BY KYLE MARTIN
Daily Post Staff Writer
A lawsuit against the city of Los Altos accuses the city of being a “habitual violator” of state public information law after the city denied a request for records of its DUI arrests. …
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I applaud the lawsuit, but why does a guy from San Bernardino care about how many DUI arrests there has been in Los Altos?
The person (a California resident apparently – but that don’t legally matter) may be doing policy / social research on how DUIs are handled in different areas. Using the California Public Records Act, he is just asking many local governments for their information [Los Altos – like Palo ALto is a high household net wealth / income community]. Having information (Public Records) from different types of communities give the person the data they need –
OR, Los Altos is soon to face a DUI disparity legal suit and the lawfirm involved in ‘making the case’ is just doiing their research in the most cost efficent way [ that’s also expedient for the City -which otherwise will have BOTH this PRA suit to defend and the ‘maybe’ DUI “equal protection of the law” suit ].
it’s the law – Public Records belong to all to copy!
This lawsuit follows a painful pattern in Los Altos. The City blatantly breaks the law over and over. Then they screw over somebody who has the wherewithal to sue. The City settles the case out of court to avoid the embarrassment of a public trial. City Council goes on its merry way, never asking why this repeatedly happens. The employees at the City have this idea in their heads that the law doesn’t apply to them. And if they get in trouble, it’s not their money they have to pay. They charge it to the taxpayers. And the city’s former mayors say, “attaboy!”