City of Petaluma Executives and Committee On The Shelterless "COTS" Email Communications

Dear Mr. Powelson,

This is in response to your request received by the City on May 5, 2021, regarding records pertaining to the City of Petaluma and COTS. We are treating your request as a request for public agency information in accordance with California Government Code section 6250 and following (the California Public Records Act), which requires that public agencies make reasonably identified, non-exempt public records available for inspection or provide copies upon payment of the direct cost of duplication.

Processing your request requires City staff to do one or more of the following:

1. Search for and collect requested records from field offices or other establishments that are separate from the office processing the request;
2. Search for, collect, and appropriately examine a voluminous amount of separate and distinct records that are demanded in a single request; and/or
3. Consult with another agency or another component of the City with a substantial subject matter interest in the determination concerning your request.

Accordingly, the time for responding to your request is extended by an additional fourteen (14) days pursuant to California Government Code section 6253(c). We will provide a response by May 31, 2021, concerning whether your request seeks non-exempt records in the City's possession that will be made available, and whether any responsive records may be exempt from disclosure pursuant to the CPRA.

City Attorney, Eric Danly, will be reaching out to you to discuss this request further.

Sincerely,

[cid:image004.png@01D7459D.3FDD9FF0]
Samantha Pascoe, CMC <mailto:spascoe@cityofpetaluma.org>
Deputy City Clerk, City of Petaluma
D: 707.778.4575 | O: 707.778.4360
11 English Street, Petaluma, CA 94952
Regular Schedule: M-Th

[cid:image005.png@01D7459D.3FDD9FF0]<https://cityofpetaluma.org/climate-action/>

City of Petaluma records, including emails, are subject to the California Public Records Act. Unless exemptions apply, this email, any attachments and any replies are subject to disclosure on request, and neither the sender nor any recipients should have any expectation of privacy regarding the contents of such communications.

Dear Mr. Powelson,

Thank you for your follow up emails and my apologies for our delayed response.

This is in response to your request initially submitted May 5, 2021, for the following records:

1. All contracts, MOUs between the City of Petaluma and the Committee On The Shelterless (Heretofore known as "COTS")

2. Any performance reviews of Mary Isaaks Center and Family Shelter in which the City of Petaluma reviewed the policies and practices of COTS.

Furthermore, I am requesting all email communications of criteria from certain executive officials.

Criteria (a): All email communications where the recipient or the sender of the email was to an address that ends with "@cots.org"

Criteria (b): All emails containing the following keywords which are demarcated in quotation marks: "Homeless""homelessness""Unsheltered""Tents""COTS" "Steamer" "Steamer Landing" "Mary Isaak" "Mary Isaak Center" "Family Shelter""unhoused" "camping" "campers" "Committee on the Shelterless" "water spigot"

Criteria (a) and (b) shall be applied to the following officials:

Lieutenant Tim Lyons,
City Manager Peggy Flynn,
Chief Ken Savano,
Director of Economic Development Ingrid Alverde,
Director of Parks and Recreation or equivalent head of the department (Unknown),
Director of Public Works Jason Beatty,
Assistant City Manager Brian Cochran,
Councilmember Brian Barnacle,
Councilmember Teresa Barrett,
Councilmember D'Lynda Fischer,
Councilmember Mike Healy,
Councilmember Dennis Pocekay,
Councilmember Kevin McDonnell,
Councilmember Dave King

As you know, we subsequently spoke on the phone to attempt to focus and clarify your request. In that conversation, you indicated your primary focus was on communications among the listed officials and employees that related to cleanups of encampments in Petaluma of people currently experiencing homelessness. We are coordinating with the officials and employees listed in your request to obtain email communications that are non-exempt and that relate to encampment clean ups in Petaluma. We will also provide the requested agreements between the City and COTS.

Please be aware that the City will not be providing records that may be responsive to your request and that are protected by attorney-client, work product, or deliberative process privileges. Such records are exempt from disclosure pursuant to Evidence Code Section 954, Code of Civil Procedure Section 2018.030, and Sections 6254(k) and 6255 of the Government Code. The public interest in non-disclosure of records protected by the deliberative process privilege clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure because City staff must be able to conduct candid and thorough discussion of pre-decisional options for providing services and other support for community members experiencing homelessness to be able to determine what service approaches will best serve the community and most effectible deploy limited City resources.

The agreements you have requested are attached to this email, except for one for which we are still searching. We will provide that agreement once we locate it. We estimate we will be able to provide you the the non-exempt communications you have requested by approximately August 9, 2021. We may provide the remaining documents on a rolling basis to permit us to provide them to you sooner.

I am responsible for this response to your request in my capacity as City Attorney for the City of Petaluma, in communication with authorized City representatives. If you have any questions in the meantime please contact me either by email or by phone at (707) 778-4362.

Sincerely,

Eric Danly
City Attorney
City of Petaluma | City Attorney
office. 707-778-4402<tel:707-778-4402> | EDanly@cityofpetaluma.org

<https://cityofpetaluma.org/>[cid:EmailSig_CityLogo_D3_small(1)_9c048d90-9264-46ff-948c-6693e8946db0.jpg]<https://cityofpetaluma.org/> [cid:EmailSig_ClimateReady_D1(2)_eb1c05df-03d2-42d3-a9c6-519a632e9f53.jpg] <https://cityofpetaluma.org/climate-action/> <http://www.cityofpetaluma.org/climateaction> [cid:EmailSig_FB_D1(2)_acc72632-1e02-4b3e-8428-f6d9d417727e.jpg] <https://www.facebook.com/cityofpetaluma/> <https://www.facebook.com/cityofpetaluma/> [cid:EmailSig_Insta_D1(2)_e0571e85-7a5c-4f3e-96a3-d77badf241b7.jpg] <https://www.instagram.com/thecityofpetaluma/> <https://www.instagram.com/thecityofpetaluma/>

The information contained in this e-mail message is intended only for the CONFIDENTIAL use of the designated addressee named above. The information transmitted is subject to the attorney-client privilege and/or represents confidential attorney work product. Recipients should not file copies of this email with publicly accessible records. If you are not the designated addressee named above or the authorized agent responsible for delivering it to the designated addressee, you received this document through inadvertent error and any further review, dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication by you or anyone else is strictly prohibited. IF YOU RECEIVED THIS COMMUNICATION IN ERROR, PLEASE NOTIFY US IMMEDIATELY BY TELEPHONING THE SENDER NAMED ABOVE AT 707-778-4362. Thank you.

Dear Mr. Powelson,

This is to provide a further agreement responsive to your May 5 request. We had not yet located this agreement when I sent you an email on July 26 along with the responsive agreements we had found as of that date.

Thank you and please let me know if you have any questions.

Eric Danly
City Attorney
City of Petaluma | City Attorney
office. 707-778-4402<tel:707-778-4402> | EDanly@cityofpetaluma.org

<https://cityofpetaluma.org/>[cid:EmailSig_CityLogo_D3_small(1)_9c048d90-9264-46ff-948c-6693e8946db0.jpg]<https://cityofpetaluma.org/> [cid:EmailSig_ClimateReady_D1(2)_eb1c05df-03d2-42d3-a9c6-519a632e9f53.jpg] <https://cityofpetaluma.org/climate-action/> <http://www.cityofpetaluma.org/climateaction> [cid:EmailSig_FB_D1(2)_acc72632-1e02-4b3e-8428-f6d9d417727e.jpg] <https://www.facebook.com/cityofpetaluma/> <https://www.facebook.com/cityofpetaluma/> [cid:EmailSig_Insta_D1(2)_e0571e85-7a5c-4f3e-96a3-d77badf241b7.jpg] <https://www.instagram.com/thecityofpetaluma/> <https://www.instagram.com/thecityofpetaluma/>

The information contained in this e-mail message is intended only for the CONFIDENTIAL use of the designated addressee named above. The information transmitted is subject to the attorney-client privilege and/or represents confidential attorney work product. Recipients should not file copies of this email with publicly accessible records. If you are not the designated addressee named above or the authorized agent responsible for delivering it to the designated addressee, you received this document through inadvertent error and any further review, dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication by you or anyone else is strictly prohibited. IF YOU RECEIVED THIS COMMUNICATION IN ERROR, PLEASE NOTIFY US IMMEDIATELY BY TELEPHONING THE SENDER NAMED ABOVE AT 707-778-4362. Thank you.

Dear Mr. Powelson,

I'm writing to provide an update to your PRA request. We have conducted a search for responsive emails and that search revealed a voluminous number of emails. We are conducting a privilege review of those emails and will be in touch soon with an estimated date for providing non-privileged and non-exempt public records to you.

Please reach out if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Jordan

Jordan Green
Assistant City Attorney
City of Petaluma | City Attorney
office. 707-778-4565<tel:707-778-4565> | JGreen@cityofpetaluma.org

<https://cityofpetaluma.org/>[cid:EmailSig_CityLogo_D3_small(1)_9c048d90-9264-46ff-948c-6693e8946db0.jpg]<https://cityofpetaluma.org/> [cid:EmailSig_ClimateReady_D1(2)_eb1c05df-03d2-42d3-a9c6-519a632e9f53.jpg] <https://cityofpetaluma.org/climate-action/> <http://www.cityofpetaluma.org/climateaction> [cid:EmailSig_FB_D1(2)_acc72632-1e02-4b3e-8428-f6d9d417727e.jpg] <https://www.facebook.com/cityofpetaluma/> <https://www.facebook.com/cityofpetaluma/> [cid:EmailSig_Insta_D1(2)_e0571e85-7a5c-4f3e-96a3-d77badf241b7.jpg] <https://www.instagram.com/thecityofpetaluma/> <https://www.instagram.com/thecityofpetaluma/>

The information contained in this e-mail message is intended only for the CONFIDENTIAL use of the designated addressee named above. The information transmitted is subject to the attorney-client privilege and/or represents confidential attorney work product. Recipients should not file copies of this email with publicly accessible records. If you are not the designated addressee named above or the authorized agent responsible for delivering it to the designated addressee, you received this document through inadvertent error and any further review, dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication by you or anyone else is strictly prohibited. IF YOU RECEIVED THIS COMMUNICATION IN ERROR, PLEASE NOTIFY US IMMEDIATELY BY TELEPHONING THE SENDER NAMED ABOVE AT 707-778-4362. Thank you.

Hello Mr. Powelson,

Our IT Dept. has conducted a search of the requested employees and councilmembers' email boxes. However, there are over 1,000 responsive emails, so we are still conducting a privilege review of each email. We will provide you with the public, responsive emails as soon as we can. We expect to begin providing responsive emails within 1 month.

Thank you very much,
Jordan

Jordan Green
Assistant City Attorney
City of Petaluma | City Attorney
office. 707-778-4565<tel:707-778-4565> | JGreen@cityofpetaluma.org

<https://cityofpetaluma.org/>[cid:EmailSig_CityLogo_D3_small(1)_9c048d90-9264-46ff-948c-6693e8946db0.jpg]<https://cityofpetaluma.org/> [cid:EmailSig_ClimateReady_D1(2)_eb1c05df-03d2-42d3-a9c6-519a632e9f53.jpg] <https://cityofpetaluma.org/climate-action/> <http://www.cityofpetaluma.org/climateaction> [cid:EmailSig_FB_D1(2)_acc72632-1e02-4b3e-8428-f6d9d417727e.jpg] <https://www.facebook.com/cityofpetaluma/> <https://www.facebook.com/cityofpetaluma/> [cid:EmailSig_Insta_D1(2)_e0571e85-7a5c-4f3e-96a3-d77badf241b7.jpg] <https://www.instagram.com/thecityofpetaluma/> <https://www.instagram.com/thecityofpetaluma/>

The information contained in this e-mail message is intended only for the CONFIDENTIAL use of the designated addressee named above. The information transmitted is subject to the attorney-client privilege and/or represents confidential attorney work product. Recipients should not file copies of this email with publicly accessible records. If you are not the designated addressee named above or the authorized agent responsible for delivering it to the designated addressee, you received this document through inadvertent error and any further review, dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication by you or anyone else is strictly prohibited. IF YOU RECEIVED THIS COMMUNICATION IN ERROR, PLEASE NOTIFY US IMMEDIATELY BY TELEPHONING THE SENDER NAMED ABOVE AT 707-778-4362. Thank you.

Hello,
We apologize for the delay. As you know, there's over 1,000 emails and some include attachments. We have completed our review of emails for legal privileges. Now we are beginning the redaction process to redact complainants' names and their personal information, such as their personal cell phone number. We expect to begin disclosing these documents in batches in the next couple weeks.

Sincerely,
Jordan

Jordan Green
Assistant City Attorney
City of Petaluma | City Attorney
office. 707-778-4565<tel:707-778-4565> | JGreen@cityofpetaluma.org

<https://cityofpetaluma.org/>[cid:EmailSig_CityLogo_D3_small(1)_9c048d90-9264-46ff-948c-6693e8946db0.jpg]<https://cityofpetaluma.org/> [cid:EmailSig_ClimateReady_D1(2)_eb1c05df-03d2-42d3-a9c6-519a632e9f53.jpg] <https://cityofpetaluma.org/climate-action/> <http://www.cityofpetaluma.org/climateaction> [cid:EmailSig_FB_D1(2)_acc72632-1e02-4b3e-8428-f6d9d417727e.jpg] <https://www.facebook.com/cityofpetaluma/> <https://www.facebook.com/cityofpetaluma/> [cid:EmailSig_Insta_D1(2)_e0571e85-7a5c-4f3e-96a3-d77badf241b7.jpg] <https://www.instagram.com/thecityofpetaluma/> <https://www.instagram.com/thecityofpetaluma/>

The information contained in this e-mail message is intended only for the CONFIDENTIAL use of the designated addressee named above. The information transmitted is subject to the attorney-client privilege and/or represents confidential attorney work product. Recipients should not file copies of this email with publicly accessible records. If you are not the designated addressee named above or the authorized agent responsible for delivering it to the designated addressee, you received this document through inadvertent error and any further review, dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication by you or anyone else is strictly prohibited. IF YOU RECEIVED THIS COMMUNICATION IN ERROR, PLEASE NOTIFY US IMMEDIATELY BY TELEPHONING THE SENDER NAMED ABOVE AT 707-778-4362. Thank you.

Hello Mr. Powelson,

We are doing the final review of the responsive records to your request relating to unsheltered individuals and encampments. We expect to begin disclosing records in the next two weeks.

We apologize for the delay. Thank you for your patience.

Sincerely,
Jordan

Jordan Green
Assistant City Attorney
City of Petaluma | City Attorney
office. 707-778-4565<tel:707-778-4565> | JGreen@cityofpetaluma.org

<https://cityofpetaluma.org/>[cid:EmailSig_CityLogo_D3_small(1)_9c048d90-9264-46ff-948c-6693e8946db0.jpg]<https://cityofpetaluma.org/> [cid:EmailSig_ClimateReady_D1(2)_eb1c05df-03d2-42d3-a9c6-519a632e9f53.jpg] <https://cityofpetaluma.org/climate-action/> <http://www.cityofpetaluma.org/climateaction> [cid:EmailSig_FB_D1(2)_acc72632-1e02-4b3e-8428-f6d9d417727e.jpg] <https://www.facebook.com/cityofpetaluma/> <https://www.facebook.com/cityofpetaluma/> [cid:EmailSig_Insta_D1(2)_e0571e85-7a5c-4f3e-96a3-d77badf241b7.jpg] <https://www.instagram.com/thecityofpetaluma/> <https://www.instagram.com/thecityofpetaluma/>

The information contained in this e-mail message is intended only for the CONFIDENTIAL use of the designated addressee named above. The information transmitted is subject to the attorney-client privilege and/or represents confidential attorney work product. Recipients should not file copies of this email with publicly accessible records. If you are not the designated addressee named above or the authorized agent responsible for delivering it to the designated addressee, you received this document through inadvertent error and any further review, dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication by you or anyone else is strictly prohibited. IF YOU RECEIVED THIS COMMUNICATION IN ERROR, PLEASE NOTIFY US IMMEDIATELY BY TELEPHONING THE SENDER NAMED ABOVE AT 707-778-4362. Thank you.

Dear Mr. Powelson,

We are sorry for the delay. You may find the City's non-exempt and non-privileged emails at the following location: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/2j9wwa74d5v0swi/AADMhWQRLZMvF_kV2WpsvSxIa?dl=0

To the extent the responsive records include attorney work product, we assert the attorney work product privilege pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure section 2018.030 for products reflecting impressions, conclusions, efforts, opinions, research, and theories of attorneys serving in the Office of the City Attorney. Work product protected under Code of Civil Procedure section 2018.030 is also exempt from disclosure under subdivision (k) of section 6254 of the Public Records Act, which as noted above exempts records, the disclosure of which is prohibited or exempt pursuant to federal or state law.

There are also responsive emails that are exempt from disclosure pursuant to the attorney-client and work product privileges codified in California Evidence Code section 954 and California Code of Civil Procedure section 2018.030 and pursuant to Section 6254(k) of the Public Records Act. Accordingly, to that extent your request is denied. The City asserts the attorney-client privilege pursuant to California Evidence Code section 954 as it applies to those portions of the records requested containing confidential communications between the City and its legal counsel. Communications protected under Evidence Code section 954 are exempt from disclosure under subdivision (k) of section 6254 of the Public Records Act, which exempts records, the disclosure of which is prohibited or exempt pursuant to the Evidence Code. Accordingly, to the extent your request seeks records that are exempt from disclosure pursuant to the attorney-client privilege, your request is denied. Accordingly, to the extent your request seeks records that are exempt from disclosure as described in this paragraph, your request is denied.

To the extent the records include attorney work product, we assert the attorney work product privilege pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure section 2018.030 for products reflecting impressions, conclusions, efforts, opinions, research, and theories of attorneys serving in the Office of the City Attorney. Work product protected under Code of Civil Procedure section 2018.030 is also exempt from disclosure under subdivision (k) of section 6254 of the Public Records Act, which as noted above exempts records, the disclosure of which is prohibited or exempt pursuant to federal or state law.

With respect to records of complaints made by community members, Government Code section 6255 authorizes a public agency to withhold an otherwise public record from disclosure when the public interest served by not making the record public clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure of the record. The responsive complaint records will be made available. However, the name, address, email address and telephone information of the complainant will not be disclosed. Disclosure of the complainants' personal information will not assist the public in determining whether the City is properly performing its duties of enforcing the Petaluma Municipal Code, but may have a chilling effect on future complaints, and undermine the City's ability to effectively receive and respond to citizens' complaints and enforce violations of the Petaluma Municipal Code. (See, City of San Jose v. Superior Court (1999) 74 Cal.App.4th 1008.) Therefore, the public interest in nondisclosure of the complainants' name, address, email address, and telephone information is clearly outweighed by the public interest in disclosure, in accordance with Government Code section 6255. Accordingly, to the extent your request seeks records that are exempt from disclosure, this part of your request is denied.

There may have also been emails that are exempt from disclosure as a draft pursuant to section 6254, subdivision (a) of the Public Records Act, and pursuant to the deliberative process privilege and public interest exemptions under Section 6255 of the Public Records Act. The purpose of the drafts exemption and deliberative process privilege is to protect the quality of government decisions by providing for rigorous consideration of pre-decisional ideas, opinions and work product among government agency officials. (Times Mirror Co. v. Superior Court (1991) 53 Cal.3d 1325.) The public interest in withholding the incomplete document until staff finalizes the draft clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure. Release of the document before it is complete would curtail staff review and discussion of the final document, and undermine the quality of the document, as well as interfere with completion and coordination of the final document. The public has a right to, and a strong interest in, commencing public discussion of potential impacts based on final draft documents.

I am responsible for this determination concerning your records request in my capacity as Assistant City Attorney of the City of Petaluma, in consultation with authorized representatives of our client the City. If you have any questions, or are able to refer me to controlling legal authority that supports a different result, please contact me.

Very truly yours,

Jordan Green

Jordan Green
Assistant City Attorney
City of Petaluma | City Attorney
office. 707-778-4565<tel:707-778-4565> | JGreen@cityofpetaluma.org

<https://cityofpetaluma.org/>[cid:EmailSig_CityLogo_D3_small(1)_9c048d90-9264-46ff-948c-6693e8946db0.jpg]<https://cityofpetaluma.org/> [cid:EmailSig_ClimateReady_D1(2)_eb1c05df-03d2-42d3-a9c6-519a632e9f53.jpg] <https://cityofpetaluma.org/climate-action/> <http://www.cityofpetaluma.org/climateaction> [cid:EmailSig_FB_D1(2)_acc72632-1e02-4b3e-8428-f6d9d417727e.jpg] <https://www.facebook.com/cityofpetaluma/> <https://www.facebook.com/cityofpetaluma/> [cid:EmailSig_Insta_D1(2)_e0571e85-7a5c-4f3e-96a3-d77badf241b7.jpg] <https://www.instagram.com/thecityofpetaluma/> <https://www.instagram.com/thecityofpetaluma/>

The information contained in this e-mail message is intended only for the CONFIDENTIAL use of the designated addressee named above. The information transmitted is subject to the attorney-client privilege and/or represents confidential attorney work product. Recipients should not file copies of this email with publicly accessible records. If you are not the designated addressee named above or the authorized agent responsible for delivering it to the designated addressee, you received this document through inadvertent error and any further review, dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication by you or anyone else is strictly prohibited. IF YOU RECEIVED THIS COMMUNICATION IN ERROR, PLEASE NOTIFY US IMMEDIATELY BY TELEPHONING THE SENDER NAMED ABOVE AT 707-778-4362. Thank you.