Santa Ana City Officials Deleted Public Records, City Policy Lacks Oversight
Councilmember Phil Bacerra and the mayor's aide, Claudia Perez, improperly deleted their communication records. City policy provides no oversight on the public records process.
The city of Santa Ana won’t explain why city officials deleted communication records, despite state law and city policies requiring they retain and disclose such records when asked to. While attending a political debate last September, Councilmember Phil Bacerra and the mayor’s aide, Claudia Perez, communicated via an encrypted messaging application, according to a photograph of Perez’s phone taken during the event. Their conversation was set to auto-delete everyday, a function that permanently erases conversations. Inadvertent submitted a public records request for Bacerra and Perez’s conversation, but the city responded by saying that no records were found.
The California Public Records Act, a California Supreme Court decision and the city’s own policies require that city officials’ communication records about the public’s business be retained and released via public records requests.
David Loy, legal director of the First Amendment Coalition stated in an interview, “Any communication between public officials or public employees about public business is a public record under the definition of the California Public Records Act.”
The city attorney did not respond to numerous follow ups over two months about the missing communication records. City spokesperson Paul Eakins stated, “All responsive documents are produced and then reviewed to determine whether any of the Public Records Act or other legal exemptions apply.”
He added that the city is “thorough” in its public records release process.
Bacerra and Perez did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The message in the photograph, sent by Bacerra to Perez, stated that two other elected officials were on the Orange County Transportation Authority’s board when the streetcar project was being built in Downtown Santa Ana (DTSA). The project was a source of contention in the community due to it fueling gentrification in DTSA, as well as disrupting and displacing small businesses. It was funded by federal, state and county funds and has been widely reported on.
It also came up at the debate.
The city’s record retention policy states that any communications related to the public’s business are subject to a two-year retention period. By October 7th, 2024, Bacerra and Perez’s communication records were gone.
The city’s public record policy, which predates the online records request portal, does not specify any oversight mechanism the city has for ensuring that the retention of communication records is kept in compliance with the city’s retention policy and the California Public Records Act.
Eakins stated that the city “asks [officials] to verify whether any responsive documents exist on personal devices or accounts.”
He did not provide any further context on how the city ensures compliance with its own policy and state law.
Inadvertent also submitted requests for Perez’s communications with Mayor Valerie Amezcua and the mayor’s campaign manager, Cassius Rutherford. The city stated that Perez and Rutherford’s conversation was not related to the public’s business, therefore it was not subject to disclosure. The public has no way to verify this claim and it is unclear who made that determination.
“Any communication between public officials or public employees about public business is a public record under the definition of the California Public Records Act.”
The request for Perez and Amezcua’s communications has been pending since the day after the debate, September 26th, 2024. There have been no updates from the city on that request, despite state law requiring timely release of public records.
Perez works as the mayor’s aide through a professional service agreement with the city. The contract is worth $60,000.
“I am proud to serve as her best friend and mayoral aide,” Perez told Inadvertent via written statement.
It is unclear how much of Perez’s friendship with the mayor is considered when public records requests are received for their communications.
Amezcua did not reply to multiple requests for comment.