Follow-up to the Tempe GIS Data Request

December 22, 2009 6 Comments

You might recall the issue where I wanted some GIS data from the City of Tempe?  Well they finally told me to make a public information request and they’d evaluate my request.  Well I got back a response this week:

Dear Mr. Fee:

 

I have reviewed your public records request for the “complete city of Tempe landbase and utilities in digital DGN format,” and discussed it with our City Attorney, Andrew Ching. He has advised me that, under the state public records law and cases construing the law, cities are permitted to weigh the competing interests of the public’s right to receive records versus the countervailing concerns of privacy, confidentiality, and the best interests of the city. Under federal law, city utilities such as water and sewer lines are considered critical infrastructure, which means that cities may restrict access to such data for homeland security reasons. As such, we generally limit access to utility mapping except for very limited parcels or sections, and not for the entire city. Therefore, your request is denied in part; we will release the complete landbase, but not the utilities.

As an alternative, we would be willing to discuss with you further your proposed educational use of the information. It is my understanding you intend to use this for a class presentation to school children on the power of GIS. If that is still the case, we would be willing to discuss options for how you can present to the class while at the same time we can ensure that sensitive data is not disseminated. Please let me know if you would like to meet and discuss these options.

Wendy Springborn, MBA Engineering Services Administrator City of Tempe

So as you can imagine I took them up on their offer of the Landbase data and I now have the city landbase in Microstation DGN v7.  I’d of course love to have unrestricted use of this data, but at this moment I’m in the process of preparing it to be loaded into PostGIS via FME 2010 so that I can start using it.  There was no metadata with the CD they gave me, but it was easy enough to figure out the layering system.  The quicker I get it unlocked from DGN and into open PostGIS, the easier it will be to work with.    Now I just have to make sure I remembered to get my wife a Christmas present.

 

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Tempe Responds to GIS Data Request

December 1, 2009 53 Comments

I got a response back from the City of Tempe.

Hello Mr. Fee,

 

Here’s some information that I hope assists with your specific request and also clarifies the city’s policy and state law with regard to production of this information. Tempe’s policy is guided by state law (available at this link) which allows for the purpose of a commercial request to be asked.

Non-commercial

You mentioned that your request is for a presentation to a Tempe elementary school, which sounds non-commercial. Please contact Wendy Springborn in our Engineering Division (480-350-8250) in order to discuss exactly what you’d like to request. The city does not charge for non-commercial requests, except for the production of CDs to deliver the records. Some records might be deliverable via an emailed PDF, but that depends on whether the requester wants to be able to manipulate the record. If they do, that cannot be delivered via PDF because of the limitations of that format. Wendy is ready to assist with your request if you’ll let her know what you need.

Commercial

Tempe bases its commercial rates in part on a fair approximation of market value. As described in the state law above, municipalities and other entities are able to ask the purpose of commercial requests and to deny improper requests upon the approval of the governor. The statute also establishes the ability to seek damages if records obtained for a non-commercial purpose are then used for a commercial purpose. You noted a few cities’ elected representatives have chosen to make all of this information searchable online; that would be a policy decision rather than staff action. It seems that some of your concerns with the city’s GIS records policy are grounded in the state law requirements rather than independent city policies.

Tempe places a high priority on transparency and customer service. We make every effort to fulfill records requests of all types across the many city functions and departments. Please let me know if I can assist in answering any other questions.

Regards,

Nikki Ripley City of Tempe Communication and Media Relations Director

So there you go, at least they are going to let you have it for personal use.  Good, at a minimum that is good news.  I’ll be making my request ASAP.  The part that causes me to pause is this, “Tempe bases its commercial rates in part on a fair approximation of market value”.  I couldn’t disagree more with this statement and it is nuts that they think that this data is worth $100,000.  Nothing in the state law says Tempe should charge $100,000 for their data.  Fair market value for public data shouldn’t be 6 figures.   This is why people don’t go to the source to get data but third party providers who don’t have the accuracy of Tempe’s data.  I’m disappointed in this response so it shows how much more work we have with local governments.

 

Update:  I submitted a public records request, so we’ll see how this goes.

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Tempe, AZ GIS Data – It will cost ya!

November 29, 2009 66 Comments

Boy, all I wanted to do is get some GIS data for GIS Day 2009. Little did I know my own hometown is one of the worst offenders of locking up GIS Data.

City of Tempe – Sale of Engineering & GIS Records

Take a look, “$568.70 for each quarter section or 1/4 mile area”. For your own information, Tempe is 40 sq miles in size so do the math. Simply nuts! Plus take a look at their “conditions”:

Conditions and Restrictions
a. All commercial orders and digital data orders will be required to document purpose of use.
b. Plotting orders in excess of $25.00 and all digital data orders will require full pre- payment before order is processed.
c. Digital data will be provided on city-issued media only.
d. All orders and payments must be done in-person only.

I mean really, not only do they “share” it in Microstation, but you have to document the purpose of public data, you have to get the data on “city-issued” media and orders must be made in person.  My jaw is still on the floor a week after I looked that this.  Time for a little geo-revolution in Arizona.  Don’t you think?  Prepare to get very tired of my “struggle” against the City of Tempe for their data.

Time to call in the troops, free public data!

Time to call in the troops, free public data!

Update: Andrew Turner provides a great link to put this in perspective as well as the issues with data licenses on local geodata.

Update 12/01/2009: I just received this from the city:

Hello Mr. Fee,

Thank you for bringing your concerns to the city’s attention. We will review this practice/policy with the City Attorney’s Office and I will get back to you with more information as soon as possible.

Regards,
Nikki

Nikki Ripley
City of Tempe
Communication and Media Relations Director

At least it is a response.  Maybe other organizations who have more power in this valley might be able to get some results. I’m still hopeful though…

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OpenStreetMap Mapping Party Phoenix December 6 and 7

December 1, 2008 Leave a Comment

There will be an OpenStreetMap mapping party this weekend in Phoenix, AZ December 6th and 7th.  Brandon Aguirre from Cloudmade will be here to coordinate things, and Gangplank will host it in Chandler, AZ.

If you haven’t been to a mapping party before you’ll want to come along and bring a friend. There is quite a bit of work that needs to be accomplished in Phoenix on OSM so there are tons for everyone to do.

The invite is below and don’t forget to RVSP:

Make Your Mark on the Free World Map!
Join me at Gangplank’s offices Saturday, December 6 and Sunday, December 7 from 11:00am-4:00pm for an OpenStreetMap Mapping Party where we’ll get more of the things you want added to the map of Phoenix! Since OpenStreetMap is both free and Free, you can do really cool things with the data. (check out www.opencyclemap.org and www.openrouteservice.org for examples). At the party we’ll loan you a GPS unit and show you how to use it so you can then go out and map a section of the city. At the end of the day we’ll show you how to get that data into OpenStreetMap so you can begin mapping your community’s bikeways, hiking trails, park paths and anything else you choose!

For more information check out the following:
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org
http://www.openstreetmap.org

RSVP HERE! http://www.meetup.com/OpenStreetMap-Phoenix/
http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/1382243/

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