Dominique Stephens - Signal

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Washington Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:

Regarding Mayor's Office employee Dominique Stephens, I am requesting all conversations in the employee’s Signal app pertaining to government business as allowed under Nissen v. Pierce County, 183 Wa.2d 863 (2015), including archived and deleted conversations.

Please provide:
1. The title, avatar, description, and retention period set for the chat.
2. A listing of all members in the chat.
3. All messages, images, and files sent and received in the chat, sufficient to discern sender’s name and avatar, time received, and message content, as well as events including but not limited to entering and leaving chat, changing retention time, etc.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Rose Terse

RE: Public Disclosure Request Number - C194236-082024

Dear Rose Terse:

Thank you for submitting your public records request through the City of Seattle's Public Records Request Center. We would like to invite you to take a short six-question survey on your experience.

Please click the following link if you would like to participate.

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On 9/18/2024 1:19:02 PM, City of Seattle Public Records Request Center wrote:
Subject: Mayor's Office :: C194236-082024
Body:
Dear Rose Terse,

This email is in response to your public disclosure request C194236-082024 received on August 20, 2024 regarding the following:

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Washington Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:

Regarding Mayor's Office employee Dominique Stephens, I am requesting all conversations in the employee’s Signal app pertaining to government business as allowed under Nissen v. Pierce County, 183 Wa.2d 863 (2015), including archived and deleted conversations.

Please provide:
1. The title, avatar, description, and retention period set for the chat.
2. A listing of all members in the chat.
3. All messages, images, and files sent and received in the chat, sufficient to discern sender’s name and avatar, time received, and message content, as well as events including but not limited to entering and leaving chat, changing retention time, etc.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Rose Terse

Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/

_________________________________________________________________________________________

I'm writing today to update you on the status of your request.

I received confirmation today from Dominique Stephens that she does not use the Signal app to conduct City business on her City-issued devices or on her personal devices.

A reasonable search of my department, including receiving confirmation from Dominique Stevens that she does not use the Signal app to conduct City business on her City-issued devices or on her personal devices, did not locate responsive records. The Mayor's Office considers your request closed and plans to take no further action to fulfill this request.

If you have any follow-up questions or would like to initiate an administrative appeal under MDAR 17-0002 Section 6, please contact us within 10 business days, after which this request will no longer be monitored for communications. Judicial review of Mayor's Office response to C194236-082024 may be sought within one year of this letter, consistent with RCW 42.56.550.

Sincerely,
Kyle Ponton-Welty
Office of the Mayor
City of Seattle

Hello Kyle,

Thank you for your response. Nissen v Pierce County (2015) states the following:
"Where an employee withholds personal records from the employer, he or she must submit an affidavit with facts sufficient to show the information is not a 'public record' under the PRA. So long as the affidavits give the requester and the trial court a sufficient factual basis to determine that withheld material is indeed nonresponsive, the agency has performed an adequate search under the PRA."

Would you please provide me with such the affidavit described above?

Thank you,
Rose

Good Day,

Thank you for your continued support on this request. Please know that I am unable to log into your portal, so I have been unable to relay the attached communication.

Regarding the portal issue, I am unable to reset my password as I do not subsequently receive a temporary password email. Please advise at your earliest convenience.

Below is the communication I attempted to send via portal:

Hello Kyle [Ponton-Welty],

Thank you for your response. Nissen v Pierce County (2015) states the following:
"Where an employee withholds personal records from the employer, he or she must submit an affidavit with facts sufficient to show the information is not a 'public record' under the PRA. So long as the affidavits give the requester and the trial court a sufficient factual basis to determine that withheld material is indeed nonresponsive, the agency has performed an adequate search under the PRA."

Would you please provide me with such the affidavit described above?

Thank you,
Rose

Hello,

Thank you for your continued support on this request. Please know that I had contacted your agency last month as I have been unable to log into your portal. As a result, I have been unable to relay the attached communication to your agency.

Regarding the portal issue, I am unable to reset my password as I do not subsequently receive a temporary password email. Please advise at your earliest convenience.

Below is the communication I attempted to send via portal:

Hello Kyle [Ponton-Welty],

Thank you for your response. Nissen v Pierce County (2015) states the following:
"Where an employee withholds personal records from the employer, he or she must submit an affidavit with facts sufficient to show the information is not a 'public record' under the PRA. So long as the affidavits give the requester and the trial court a sufficient factual basis to determine that withheld material is indeed nonresponsive, the agency has performed an adequate search under the PRA."

Would you please provide me with such the affidavit described above?

Thank you,
Rose