(A) The city will make available for inspection and/or copying to any person, individual, corporation, firm, organization or association upon written request submitted to the attention of the City Clerk those public records that are in its possession and control, except that public records exempted from inspection and copying as provided in § 7 of the Freedom of Information Act, being 5 U.S.C. §§ 552 et seq., shall be exempt from disclosure. Public records not exempt from inspection shall ordinarily be produced at the City Clerk’s Office, during the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
(B) Upon written request, the city will either produce public records not otherwise exempt from disclosure for inspection or provide copies of the public records for a fee of $.20 per page. Documents will be certified at a cost of $2 per document. The fee of $.20 is imposed as a reasonable estimate of the time and cost to the city for reproducing public records and for the use, by any person, of the equipment of the District to copy records. The fee of $2 to certify a document is imposed as a reasonable charge for such service. The City Clerk is authorized to reduce or waive payment of these fees in those instances where it is the Clerk’s belief that a fee is not justified or the furnishing of information is primarily in the public interest. Waiver or reduction of a fee may be considered to be in the public interest if the principal purpose of the request is to access and disseminate information regarding the health, safety, and welfare or the legal rights of the general public and is not for the principal purpose of personal or commercial benefit. Persons requesting a waiver or reduction of the fee must state the specific purpose for the request and indicate a waiver or reduction is in the public interest. The decision of the City Clerk shall be final and binding upon requests for fee reductions/waivers.
(C) The city shall either comply with a written request for inspection and/or copying of records or deny the request in writing within seven working days of its receipt. The city may extend this time limit by an additional seven working days by written notice for any of the reasons set forth in § 3(d) of the Freedom of Information Act. In the event the City Clerk or the Clerk’s staff determines that compliance with a request will be unduly burdensome, the City Clerk shall notify the requestor and offer to confer with the requestor to clarify or reduce the request. If the matter cannot be resolved in this fashion, the City Clerk may, in writing, deny the request for reasons of undue burden as specified in § 3(f) of the Freedom of Information Act.
(D) (1) In the event a request for copying and/or inspection of public records is denied in whole or in part, the City Clerk shall specify the following in writing:
(a) The reasons for the denial;
(b) The names and titles of each person responsible for the denial; and
(c) The right of the requestor to appeal the denial to the Mayor.
(2) In the event denial is based on a claim that certain records are exempt from disclosure under § 7 of the Freedom of Information Act, the denial will specify the exemption(s) relied on. The requestor may appeal that denial by submitting a written appeal delivered to the Mayor’s office, within ten calendar days of the date of the denial. The appeal shall be addressed to the Mayor of the City. The Mayor shall issue a written determination within seven working days of receipt of the notice of appeal. If the Mayor denies the appeal, the written determination shall inform the requestor of his or her right to judicial review under § 11 of the Freedom of Information Act. Failure of the Mayor to act shall constitute a denial of the request and of the appeal.
(E) The City Clerk shall promulgate and update as may be needed a summary of information about the city that may be distributed to persons upon request.
(F) The City Clerk shall promulgate and update as may be needed a list of the types of records maintained by the city in the regular course of business.
(G) Any other matters concerning requests for public records shall be governed pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, ILCS Ch. 5, Act 140, §§ 1 et seq. Any matter set forth in this section that is inconsistent with the Freedom of Information Act shall be null and void; the remainder of the section shall continue in full force and effect.
(Ord. 96-12, passed 3-11-1996)