Fertile Failed To Respond Appropriately To Request For Data Access Policies

The Minnesota Department of Administration has ruled the City of Fertile did not properly respond to a citizen’s request for the City’s data access policies.  Back on May 23, a Fertile resident turned in a request for a copy of the City’s data access policies.  By June 8, the citizen had not received a response.  The citizen then notified the Department of Administration..and pointed out that another Fertile resident had asked for a copy of the data access policies at both the November 2023 and April 2024 meetings and likewise, had not received a copy of the policies.  Fertile’s City Council did pass a data access policy at its July 8 meeting.

The City told the Department of Administration it had a small staff that has received many data requests recently….and has incurred substantial expenses while trying to respond to these requests.

In her response, Department of Administration Commissioner Tamar Gronvall wrote that she appreciates the City’s update in adopting a new policy, the City of Fertile did violate the requirement for a data access policy because it appears no policy existed when the citizen made that request in May.

R&J News reached out to Fertile City Administrator Lisa Liden and she said she had no comment.