Request #7986

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the California Public Records Act, California Government Code sections 6250 et seq., I write to request all records relating containing the following information:

1. The number of vehicles that currently have five or more unpaid citations in the City of Garden Grove, the license plate number associated with each vehicle, the address or zip code where the vehicle associated with that license plate is registered, and the citation balance associated with each license plate number.
2. The number of vehicles that currently have four unpaid citations in the City of Garden Grove, the license plate number associated with each vehicle, the address or zip code where the vehicle associated with that license plate is registered, and the citation balance associated with each license plate number.
3. The number of vehicle impounds for outstanding unpaid parking citations conducted from January 1, 2018 to the date of this request, disaggregated by year.
4. For each vehicle impound for outstanding unpaid parking citations conducted between January 1, 2018 to the date of this request:
a. the license plate number associated with each vehicle impounded;
b. the address where the impound took place;
c. the assessed value of the impounded vehicle;
d. the citation balance at the time of the impound;
e. the amount the vehicle was sold for at auction or lien sale, if it was sold;
f. The total amount of tow and storage and other fees due at the time of sale.
5. The number of vehicles registered in the City of Garden Grove from January 1, 2018 to the date of this request, disaggregated by year.
6. All formal written guidelines, descriptive documents, or training materials issued by the City of Garden Grove and/or its agents regarding the vehicle impounds for outstanding unpaid parking citations.

Public Counsel requests these records in relation to its efforts to ameliorate the harms of towing on low-income individuals and communities. As described in Towed into Debt, a report co-authored by Public Counsel, vehicle tows can have devastating impacts on low-income individuals who rely on their vehicles for transportation to school, work, and healthcare.

Because this request is on a matter of public concern, and Public Counsel is a non-profit public interest organization that provides legal assistance to low-income clients, I respectfully request waiver of any fees in connection with production of the requested records. See North Cty. Parents Ass’n v. Dep’t of Ed., 24 Cal. App. 4th 144 (1994). No part of the information obtained pursuant to this request will be sold or distributed for profit. If the applicable fees cannot be waived, please inform me of any payment required prior to copying or printing the responsive documents.

If you determine that any, or all, of the requested records qualify for an exemption from disclosure, please indicate whether the exemption is discretionary and, if so, whether it is necessary in this case to exercise your discretion to withhold the information. If you determine that some, but not all, of the information is exempt from disclosure and that you intend to withhold it, please redact it and produce the rest as requested. If any records are withheld or claimed to be exempt from disclosure, please provide the legal basis for any withheld documents.

If any of the requested records exist in electronic format, please make them available in their native electronic format, rather than in paper format, as required by Government Code section 6253.9.