The city of Alachua’s policies and procedures for filling timely and affordable public records requests surfaced throughout Monday’s regular commission meeting from both public commenters and the dais. 

Commissioner Jacob Fletcher said he will add the topic to the Dec. 8 meeting agenda after experiencing delays and charges unjustified by staff, which members of the public also said they faced. 

In August, Fletcher said he filed a request for Alachua’s monthly and quarterly reports since becoming a commissioner in April and received a lump sum quote of $521 based on unnamed staff hours to fulfill the request. 

Even after paying the bill in protest, Fletcher said he still hadn’t received a breakdown of how the $521 was calculated by city staff.  

Fletcher said he later requested various administrative policies for the city, including record retention, manuals and employee handbooks. He received a $261.89 quote for the request. 

Fletcher said he spoke with other cities to learn how they handled public records, as well as Alachua’s interim City Manager Rodolfo Valladares. He said he and Valladares hadn’t come to an agreement on the best way to get the city’s policies for public records requests or the breakdown of costs. 

“If this is what a commissioner has to go through to get information, my concern is how many quotes have we provided the public and not provided the correct breakdowns?” Fletcher asked. “Are we putting ourselves in a position where it can be considered that we’re stifling public record access by using unexplainable fees to block that?” 

During public comment, citizen Samantha King said she waited over a week for a request to be filled, only to get quoted $105 for it.  

She said she requested the city’s terms and conditions for contractors attached to solicitations going out for bid, its supplemental and federal conditions, and purchase order terms and conditions.  

With a background in public procurement, King said the documents shouldn’t have to be requested as a public record in the first place.  

She said she challenged the amount of time the city said it would need to fill out the request and referenced agencies in Alachua County that already post the documents on their websites. 

“There’s a lack of transparency in getting the things that we need,” King said. 

Commissioner Jennifer Ringersen said she had more questions for Fletcher regarding the public records, but that she’d save them for the next meeting when the item would be on the agenda. 

The concerns over public records popped up this summer when two Alachua County residents threatened to sue the city over the city’s system. The residents requested a video that aired during Alachua’s 2024 Christmas party and attained legal counsel after months had passed before the city released an unredacted copy. 

The City Commission also made a final vote on Monday to expand alcohol sales in its Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) district and heard plans for a new multipurpose trail.  

At the previous regular meeting, the commission approved a first reading of the expansion, which exempts CRA businesses from city laws prohibiting the sale of alcohol within 450 feet of religious institutions. 

The city contracted NV5 to start planning a multipurpose trail and a community workshop for the project will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 10 as the first step. 

Editor’s note: This story was underwritten by a grant from the Rural Reporting Initiative at the Community Foundation of North Central Florida. To learn more or get involved, click here.