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62 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, March 18, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend March 16, 2005 City of Ashland posts public records online By JOHN DARLING for the Mail Tribune In a major leap into public accessibility to the inner workings of government, the city of Ashland Tuesday put years of public records — contracts, minutes, policies, deeds, you name it — online for all to point, click and read. "It’s all public information anyway," said Ashland City Recorder Barbara Christensen, who has worked on the project for nine years. "What’s changed is that now it’s available to anyone without having to walk down here, ask someone to dig through files, then make copies, all of which can take a lot of staff time and money." The documents, estimated in the hundreds of thousands — or 4.2 gigabytes’ worth — are searchable on the city Web site, www.ashland.or.us , under Archived City Records. Keywords can be used to search for the document by subject or department, Christensen said. The database contains all manner of city records �—agendas, policies, public notices, ordinances, resolutions — and vast landscapes of documents under such titles as Affordable Housing, Ashland Fiber Network, Community Development Block Grants or Mount Ashland. All files are "read only," not interactive. As one of the few elected city recorders in Oregon, Christensen said her position helps her remember the importance of keeping the public’s business public. Advertisement "We have to remember who we work for — the public — and my philosophy is that we should be as open to the public as we possibly can be," she said. "The more open we are, the more public trust there is. If people feel we are trying to hide something, there is less trust," she said. The Oregon Public Records Law dictates that government records of any kind are public unless specifically exempted under the law. Examples of exemptions include personnel records, trade secrets or financial institution records. While not posted online, even e-mails of city employees — sent or received — become public records "if they have touched the city system," Christensen said, and will be shown to citizens on request. Christensen since 1996 has put all new records into a digital database. She also digitized any existing records as they were used by employees. Most older records have not yet been scanned into the database, but employees may embark on the huge task if they find time, Christensen said. "It’s been a big job, but it will make things a lot easier for us and for the public," she said. "Everything is now at their fingertips and there will be a lot of taxpayer savings in the piece of paper not printed, the phone call not made and the staff time not spent." Very few other Oregon cities have put all city records online, she added. Other Southern Oregon cities report having current council and committee minutes, agendas, staff and committee lists, municipal codes and such online, but nothing like the massive posting by Ashland. Medford uses the Internet to archive council minutes going back six years, said Glenda Owens, assistant city manager. Central Point does the same, said City Recorder Deanna Gregory. "Ashland’s Web site looks great and we’d love to be able to do that," said Gregory. "We just don’t have the manpower or money for that. However, all our records are available to the public, if they come in and ask for them." Medford’s departments have digitized almost all records created in the last six years, making them available for e-mailing or printing, said Owens, but they are not online. Her office does plan within three months to have all city ordinances and resolutions of the past 150 years online, she added. The recent national newspaper series on "Sunshine Week" highlights the reluctance of some public officials to grant access to public documents. "It is normal, especially in this day and age, to have a territorial reaction if someone forcefully asks for information," Christensen said. "Clerks will sometimes put up their barriers. It has to do with security reasons and not knowing the person’s motive. We’re all more apprehensive these days." However, she added, any seeming slowness in turning over public records usually comes from time and budgetary concerns. "It’s not as easy as people think to be able to retrieve public documents, even when they’re stored electronically," she said. "Documents also have to be put in a format for computers and that takes a lot of time." John Darling is a freelance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at [email protected]. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Slippers Student Loans afsa teleconferencing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoo Advertisement s