Some of you may have noticed that Citizens Service Bureau reports were recently password protected on Geo St. Louis because of BB 168. I and many others see this as a bad thing. CSB reports are very useful in tracking problem properties and a whole host of other things. I have used Geo St. Louis and it's records extensively in my time at ONSLRG. These records remain available with a written request, so why not just reduce the time and waste that creates and restore access to the general populace on Geo St. Louis. This change makes no sense to me.



Let Craig Schmid know your thoughts here. Contacting your alderman and the Mayor would be good as well.



Blog posts about this topic:

Ecology of Absence

Random Talk on Urban Affairs

I could go on and on about why this is ridiculous, but I've already emailed my concerns to Alderman Schmid.



In short, it's a slap in the face to citizens working to improve the quality of life in neighborhoods where such an effort is an uphill battle.

He just doesn't get it.

That didn't take long! I just received an email response from Ald. Schmid.



I won't go into the entire email since I still need to respond to him, but to make a long story short, it sounds like the bill was brought up to bring the city into full compliance with Missouri Sunshine Laws, and public access to the CSB data was restricted in an overzealous interpretation of the law.



Ald. Schmid made it clear to me he was unhappy with the decision to restrict CSB data, and it was never his intent to do so (he can't access it either). He suggested contacting the CSB and the mayor's office to stress the importance of online access to this data. He said he will continue working to resolve the matter, so hopefully we can count on him and like-minded aldermen to do what they can to restore public online access of this information.



In the meantime, those concerned about restricted access to CSB data can email Mayor Francis Slay. And the CSB phone number is (314) 622-4800.

Ald. Schmid made it clear to me he was unhappy with the decision to restrict CSB data, and it was never his intent to do so (he can't access it either).

The question of his legislative intent is not very clear. The board bill Ald. Schmid sponsored explicitly closes "records relating to municipal hotlines established for the reporting of abuse and wrongdoing, including the Citizens Service Bureau."</i>



That said, it shouldn't be difficult to fix with an amended ordinance.

I don't know what to think of it. It seems like the law of unintended consequences applies here.



I don't blame anyone, but I hope the matter is resolved swiftly. I can't imagine anyone wanting to restrict access to this information, particularly aldermen or other city officials, when online access to CSB data has proven to be a useful tool for tracking and resolving issues pertaining to problem properties.

I completely agree. I use that information to track my own CSB complaints, and monitor problems in the neighborhood. It is a great resource for people who want to be informed about their neighbors before they buy a house. If the stuff is public record anyway, why make it more complicated to get access? Too bad really, I sure do love to report jack*ss behavior and then see it come up in the CSB data (with or without resolution).

Some of you may have noticed that Citizens Service Bureau reports were recently password protected ...

Oh thank you thank you. You've confirmed that I'm not crazy! See, I just recently started using the geo site and was fascinated to see CSB reports, including a recent report to the health department on my own property, ha ha! (it was closed as "no evidence" of a health concern."



And then BANG all of a sudden I was not able to access CSB reports and I wondered what had happened.

I just sent my email in, having forgotten to actually hit send. I still need to contact the mayor, and my alderman, although publiceye should maybe be tipping the mayor of for us.

^ Like you, I still need to contact the mayor's office and my alderman, and I plan to do so later today.



I must say I was quite pleased to receive a thoughtful response from Ald. Schmid within a half-hour of sending him my thoughts on this matter.



Like PE said, though, I don't see why it would take anything more than an amended ordinance to fix this.

Not at all saying that this is the case, but I can see why certain alderpersons wouldn't want this information to be public.

I have made contact and the response seems like other people in power want the CSB data back up. Schmid is now tops on my list of Aldermen I am glad don't represent me (ahem, Chairman of the Cherokee progress suppression unit, cough). What was the original reasoning behind this? Why shouldn't records of abuse and wrongdoing be public? If the reports are found to be false upon inspection, the CSB data indicate that to be the case. Otherwise, I think ain't nobody above a good public shaming. If your house is all over the CSB for trash, animals, health, etc, you are being a jack*ss and it should be public record.

I AM PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT THEY LISTENED TO MY CONCERNS AND THOSE VOICED BY OTHERS AND HAVE PUT THE INFORMATION BACK ON-LINE. I THINK THERE WAS SOME OVERLY CAUTIOUS ACTION TAKEN BASED UPON MISINTERPRETATION AND MIS-COMMUNICATION THAT LED TO THE INITIAL REMOVAL OF THE INFORMATION. ANYWAY I THINK THINGS ARE BACK TO WHERE THEY SHOULD BE.

Looks like the problem is solved. Just took a little pressure.

^ I got the same response from Ald. Schmid. It seems like an honest mistake to me, and I'm just glad it was resolved so quickly.

The Citizens Service Bureau reports can, once again, be accessed. At least I was able to view them yesterday.