Responding to City Attorney and Public Information Requests

This process will assist BOE staff with responding to City Attorney Request for Information (RFIs) as well as Public Information Requests.   These requests are sent to the appropriate District office by the Project Award and Control Division (PACD).  

• City Attorney requests usually involve the research of permits and/or plans relating to a City Attorney case at a specific location or address. 
• Public Information Requests are requests made by the general public per the California Public Records Act and generally include the research of permits.

Response Procedures

1. District and/or Division receives the electronic request from PACD.  
2. Only the PACD assigned person will be able to respond to the request unless there is a request made to add additional staff.  The request to add staff is made directly in NextRequest by clicking the double cloud chat box. PACD is the only department in BOE that can add staff to the case.
3. The assigned PACD representatives are responsible for reaching out to others.  
   1. If a phone or email request comes from any other department than PACD, including from a City Attorney, the District office should send the request to PACD for appropriate processing. 
4. District Engineer or their representative will assign a responsible BOE staff person to gather information and prepare the response.  For public information requests, California Public Records Act (CPRA) requires the City to respond to the request within 10 calendar days.  Deadline information should be included in the request from PACD.
5. Login to the NextRequest system (BOE staff will need to create an account the first time logging in)
6. Review the request from PACD
   1. Note the response due date
   2. Understand what is being requested
   3. If applicable, read the claim for location information and reason for claim
   4. Review the list of requests from City Attorney
7. Perform on-line and/or field research
   1. Go to NavigateLA and print out any information about the subject project, including:
      1. An aerial of the subject project
      2. Construction Activities report including any appropriate permits issued
      3. Any plans that might show the street and/or area involved in the request
      4. Survey or tract map if determined necessary
      5. Map Notes
   2. Review Google Maps
   3. If necessary, conduct a field review to verify location, take photos of current conditions, take measurements, etc.
8. If Substructures are involved, obtain a copy of the portion of the map showing the area involved
9. Request any hard copies or electronic copies of applicable project documents from the appropriate District office.  Checking with the Civil in charge of a specific permit, the counter supervisor, or District Engineer may be necessary.
10. Review the permit application within the applicable on-line permitting system
    1. Within each record, there is a history of staff who interacted with the project.  When appropriate, these people should be made aware of the request and provide applicable information if asked.
11. Determine who would be the Person Most Knowledgeable (PMK) if one is needed for a deposition and confirm this selection with the District Engineer or their designee
12. Prepare a findings report
    1. This report should be ministerial in nature and contain only discovered facts using engineering judgement.  BOE staff should not include assumptions or discretionary opinions.  
    2. Prepare response to PACD using the Interdepartmental Correspondence (IDC) Form.  Answer all questions as requested with either a “Deny” or “Accept” and include any reasons as applicable.
       1. If no information or documentation was found, the response can be just a statement to answer the request on the IDC form.  Click on the Sample RFI Response Letter_No_Records_Found link here.
       2. If a full report is required, BOE staff shall respond to each request listed with reference made to any related attachments found in your research. Click on the Sample RFI Response Letter link here.
13. Send the report back to PACD
    1. BOE Staff should scan a copy of the signed report and email a copy to the following:
       1. PACD
       2. Division/District Administrative Assistant
       3. Engineering Risk Management (eng.riskmgr@lacity.org)
       4. District Engineer
       5. Person who signed the report, if not the District Engineer
    2. BOE Staff should mail a hard copy of the report to PACD (MS-501) via internal mail
14. Save a copy of the report and other documents on the District office's network
15. Make a note of this document and it's location within the on-line permitting system (do not attach the document).  If there is more than one permit associated with the request, BOE should make this comment in every applicable application.