Thomas Peele, Watchdog Columnist, Bay Area News Group: City Administrator Jason Stilwell ‘incompetent or recalcitrant’

ABSTRACT:  “AN AWARD-WINNING investigative reporter — who also teaches graduate students at UC Berkeley about the Public Records Act and heads a committee on freedom of information for the Society of Professional Journalists — said Thursday he’s encountered more resistance from Carmel city administrator Jason Stilwell than almost any other government official when asked to comply with laws requiring disclosure of public documents,” according to the news article entitled “Stilwell: Most secretive gov’t. official in state?” By MARY SCHLEY, The Carmel Pine Cone, June 20, 2014, 1A, 12A. “Thomas Peele, who works for the Bay Area News Group and other media outlets, and has been publishing salary information of Northern California cities, counties, school districts and special districts for the past six years, sent Stilwell a routine request for information about city salaries— the same request that many cities and counties receive — on April 30.”  Peele’s Public Records Act request from the City’s PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST LOG, City Council Agenda Packet, June 2014, as follows:
Request No.: 2014-53
Request Date: 4/30/14
10-Day Due Date: 05/10/14
14-Day Extension Date: Extension 5/16/2014
Status: Completed 5/16/2014
Requested By: Thomas Peele, Reporter from the Bay Area News Group
Information Requested: Data showing the cost of compensation for all full and part time Carmel-by -the-Sea employees and all elected appointed officials, including but not limited to, board and commission members,
Comments/Date Completed: Created a document based on the requested scope of information.
“But instead of getting a spreadsheet of the data as he expected, on May 16, Peele was sent a pdf with numbers that can’t be sorted or evaluated for different criteria, such as the highest-paid worker, or the person who earned the most overtime. And when he specifically asked for a spreadsheet or other electronic database, his request was ignored." 
“The issue boils down to the fact that the city provided a record in a pdf, when what we asked for was an electronic record — a spreadsheet or, exactly as the PRA says, ‘the records in the electronic format in which they are held,’” Peele said. “A pdf is a static copy of an electronic record. It’s a silly response by the city to release a pdf,”” according to The Carmel Pine Cone. Yet, after eight months of stalling, City Administrator Jason Stilwell finally provided a spreadsheet of salary information for calendar years 2011 and 2012 to Transparent California; links to “All salaries for Carmel (2012)” and “All salaries for Carmel (2011)" spreadsheets are provided.  Parenthetically, the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea provided 2011 and 2012 salary information to Transparent California in Excel format on February 28, 2014 at 5:14 P.M., according to Robert Fellner, Project Manager, Transparent California, the same day The Carmel Pine Cone published “Watchdog group criticizes city for hiding salary data,” MARY SCHLEY, The Carmel Pine Cone, February 28, 2014, 1A, 13A.

NOTE: “In response to Peele’s email to Burns and the council, Stilwell wrote June 13, “Mayor and Council: The city responded to the Public Records Act request below within 10 days. We created a document in order to fulfill the response. The recipient was not satisfied with the format of the document, assuming there was a report we generated off the city’s system that was producible (there is not). The information requested has been provided in the breakdown requested,” according to The Carmel Pine Cone. However, according to the City’s PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST LOG, City Council Agenda Packet, June 2014, Thomas Peele’s PRA request was made on April 30, 2014 and the City did not complete the request until May 16, 2014, 6 days after the 10-day due date.

All salaries for Carmel (2012)
110 employee records found

All salaries for Carmel (2011)

99 employee records found

REFERENCE:
Stilwell: Most secretive gov’t. official in state?
By MARY SCHLEY, The Carmel Pine Cone, June 20, 2014, 1A, 12A