Follow-Up to the Tempe GIS Data Request
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.
I’ve been following your posts on this. I am the GIS Coordinator for a local government and am curious: Do you feel the City was obligated to provide the data in the format you requested (DGN)? I ask because where I work, we do not use MicroStation/DGN, but would most likely provide data in a shapefile format. Just wondering what your thoughts are on this. Thanks!
DGN would have been at the bottom of my list to request. It was delivered in DGN because their website said it was available in DGN. And I quote:
I couldn’t write how much I disagree with that statement, but the Bentley love is clearly flowing there in Tempe Engineering. Though I do agree CADD-based platforms are more accurate than this dog.
Ok, I have seen this card played a couple times and it always gets down to them using it for really a bogus purpose and it gives them a DHS excuse.
Its easy to see your a legitimate industry expert with a very visible and vocal following so they have to see that there are many people across our industry watching/listening for there response.
Its a shame to see such an advanced locale not jumping at the chance to be a forerunner.
At least you weren’t entirely stonewalled. They gave the parcels to Google, but because you’re just a local citizen, you might be a terrorist. And those local kids you’re going to educate – they might just poison the water supply and plan an attack on City Hall with that sensitive data.
Ridiculous. Public records are public, whether it’s one record or thousands. Let them be free.
Since I actually deal in Emergency Management/Homeland Security GIS, I’m a little more intimately familiar with the homeland security exemption and the Critical Infrastructure list.
I’m curious if they gave you a schools, hospitals, or nursing homes layer. Also if they gave you a Tier II EHS layer.
There are more reasons than homeland security for holding back a utilities layer (and without metadata, those layers are nearly impossible to decipher anyway). The one exception would be transmission pipelines and certain parts of the electric grid; I have to go through a mess of hurdles to get those, and once I do I cannot even legally show them to my boss without him going through the same hurdles. Transmission pipelines shouldn’t be a factor in the municipal water and sewer system though.
James,
Just curious how much work it was/is to go through your conversion process? I’ve converted thousands of cad files to coverages then shapefiles and I still have some aml’s that will do the job in a heartbeat if you need one!