Is there such thing as too much sunshine?

Interesting article in yesterday's Examiner on a blogger who has cost San Francisco taxpayers more than $120,000 with constant demands for public records.

As a journalist, of course I'm for open government and sunshine. But there's a point where it goes beyond reasonable. You could look at this as akin to the flap about Arlene Ackerman's lunch tabs. It's reasonable to expect legimitate access to records, just as it's reasonable to expect that your employer cover your business meals. Then there's a point where it goes into excess.

It's ironic that one publication that has demanded a list of public records from SFUSD so long that it would require a full-time staffer to produce them is also the publication that has made the biggest deal of Ackerman's lunch tabs -- the Bay Guardian, of course. The SFBG charged that Ackerman "pissed away public money," a description that could also be applied to making beyond-reasonable demands on school district clerical staff.

The issue of "too much sunshine" first hit my radar when there were heated online accusations that SFUSD was "covering up" because it didn't release all details of a student's near-fatal plunge from a third-story catwalk at an SFUSD high school. Read between the lines on that one and wonder about how much sunshine you want on your own child's medical and personal records. Adequate sunshine is essential, but there's a point where it goes beyond reasonable.

Activist wants to know — lots

Justin Jouvenal, The Examiner
Mar 24, 2006

San Francisco has spent more than $120,000 in taxpayer money in the last six months filling dozens of public records requests by a single blogger who styles himself an open-government activist, according to city officials.

Kimo Crossman said he is trying to shine light on issues such as an alleged backroom deal between city officials and Google, but the City Attorney’s Office said the requests have gotten so expansive and without “civic interest” it believes Crossman is trying to punish city departments as part of an ongoing feud over access to documents.

City employees have already spent more than 600 hours complying with Crossman’s requests, eating into time spent on other department work, officials said. The City Attorney’s Office alone has spent $120,000 to fill the document requests, and another pending request could cost more than $100,000, officials said.

“This is using a well-intentioned law as a blunt instrument to punish government departments,” said Matt Dorsey, a spokesman for the City Attorney’s Office. “It’s pushing open government beyond the bounds of rationality and common sense.”

San Francisco’s Sunshine Ordinance was established to give city residents a tool to monitor public officials and city government actions by obtaining documents. The ordinance only allows officials to recover costs of 10 cents a page for copied documents.

Crossman, a 41-year-old computer consultant, defends his requests, saying they have only grown so numerous because city officials are often not providing him with the information he has asked for.

“This is the old story of creating a logjam and not responding to requests and blaming the filer,” Crossman said. “I started off on this as an interested member of the public, and I still am.”

Crossman added that San Francisco’s Sunshine Ordinance does not mention the word “reasonable” when it comes to what can be requested.

Crossman’s first request was for bids submitted to The City for a universal wireless Internet system Mayor Gavin Newsom is trying to establish in San Francisco. Crossman said he believes The City is likely set on awarding the contract to Google — a charge city officials deny.

Since then, Crossman has fired off dozens more requests to a handful of departments, including the City Attorney’s Office and the Department of Telecommunications and Information Services. The requests include documents related to every public records request made to the City Attorney’s Office over the past two years, old drafts of The City’s Sunshine Ordinance and highly technical e-mail data only accessible by computer experts.

Ron Vincent, the chief administrator of DTIS, said Crossman sent his department public records requests, e-mails and other correspondence every day for months. Vincent said he has spent about half his work time since last September dealing with Crossman’s requests.

The City Attorney’s Office has asked Crossman to narrow or pare back his requests in letters over the last several months.