Request for City Rep. Romero’s emails yields more questions than answers

A recent open records request by ABC-7 showed how time consuming it can be to obtain basic documents from the City of El Paso.

The ABC-7 I-team in September asked for all emails and text messages between City Rep. Larry Romero and engineering staff related to the repaving, reconstruction or any concerns about city streets. The request also asked for any emails, letters or text messages from constituents to Mr. Romero’s office or his personal devices or email accounts referencing any concerns or complaints about street conditions.

Initially, the City asked ABC-7 to narrow the request saying it was too broad.
ABC-7 then clarified by identifying city employees:

“I am requesting all communication between City Representative Larry Romero, Judy Gutierrez, City Manager Tommy Gonzalez, Irene Ramirez and Fred Lopez regarding any street repaving or street work in District two. I’m requesting the communication between these individuals from December 1, 2014 to August 1st, 2015. I’m seeking emails, text messages or faxes either from public or private devices or accounts. I am also seeking any letters or emails from constituents to the District Two office referencing concerns about street conditions from January 1st, 2014 to December 1, 2014. “

After processing the request, the city said only one email existed related to the request.

When ABC-7 told Romero of the unlikely and surprising results of the open records request, he said there were dozens of responsive documents the City did not turn over to ABC-7. He provided ABC-7 with 70 documents including emails from constituents and correspondence between his office and engineering staff related to road projects.

Romero has been under the microscope after streets in his district, including his home street, were repaved or prepared for resurfacing despite not being on a vetted list of streets that research showed were in dire need of repair.

Romero has said the list is outdated and he told city engineering which streets needed work based on input from constituents. ABC-7 is currently analyzing the emails Romero turned in.

When asked why the City’s Information Technology Department did not find the emails Romero turned in to ABC-7, City Attorney Sylvia Firth, said it came down to the request.

“Our object is to get you what you want. We tell the council members all the time everything they produce is an open record,” said Firth.

She said City IT searches for responsive documents using key words related to the request. In this case, Firth said key words such as “streets” rendered only one document in emails between the city officials and the timeframe ABC-7 identified.

Also, rather than searching for email from constituents, the city apparently searched for emails containing the word “constituents.” So it’s not surprising it didn’t find much. “When you say constituents, that’s not going to help you. You have to say everything they received,” said Firth

When asked if the City’s system was cumbersome for people looking for records, Firth said it’s not and suggested the lack of response from the City stemmed from ABC-7s request. “The responses are going to be as good as the request. You could theoretically say I want to receive a copy of everything that’s in city rep’s XYZ mailbox from this date to that date and you would get it. You’d just have to go through hundreds of documents yourself and find what’s relevant.”