Portland, Oregon's Auto-Generated Response 'Magically Appeared'

Below is the response to a City of Portland, Oregon, Public Records’ Request regarding the origin of the auto-generated response asking how the Public Records will be used.  There are no records.  The auto-generated response that violates State and Federal Laws magically appeared without any Council Approval or Staff communication.  I would suggest that the City of Portland make their auto-generated response magically disappear.  

The City claims the response was due to a fee waiver request, but the questions are not financial. 

“Most of the records you appear to be seeking do not exist.  There are no "Staff Reports, Council Meeting Minutes,  Council, Mayor, and Staff emails, texts, letters" that document the autogenerated questions sent out after a person asks for a public interest fee waiver.”

To the extent that you are seeking "City Attorney's 'ok'" or other legal advice provided by the Portland City Attorney's Office, those records are exempt from disclosure and will not be provided.  The City asserts the following exemptions to disclosure:

ORS 192.355(9)(a) incorporating ORS 40.225 (OEC 503(2))

The City now considers your request fulfilled and it will be closed.  Please note, messages sent on closed requests will not be monitored. 

Ability to Appeal:

If you were denied the right to inspect or to receive a copy of any public record of the City of Portland you may seek review of the public body's determination pursuant to ORS 192.411, 192.415, 192.418, 192.422, 192.427 and 192.431.

Even though the City is not required to answer questions, I would like to try to explain why you were asked the public interest fee waiver questions.

You asked for a fee waiver.  The Attorney General Manual indicates that "A public body may waive or reduce its fee for a particular request if doing so 'is in the public interest because making the record available primarily benefits the general public.'”  Oregon Attorney General Manual on Public Records page 22. (emphasis supplied)  I have attached these excerpts to the manual to this request for your convenience.  The entire Manual can be found on the Oregon Attorney General's website.  Thus, the City does not make a solely financial decision to determine if a fee waiver should be granted but must ascertain whether the disclosure is in the public interest.   When we tell a requester that we won't be able to determine if there is a public interest, this only related to the fee waiver which is why we have an introductory paragraph that states in part "I want to give you an opportunity to provide more information related to your waiver request ..." That is because the fee waiver questions are to evaluate the public interest as required to determine whether to waive fees.  Sometimes requesters do not know what information to provide to receive a public interest fee waiver and the City wants to provide them with an opportunity to provide the information that the Courts and Attorney General have said the City should consider.   The questions you are concerned about are auto generated when a requester selects "yes" for wanting a fee waiver.

The City still proceeds to process your request regardless of whether you answer these questions.  You will be provided a fee estimate regardless of whether you answer these questions.  If there are no fees, you will not be charged.  The public interest determination does not relate to records release.  You are provided with all non-exempt records responsive to your request once applicable fees are paid.  For some exemptions, there may be a "public interest" component but usually that involves different information than the fee waiver public interest information.

My understanding is that your other request, C169977-031121, is open and being processed.  It will be processed and your will be provided with non-exempt records regardless of whether you answer the fee waiver questions.  I hope this clarifies the situation for you.

Jenifer Johnston

Senior Deputy City Attorney (she/her)