County Supervisors Advance 5-Year Records Retention Proposal

SAN DIEGO, CA — The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to advance a proposed five-year minimum retention requirement for county public records and communications, including emails and text messages.

Supervisor Joel Anderson said the measure would extend the current practice in an attempt to strengthen government transparency, as emails that are not classified as official records or subject to a litigation hold are automatically deleted after two years.

Text messages sent or received on county-issued devices also have no retention period and cannot be retrieved once deleted, but this proposal would change that.

"You cannot put a price on open, accessible and transparent government," Anderson said. "When a resident asks what their government did, why a decision was made or how taxpayer dollars were spent, they deserve to know that the records still exist. Government should not lose important information simply because a clock ran out on an automatic deletion policy."

The county's chief administrative officer will return to the board within 120 days with options for establishing a new retention standard, along with the estimated costs and potential funding sources.

Anderson's letter to the board argues that inconsistent retention practices can create "uncertainty for the public and media seeking information" and can affect the county's ability to respond transparently to California Public Records Act requests.

"Transparency only works if the information is there to be seen," Anderson said. "A public records request should not come down to whether an email or text happened to survive long enough for someone to ask for it. If county employees used taxpayer-funded resources to conduct the public's business, we should take reasonable steps to preserve that information."

Communication retention schedules and management practices can vary by county department, which Anderson said can create confusion. The proposal would set the five-year minimum across the board.

Anderson, participating via teleconference remotely due to illness, said he was confident staff will return with a good policy. He cited recent media reports about the deletion of county emails related to contracts with the Harm Reduction Coalition as an example of why a better policy was needed.

Amy Knox, the group's former COO, was charged in February by the county District Attorney's Office with taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in public funds and using the money for personal expenses such as plastic surgery procedures, trips to Hawaii and Disneyland, and payments for her San Diego Gas & Electric and credit card bills.

His colleagues voiced their support for a better policy, but also had some logistical concerns.

Vice Chair Monica Montgomery Steppe asked how documents would be defined, and wondered if employees would have to store information written on a sticky note, as one example.

Supervisor Paloma Aguirre raised the issue of potential costs, but said she appreciated Anderson's proposal.

Chair Terra Lawson-Remer said it was important for county policy to be transparent, while also ensuring it is practical and feasible.

Lawson-Remer added she wasn't concerned that a staff member may have "texted an emoji to somebody."

— City News Service