Larry Agran, enemy of open records

June 17th, 2008, 11:43 am · 3 Comments · posted by Steven Greenhut

We all know that Irvine Councilman Larry Agran is a control freak, but his stated opposition to the release of public records — in the form of public e-mails sent to City Hall – is a bit shocking even for him. Said Agran: “Not only am I curious and concerned, but at this point absolutely stunned at the private information that is in the hands of others, without any conditions, without any controls.”

How shocking! Public information made available without any controls. Sorry, Larry, but even Irvine has to follow the California Public Records Act. According to the Reg story, “‘Any local regulation of e-mail would undoubtedly be, if not superfluous, in conflict with the California Public Records Act, and therefore unenforceable,’ said Terry Francke, an expert on public records law serving as general counsel for Californians Aware.”

The best approach to the situation is the one proposed by Huntington Beach: attaching a note to e-mails that anything sent to the city could possibly be released. Here’s why this is important: Let’s say John Q. Citizen sends an e-mail to Larry Agran requesting some action or information, and Commissar Agran responds to it. If it is exempt from the public records act, then important policy matters and actions of city officials could be hidden from public view.

Everyone — the public, elected officials, bureaucrats — need to always remember that all such dealings are public record, except in some limited circumstances (i.e., personnel matters exempt from state law).

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Orange Punch bloggers write from a particular libertarian point of view. We’re dedicated to advancing human freedom and believe that the primary role of government is to defend Americans’ liberties. We seek a smaller, more limited government, expanded and freer trade at home and abroad, open markets and secure property rights. We believe in the power and goodwill of the individual; that he or she will aspire to a better tomorrow for themselves, for their family and for the community. We would hope for people to exercise integrity and self-responsibility along the way. The bloggers are Alan Bock, Brian Calle and Mark Landsbaum. The genesis of this particular brand of libertarianism is R.C. Hoiles, founder, Freedom Communications, Inc., parent company of the Orange County Register.

Dan Chmielewski says:

June 17, 2008 at 1:19 pm

Steve -
Don’t put the blame on Mr. Agran this time around. The city has a Privacy Poilicy published on its website. Here it is:

“The City of Irvine takes your privacy seriously. All information you provide is accessible only by Community Services Department registration staff. Class Coordinators and instructors will receive only the name, current age and address and phone number of participants. ***Email addresses will only be utilized for Department correspondence related to your registration, promotions, and to inform you of upcoming events. Your information will not be shared with other agencies, departments, businesses, or individuals, to the extent permitted by law.”****

Council member Shea went around the city’s privacy policy to gain access to email addresses that the City has promised residents would not be shared.

It is appropriate to question jsut whose email Council member Shea has and for what purpose. And after I posted an email received from Sean Joyce about this policy over at the LiberalOC.com, Shea questioned how that email made it on to the blog. So the person who lacks the understanding of what constitutes a public record is not Agran; it’s Shea.

But by all means, please allow your open dislike on Mr. Agran to give you an excuse to tell only part of the story. Irvine is the safest city in the US for the 4th year in a row; we have 3.5 jobs per every household i the city making it recession proof even with the collapse of New Century and the subprime mortage market; and we have healthy reserves to dip into to help out an underfunded school district without raising taxes or cutting services.

This city election cycle mirrors the national one; do we keep Irvine moving forward or do we step backwards?

Todd Gallinger says:

June 18, 2008 at 6:48 am

You have totally distorted what Councilmember Agran and the City Council of Irvine are actually looking into. Not the release of emails to city Councilmembers, but the release of a list list containing 180,000 emails and other addresses. This list, including names gathered by the city under the promise of privacy and that it would only be used for its intended purpose, was released to Councilmember Shea for uses unknown. Included on this list are people who have signed up for community and youth classes. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want spammers of criminals to just stop by city hall and ask for the addresses and emails addresses of everyone in the city, listed by what class or activity the person signed up for.

So the issue is not the release of an email sent to Mr. Agran, but the release of thousands of citizens’ confidential information into the public. Your criticism about restriction of information actually applies to Councilmembers Shea & Choi, who have attacked me and others for requesting memos they had written. For your future reference, the videos of Irvine city council meetings & the full agendas are post on the city of Irvine’s website. A quick review of either of these would have cleared up your confusion on this issue.

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