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OFFICE OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
1234 MARKET STREET, 17th FLOOR
PHILADELPHIA, PA 19107
DEBORAH MCCOLLOCH, DIRECTOR
Access to Public Records Policy
The purpose of this policy is to assure compliance with the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law, 65 P.S. § 67.101 et seq. (the “Act”), and the Community Development Block Grant (“CDBG”) Regulations, 24 C.F.R. § 570.508, to provide access to public records of the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Housing and Community Development (“OHCD”) while preserving appropriate confidential and privileged information.
Please note :This policy concerns the provision of records in the possession of OHCD. Requests for records of other City departments, offices and agencies must be addressed to those respective offices. OHCD is not responsible for responding to requests for records of other City offices.
It is the policy of OHCD to require the presence of a designated employee when public records are examined and inspected and to charge reasonable fees for duplication of public records of OHCD. The Director of OHCD designates the following employee, or his/her successor, as the open-records officer and, as such, responsible for assuring OHCD compliance with the Act and the CDBG Regulations governing access to public records:
OHCD Director of Communications
(hereafter referred to as the “open-records officer”).
This policy shall be implemented with the following guidelines :
1. General Rule. A record in OHCD’s possession shall be presumed to be a public record. This presumption shall not apply if:
a. The record is exempt under 65 P.S. § 67.708(b);
b. The record is protected by a privilege; or
c. The record is exempt from disclosure under other Federal or State law, regulation, judicial order or decree.
2. Written Requests . All requests for public records of OHCD shall be submitted in writing to the open-records officer at the following address:
Director, Communications Department
Office of Housing and Community Development
1234 Market Street , 17 th Floor
Philadelphia , PA 19107
with a copy also sent to the City of Philadelphia Law Department at the following address:
Christopher R. DiFusco, Deputy City Solicitor
City of Philadelphia Law Department, 17 th Floor
One Parkway Building
1515 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
and shall provide the following information:
a. Requestor’s name;
b.
Requestor’s address;
c.
Requestor’s phone number, if available;
d.
Requestor’s email address, if available; and
e.
The specific records requested. A written request must identify or describe the records being sought with sufficient specificity to enable OHCD to ascertain which records are being requested.
3. OHCD Response . OHCD shall make a good faith effort to determine if the record requested is a public record and whether OHCD has possession, custody or control of the identified record, and to respond to the requestor within five (5) business days from the date of receipt of the written request by OHCD’s open-records officer. The response within five (5) business days need not be the provision of access to the requested records. The response may be one of the following:
a. The request is approved, and arrangements will be made to provide access promptly;
b.
Final response cannot be provided within five (5) days, for stated reasons; or
c.
The request is denied.
If OHCD fails to send its response within five (5) business days of receipt of the written request for access, the written request for access shall be deemed denied.
4. Reasons for Extension of Time . OHCD may delay providing access to the requested records for the following reasons:
a. The record requested contains information that must be redacted;
b.
The record requires retrieval from a remote location;
c.
A timely response cannot be accomplished due to bona fide and specified staffing limitations;
d.
A legal review is necessary to determine whether the record requested is subject to access under the Act;
e.
Requestor has failed to comply with OHCD’s policy and procedure requirements;
f.
Requestor refuses to pay the applicable fees or has not paid advance fees requested; or
g.
The extent or nature of the record request precludes a response within the required time period.
5. Notice of Extension of Time . OHCD shall follow the following procedure for providing notice:
a. The open-records officer shall provide written notice to Requestor within five (5) business days of receipt of the request citing the reason for the delay.
b.
This written notice shall include:
- A statement notifying Requester that the request for access is being reviewed;
- The reason for the review;
- A reasonable date that a response is to be provided; and
- An estimate of the applicable fees owed when the record becomes available.
c. Following the five (5) business days allowed as noted above, if the date that a response is expected to be provided is in excess of thirty (30) days, then the request for access shall be deemed denied.
d. If Requester has agreed in writing to an extension to the date specified in the notice, then the request shall not be deemed denied.
e. Even if Requester agrees to the extension, the request shall be deemed denied on the day following the date specified in the notice if OHCD has not provided a response by that date.
6. Access . Unless otherwise provided by law, a public record shall be accessible for inspection and duplication in accordance with the Act. A record made available to Requester shall be provided in the medium requested if the record exists in that medium; otherwise, it shall be provided in the medium in which it exists. In no case shall OHCD be required to create a public record which does not currently exist, or to compile, maintain, format or organize a record in a manner in which OHCD does not currently compile, maintain, format or organize the record. If access to the public record(s) requested is approved, the public record(s) shall be available during the regular business hours of OHCD, generally 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday, excluding City holidays. The presence of the open-records officer or designee is required when public records are examined and inspected.
7. Fees . Requester shall pay the following fees, as applicable:
a. Postage . Fees for postage may not exceed the actual cost of mailing.
b. Duplication .
- Fees for duplication by photocopying (either a single-sided copy or one (1) side of a double-sided black-and-white copy of a standard 8.5” x 11” page) are $0.25 per page.
- Fees for duplication of specialized documents, including, but not limited to, blueprints, color copies and non-standard sized documents may not exceed the actual cost of duplication.
- Fees for duplication of facsimile, microfiche and other media may not exceed the actual cost of duplication.
c. Certification . If official certification is at the behest of Requester and for the purpose of legally verifying the public record, then OHCD imposes the fee of $1.00 per record. This does not include notarization fees.
d. Conversion to Paper . If a record is only maintained electronically or in other non-paper media, duplication fees shall be limited to the lesser of the fee for duplication on paper or the fee for duplication in the original media unless the requester specifically requests for the record to be duplicated in the more expensive medium.
e. Enhanced Electronic Access . If OHCD offers enhanced electronic access to records in addition to making the records accessible for inspection and duplication by Requester, OHCD may establish reasonable, pre-approved by the Office of Open Records user fees specifically for the provision of the enhanced electronic access, but only to the extent that the enhanced electronic access is in addition to making the records accessible under the Act.
f. Limitations . OHCD may impose no other fees unless it necessarily incurs costs for complying with the request, and such fees must be reasonable.
8. Payment of Fees . All applicable fees shall be made by check payable to the “City of Philadelphia” in order to receive access to the OHCD record(s) requested.
9. Waiver of Fees . OHCD may waive fees for duplication of a record if OHCD deems it in the public interest to do so.
10. Prepayment . In the event the estimated cost of fulfilling a request submitted is expected to exceed one hundred dollars ($100.00), OHCD requires Requestor to pay an estimate of the fees in advance of OHCD fulfilling the request.
11. Record Discard . If OHCD’s response to Requester states that copies of the requested records are available at OHCD, and Requester fails to retrieve the records within sixty (60) days of OHCD’s response, OHCD may dispose of any copies which have not been retrieved and retain any fees paid to date.
12. Denial . OHCD may deny Requester access if:
a. Requester has made repeated requests for that same record and the repeated requests have placed an unreasonable burden on OHCD;
b. Timely access is not possible due to fire, flood or other disaster; or
c. Such access to historical, ancient or rare documents, records, archives or manuscripts may, in the professional judgment of the curator or custodian of records, cause physical damage or irreparable harm to the record.
13. Denial Response . If a public records request is denied by OHCD, the denial shall be issued in writing and shall include:
a. Description of the record requested;
b.
Specific reasons for the denial, including a citation of supporting legal authority;
c. Typed or printed name, title, business address, business telephone number and signature of the open-records officer on whose authority the denial is issued;
d. Date of the response; and
e. Procedure to appeal the denial of access under the Act.
14. Filing an Appeal .
a. If a written request for access to a record is denied or deemed denied by OHCD, the requester may file an appeal with the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records, within fifteen (15) business days of the mailing date of OHCD’s response or within fifteen (15) business days of a deemed denial, at the following address:
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Office of Open Records
Commonwealth Keystone Building
400 North Street , 4 th Floor, Harrisburg , PA 17120-0225
b. The appeal shall:
- State the grounds upon which Requester asserts that the record is a public record and
- Address any grounds stated by OHCD for delaying or denying the request.
c. Because OHCD is a local agency, the Office of Open Records shall designate an appeals officer to review the denial.
d. A hearing may be conducted prior to issuance of a final determination.
e. Unless Requester agrees otherwise, the appeals officer shall make a final determination which shall be mailed to Requester and OHCD within thirty (30) days of receipt of the appeal.
f. If the appeals officer fails to issue a final determination within thirty (30) days, the appeal is deemed denied.
g. The determination by the appeals officer shall be a final order, which shall include a written explanation of the reason for the decision sent to Requester and OHCD.
15. Judicial Review .
a. Within thirty (30) days of the mailing date of the final determination of the appeals officer relating to a decision of OHCD or of the date a request for access is deemed denied, Requester or OHCD may file a petition for review or other document as required by rule of court with the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County.
b. The decision of the Court shall:
- Contain findings of fact and conclusions of law based upon the evidence as a whole and
- Clearly and concisely explain the rationale for the decision.
c. A petition for judicial review shall stay the release of documents until a decision is rendered.
16. Posting Regulations and Policies . The following information shall be posted conspicuously at OHCD public reception areas and on OHCD’s Internet website:
a. Contact information for the open-records officer;
b. Contact information for the Office of Open Records or other applicable appeals officer;
c. A form which may be used to file a request; and
d. Regulations, policies and procedures of OHCD relating to the Act.
17. Effective Date . This policy shall take effect January 1, 2009.
Director, OHCD
January 1, 2009
Date
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