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January 16, 2001; City of Greenwood
1/16/2001 10:15:43 AM
This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to section 13.072 of Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13 - the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. It is based on the facts and information available to the Commissioner as described below.
Facts and Procedural History:For purposes of simplification, the information presented by the person who requested this opinion and the response from the government entity with which the person disagrees are presented in summary form. Copies of the complete submissions are on file at the offices of IPA and, except for any data classified as not public, are available for public access. On November 22, IPA received a letter dated November 20, 2000, from John Musgjerd. In his letter, Mr. Musgjerd asked the Commissioner to issue an opinion regarding his access to certain data that the City of Greenwood maintains. IPA, on behalf of the Commissioner, wrote to Robert Larson, Administrator of Deephaven, in response to Mr. Musgjerd's request. (The City of Deephaven provides a variety of services, including providing public access to data, to the City of Greenwood.) The purposes of this letter, dated November 28, 2000, were to inform him of Mr. Musgjerd's request and to ask him to provide information or support for the City's position. On December 4, 2000, IPA received a response, dated December 1, 2000, from Mr. Larson. A summary of the facts is as follows. In a letter dated October 7, 2000, Mr. Musgjerd wrote to the Greenwood City Clerk and asked to inspect public information associated with the invoice for Spring Cleanup-1998.' He stated, This is a formal request to look at all the records associated with/used to generate the above-mentioned invoice. For your benefit, I am enclosing a copy of the invoice (dated May 2, 1998). In a letter dated October 10, 2000, the City Clerk wrote to Mr. Musgjerd and returned his data request. She wrote, There are no records in our offices that created the invoice from Waste Management. You would have to contact Waste Management to review their records... In a letter dated November 13, 2000, Mr. Musgjerd made the same data request to Mr. Larson. Mr. Musgjerd wrote: Because it is still not evident that the City of Greenwood has appointed a responsible authority as required under Minnesota Statutes, section 13.02, subdivision 16...I am addressing this request for access to certain public data maintained by the City of Greenwood to you, as the defacto responsible authority for the City of Greenwood. If this request should be directed elsewhere advise me of this immediately. Mr. Musgjerd referred to the City Clerk's October 10, 2000, letter. He stated: Her response constituted a refusal to allow public review of financial information maintained by the City of Greenwood. This is evident because the invoice, which was generated by the City for the Spring Cleanup, would have had to be prepared from supporting documentation (as this is clearly not any invoice from Waste Management.) The invoice/document had to be prepared by the City and was used as the support for the payment to Waste Management. Mr. Larson responded in a letter dated November 17, 2000. He wrote, [a]ny documentation or records used to generate the bill for the Greenwood Spring Clean-up 1998 is held by Waste Management. We do not have any documentation in this office. Issue:In his request for an opinion, Mr. Musgjerd asked the Commissioner to address the following issue:
Discussion:Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.03, subdivision 3, government entities are required to respond to requests for public in an appropriate and prompt manner. Minnesota Rules, part 1205.0300, provides that entities must respond within a reasonable time. However, no provision in Chapter 13 requires government entities to create new data to respond to requests. In his comments to the Commissioner, Mr. Larson wrote: The copy of the invoice that [Mr. Musgjerd submitted as documentation] is in fact a duplicate copy of the original invoice that was submitted by Waste Management to the City of Greenwood. The invoice clearly and plainly states the weights and rates for each segment of the event. These are the figures the city of Greenwood relied upon in voting to approve the company's pay request. The City of Greenwood does not possess any other information related to the invoice. The Commissioner has the following comments. Mr. Larson stated that the City does not possess any other data related to the invoice. As stated above, Chapter 13 does not require government entities to create data to respond to a request. The City cannot provide to Mr. Musgjerd data that it does not have. However, the scope of Mr. Musgjerd's request is very broad - all records associated with/used to generate the invoice. The Commissioner is of the opinion that in response to this request, the City should have provided a copy of the contract between Waste Management and Greenwood, as well as a copy of the City Council vote authorizing payment to Waste Management. If Greenwood does not possess these records, the City may not be in compliance with Minnesota Statutes, section 15.17, which requires government entities to make and preserve all records necessary to a full and accurate knowledge of their official activities. Opinion:Based on the facts and information provided, my opinion on the issue that Mr. Musgjerd raised is as follows:
Signed: David F. Fisher
Dated: January 16, 2001 |
