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The City Council postponed considering a recommendation for a Sunshine Ordinance, intended to allow the public greater access to government information, until it’s determined whether it’s needed.  

The recommendation, put on Tuesday’s City Council agenda by Councilmember Kriss Worthington, asked the City Manager’s Office to evaluate nine measures to improve citizen access to public information. They include better public notice for meetings, creating a Web site where all public records can be accessed and encouraging law enforcement to make police records, logs and other related information more readily available. 

The recommendation was removed from the consent calendar by Councilmember Polly Armstrong – items on the consent calendar are approved unanimously without discussion. Armstrong said she wanted the council to consider the need for an ordinance carefully and to evaluate whether it would make the government process more cumbersome and inefficient. 

“I’m in favor of open government but you can take things to an absurd level,” she said. “So if we can make it easier to do the right thing, then I’m in favor, but if it’s more complicated, I’m not.” 

Oakland has a Sunshine Ordinance and San Francisco strengthened its existing ordinance in November 1999, with voter approval of Measure G. 

Worthington said the ordinance would create a friendlier environment as well as make it easier for people to participate in government decisions. “I don’t think  

giving the public more access to information is anything to be afraid of,” he said. “And for that matter, I don’t think giving city councilmembers more access to information is anything to be afraid of.” 

The need to streamline diffusion of information is critical, said Worthington, noting that he was often frustrated in his attempts to get copies of documents from former City Manager James Keene. 

Thomas R. Burke, a San Francisco attorney who was a principal author of Measure G, said it’s important to strengthen public information laws. “The Brown Act and the Freedom of Information Act are broad and encompassing, but government officials continually figure out ways of operating in secret,” he said. “Anyone in favor of open government can’t be in opposition to a Sunshine Ordinance. 

Councilmember Mim Hawley said she approves of open government, but said she agreed the ordinance needs to be scrutinized more. She said some of its requirements might already be in effect. 

Hawley said the cost should be closely examined as well. 

“We have an energy crisis and a housing crisis and our youth programs need funding,” she said. “We have to be careful about our resources.” 

Worthington said he examined the cost of establishing the Sunshine Ordinances in San Francisco and Oakland and suggested Berkeley phase in an ordinance over time, rather than commit resources all at once. 

“There’s a lot of hidden costs and the way Oakland and San Francisco implemented their ordinances created unnecessary expense,” he said. “We should create a timeline that implements the ordinance in phases that fit into our budget.” 

For example, scanning all the city’s documents onto a Web site would be costly. 

Berkeley resident Howie Muir, a member of the community group Neighbors for Responsible Development, said he would like to see policies streamlined and organized so information is easier to obtain. 

Muir’s group is opposed to the design of a controversial, four-story proposed development in his neighborhood. He said community groups are usually unfamiliar with city bureaucracy that puts them at a disadvantage with developers who often know the system well.  

“First you have to find out what department you have to go to,” he said. “Then you find out it’s the Planning Department, but when you arrive, you discover there’s a Current Planning Division and an Advanced Planning Division. And then you wonder ‘Does that mean there are other planning divisions and which one do I go to?’” 

Muir said during the development’s approval process, planning staff did not provide him with a copy of an Environmental Impact Report he requested until the same night the Zoning Adjustments Board voted on the project. “There was no way I was going to be able to review it in time.” he said. 

Muir said because it’s difficult for novices to navigate the city bureaucracy, the quality and completeness of their information is compromised and “they have a harder time getting their opinions heard in a meaningful way.” 

The City Council will consider the Sunshine Ordinance at it’s next meeting on April 17.