San Leandro Launches Electronic Records Database

Whether you're a gadfly looking to dig up some dirt on city officials or just an average person wondering what happened at last month's City Council meeting, public records requests just got a lot easier.

The city recently launched its online public records database, officially taking the plunge into the digital age.

It doesn't negate the oldfashioned way of looking up city files (go to City Hall, fill out a form and wait several days for a set of documents to arrive at your request). But the new electronic system is at least more convenient and more private — and will probably save residents gas, too.

Under the old system, "we had to do it all manually," City Clerk Marian Handa said. "This way, the public doesn't even have to request anything. They can go online and get it themselves."

The city has long stored a large number of public records in both paper and electronic formats. But with this new system, which uses the Web publishing tool Weblink — approved by the City Council in 2004 at a cost of about $20,000 — some electronic documents that weren't previously available for public view now are, and at no cost to the viewer.

The online database can be accessed through the city's Web site, www.ci.sanleandro. ca.us, and all the documents can be e-mailed, printed and saved as PDF files.

The only drawback, Handa said, is that the records in the new system go back only as far as 2006. However, she added, the database is meant to be viewed as a work in progress.

Ultimately, the city hopes to make available all public records dating to the city's incorporation in 1872, she said.

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