Ltr-mta Pra Violations 080814

CITIZENS' CAMPAIGN TO FIX THE EXPO RAIL LINE Led by Save Leimert, Expo Communities United & Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw Homeowners' Coalition P.O. Box 781267 • Los Angeles, CA 90016 • Phone & Fax: (323) 761-6435 • www.FixExpo.org August 14, 2008 Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority ATTN: Records Management Center One Gateway Plaza Los Angeles, CA 90012 Re:

SENT VIA FAX & EMAIL

MTA’s Failure to Respond to Fix Expo/UCA’s California Public Records Act Requests of 6 May 2008, 13 May 2008, 14 July 2008, & 24 July 2008

Dear Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority: This letter is in response to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (“MTA”) violation of the California Public Records Act (“CPRA”) regarding information requested under the act by the Citizens’ Campaign to Fix the Expo Rail Line (“Fix Expo”), which is a project of the nonprofit corporation United Community Associations, Inc. (“UCA”). To recap the series of events/communication: •

On May 6, 2008, the Fix Expo CPRA request as corrected (“Exhibit A – May 6 Fix Expo CPRA Request”) was hand delivered to and received by the Records Management Control (“RMC”) office at MTA headquarters.

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On May 13, 2008, David Lor, MTA’s Records & Information Coordinator sent an email (“Exhibit B – May 13 MTAFix Expo Correspondence”) with an attached letter from MTA’s RMC Supervisor Joe Parise (“Exhibit C – May 13 MTA Letter”) to myself indicating that information regarding requests #4 – 9 of the Fix Expo CPRA request is exempt from disclosure stating, “the documentation is a matter of personal privacy.” Requests #4 - 9 are for documents/information regarding train/vehicle and train/pedestrian incidents and accidents with the Blue Line and Gold Line and youths/youngsters. Why MTA did not simply redact the names and addresses of the individuals involved, as is the standard practice of every public agency in the State of California, is beyond any logical explanation. And in violation of CPRA Section 6253(d): “the names and titles or positions of each person responsible for the denial” were not included.

•

On May 13, 2008, to further address the concern stated in Mr. Lor’s May 13 letter I responded via an email, which was CCed to Mr. Parise (see “Exhibit B – May 13 MTA-Fix Correspondence”), clarifying the request and limiting it solely to the location, time, date of incident and age of individuals:

“Information on such reports may be redacted if found legally necessary to fulfill this request, but among the information that should not be redacted shall be: the location, time and date of the incident, and the age of all individuals involved…” The Records Management Control office failed to respond to the request as clarified in the May 13, 2008 email. •

On July 14, 2008, in response to RMC’s failure to respond to the requests, and failure to respond to the May 13, 2008 email from Fix Expo clarifying the request, a subsequent letter from Fix Expo to MTA (“Exhibit D - July 14 Fix Expo Letter to MTA Re: CPRA Violation”) was hand delivered to MTA RMC. The letter stated that by failing to produce the documents or respond to the request 68 days after the initial request, MTA was in violation of California Public Records Act. Attached to the letter were the following documents: o The original May 6 CPRA Request (“Exhibit A”) o The May 13 MTA-Fix Expo Correspondence showing the clarifications (“Exhibit B”) o The May 13 MTA Rejection Letter (“Exhibit C”)

- 1 of 3 The Fix Expo Campaign is a project of United Community Associations, Inc. – an all-volunteer South L.A. Nonprofit.

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On July 14, 2008, the CPRA request was further clarified from the initial CPRA request sent on May 6, 2008 and clarified on May 13, 2008 (“Exhibit E – July 14 Clarified CPRA Request”). The request was delivered simultaneously with the July 14 Fix Expo Letter to MTA Re: CPRA Violation (“Exhibit D”).

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Fix Expo/UCA received a letter from MTA’s Records & Information Coordinator David Lor dated July 24, 2008 (a remarkable 78 DAYS after the May 6 CPRA initial request letter), which stated MTA was extending the time to respond due to “unusual circumstances, when additional time is needed,” citing CPRA Section 6253(c)(2) as their basis. The letter provided no date when the documents would be provided and simply stated “Metro will advise when the documents are available.”

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On July 24, 2008 Fix Expo submitted a specified request for more and specific documents and internal documents (“Exhibit G – July 24 CPRA Request”). #11-16 of the July 24 Request (documents and internal documents related to Blue Line deaths for individuals under the age of 25; and TransitSafe and Rail Incident Management System reports and logs for all Blue and Gold Line accidents/incidents) are requests for documents that should have been supplied in response to the May 6 original CPRA request, May 13 clarified CPRA request, and/or the July 14 clarified CPRA request. But to ensure there would be no failure to identify or supply these documents they were further specified in the July 24 CPRA Request. The remaining items in the July 24 Request related to Expo Line and Blue Line accident potential, likelihood or predictability; the Expo Line crossings at Farmdale Avenue, Western Avenue and Harvard Blvd; and a list and status of claims and lawsuits related to Blue Line and Gold Line accidents/incidents. As of August 13, 2008, 7 days after the statutory 10 day response deadline (CPRA Section 6253(c)), no letter has been received to the July 24 CPRA Request, yet another violation of the California Public Records Act by the MTA.

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As of August 14, 2008 the Fix Expo project of UCA has received no documents from MTA regarding Request #4 – 9 of the original request of May 6, as clarified on May 13 and July 14, and no response, let alone documents from MTA regarding the new requested information on July 24, 2008 (Requests #1-10 & 17-20).

The public is entitled to this information, and Fix Expo/United Community Associations has patiently WAITED OVER 99 DAYS to receive it. This is a blatant obstruction by the MTA of the right of Fix Expo/United Community Associations to inspect or copy records and thereby a violation of California Government Code 6253(d), which states “Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to permit an agency to delay or obstruct the inspection of copying of public records.” All requests for further information can be directed to: Damien Goodmon EMAIL: [email protected] PHONE: (xxx) xxx-xxxx Sincerely, /s/ DAMIEN W.C. GOODMON Damien W.C. Goodmon Chair, United Community Associations Coordinator, Citizens’ Campaign to Fix the Expo Rail Line ATTACHED: • Exhibit A - Fix Expo CPRA Request hand delivered to MTA RMC on May 6, 2008 • Exhibit B - Email Communication between Damien Goodmon and David Lor of MTA RMC on May 13, 2008 • Exhibit C - May 13, 2008 MTA Letter from Joe Parise of RMC rejecting Fix Expo CPRA Requests #4-9 • Exhibit D - Fix Expo CPRA Failure to Comply letter hand delivered to MTA RMC on July 14, 2008 • Exhibit E - July 14, 2008 Clarified Fix Expo CPRA Request hand delivered to MTA RMC on July 14, 2008 • Exhibit F - July 24, 2008 MTA Letter from David Lor requesting more unspecified time to fulfill the July 14 Clarified Fix Expo CPRA Request • Exhibit G – Fix Expo CPRA Request hand delivered to MTA RMC on July 24, 2008 - 2 of 3 The Fix Expo Campaign is a project of United Community Associations, Inc. – an all-volunteer South L.A. Nonprofit.

CC: Law Firm of Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal, LLP Law Firm of Heller & Edwards Law Firm of Strumwasser & Woocher, LLP FTA Administrator James Simpson FTA Region IX Administrator Leslie Rogers FTA Los Angeles Office U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer Congresswoman Diane Watson California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown, Jr. State Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas Assembly Speaker Karen Bass Assembly Member Mike Davis Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley MTA Board of Directors Expo Line Construction Authority Board of Directors Los Angeles City Board of Education

- 3 of 3 The Fix Expo Campaign is a project of United Community Associations, Inc. – an all-volunteer South L.A. Nonprofit.