several years of scanned agendas and minutes including those years in which you expressed an interest.  You are entitled to a copy of that if you wish at our duplication rate.   The County Office attorney is Mr. Byron Smith.  I believe he is listed in the phone book.

Our board policy 1340 states that "…the County Superintendent or designee shall charge an amount for copies that reflects the direct costs of duplication."  We will charge $.25 per page for copies in addition to my time to do the duplication.   We bill in 15-minute increments.  My current salary is $25.50 per hour.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.  I look forward to our meeting on November 10th.

Jeanie E. Smith
Executive Administrative Assistant
209.536.2009