Greater Leimert Park Village BID Settles My CPRA Suit Against Them — Agrees To Pay $9,000 In Legal Fees And Costs — And Of Course To Produce Previously Requested Records — In Very High Quality Electronic Format Too — Which Is Wonky But Exceedingly Important — Especially For Future Requests

As you may recall, last November, due to their refusal to even so much as respond to my requests for material under the California Public Records Act, I was forced to file a writ petition against the Greater Leimert Park Village Business Improvment District.1 I haven’t written much about it since because it’s mostly been stalling and negotiation. However, I am pleased to announce that the other day we finally settled the damn thing!

They have agreed to pay my lawyer, the incomparable Anna von Herrmann, $9,000 for her time and also to produce the records. As importantly, they’ve agreed to produce the emails I asked for in EML format.2 At first the BID wanted to include a freaking nondisparagement clause and a nondisclosure clause in the agreement, but I refused and they didn’t insist. After all, disclosure and disparagement are two of the four pillars on which this blog stands!3

Get a copy of the settlement agreement here, watch for the publication of the emails when they come in, and get ready for a steady stream of information about this rapidly gentrifying area and the BID’s involvement in the processes that that entails.

  1. As of this writing their hosting account is suspended, but I’m linking to it anyway as I assume it will not always be so. They’re under a lot of pressure right now as their first attempt at renewing in 2018 seems to have stalled out and they had to be established from scratch. I don’t know the details because of their refusal to comply with the CPRA but I will be studying the matter in the future now that they’ve agreed to comply with the law.
  2. This is required by the CPRA but is widely resisted by public agencies even though it would be easier for them, probably because they know I want it and they believe they can get away without doing it.
  3. The third pillar is “never tell all you know.”
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