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I'd like to ask for this list's help explaining to a Philly judge that
the data for City's property tax web site is ultimately stored on a
hard disk somewhere.
The City is refusing to provide two data fields on the grounds that
these fields are not stored on computer disk and therefore cannot be
provided as an ascii text file. The lawyer representing the City wants
me to download the fields for the City's 480,000 residences
individually from their web site:
http://brtweb.phila.gov
To me it seems obvious that the data from the City's web site must
reside on a hard disk somewhere, but I'm afraid that the Judge, who
knows little about computers, just might buy into this claim. I'd
like to present the Judge with a packet of letters from computer
professionals on this question.
If you believe in open records, I'd like to ask you to write a "to
whom it may concern" letter expressing your professional opinion about
whether the City's web site, and the data backing it, are stored on
hard disk. My snail mail and contact info are here:
http://www.hallwatch.org/contact
Emails are fine, if that's easier, but I suspect a real letter on
letterhead will carry more weight with the Judge.
The City's web site is an ASP front end to a SQL database. I know
this for because I have a copy of the contract to build the web site:
http://www.goppelt.net/pdf/mbn_contract.pdf
Here's what the City Lawyer wrote in her brief:
"The GMA and EQID files are not 'maintained on disk somewhere' as
Appellant asserts. The most up-to-date GMA and EQID figures are on
the BRT's network servers." p. 3 of City's legal brief.
and:
"There is a file that is known EQID that rests on the mainframe and
contains only the BRT account number and the EQID number for
residential properties. This data file does not exist on a disk."
Read the city lawyer's brief:
http://www.goppelt.net/pdf/choksi_supp_brief.pdf
Thanks for considering my request for help. I'd also like to thank
the many people on this list who responded to my previous question
about Orcale and apologize for not acknowledging your helpful comments
sooner! If you're interested in how that particular story turned out,
you can read more here:
http://www.hallwatch.org/rtkasuits/news/1050929197213
--
Ed Goppelt
http://www.hallwatch.org
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