By Mark Edward Nero
The San Francisco Superior Court granted the Pacific
Merchant Shipping Association a significant victory on May 23 when it awarded the
PMSA more than $260,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs against the State of
California as a result of a Public Records Act lawsuit.
The PMSA had been seeking records documenting pilot
assignments on the San Francisco Bay, and the Superior Court declared that
PMSA’s case established that the Port Agent is a public official subject to the
Public Records Act and that, as a result, the records he uses regarding the
working hours and rest periods of the state-licensed pilots who navigate
vessels in and around the San Francisco Bay must be made public.
“Our goal is to ensure that cargo vessels are safely and
legally navigated in the San Francisco Bay, and for this to happen we need
transparency and accountability in our state pilotage system,” PMSA General
Counsel Mike Jacob said. “When assignment documents are made public anyone can
see when state-licensed pilots are dispatched to ships, evaluate pilots’ actual
working conditions, independently confirm pilots’ work hours, or verify minimum
rest period violations. We are pleased that as a result of this action we have
ensured the public’s right to access records used by the Port Agent and that
the Superior Court has vindicated our efforts.”
The original case was filed in July 2012 in San Francisco
Superior Court.
“Our efforts were supported by the ACLU, the California
Newspapers Publishers Association, First Amendment Coalition, LA Times and
McClatchy newspapers,” PMSA President John McLaurin told Pacific Maritime Magazine Online via email.
