City Implements New Software to Streamline Records Requests

Oct. 2, 2017 - Mercer Island residents who wish to request public records from the City can look forward to a new online system, starting in early October, called NextRequest. And for the first time, everyone can see what has been requested as well as the City's official response.

"Our goal is to make the public records request system more streamlined and efficient for staff and customers, as well as more transparent to the community," says Public Records Officer and City Clerk Ali Spietz. Spietz and Mary Swan, Paralegal, spend more than half their work hours responding to public records requests every week.

The web portal can help people find information without a public records request too, by directing them to relevant reports and pages that are already on the City's website. The portal will also assist the City in better complying with a raft of new reporting requirements handed down by the State this summer without any funding provided.

In responding to a Washington State Auditor's survey in 2015, Mercer Island concluded it spent close to $300,000 the previous year addressing public records requests. Most of that expense derived from staff time, including the hours spent by the City's Public Records Officers (City Clerk, Paralegal, and Police Evidence Technician) and the Assistant City Attorney.

"We want to work efficiently on public records, so staff can focus more of their time on the issues most pressing to the City," says Swan. "With our new web portal, we are headed in the right direction.