11/11/2023
Thank you Brendan Riley. It’s important to note, in an article written by another reporter, Ryan Geller, for the Vallejo Sun, the County was quoted as saying a large number of records may be returned to the Solano Superior Court. This highlights the ignorance of those now deciding the fate of the collection. Those records no longer belong to the Superior Court. They were records that were saved from designated destruction. Many of those documents were literally rescued from a dumpster. This highlights the need for reinstatement of the Solano County Historical Records Commission.
Solano Chronicles
By Brendan Riley
Solano County supervisors have voted 4-1 to dissolve the county’s Historical Records Commission, in what critics term a “catastrophic” disservice to the public that should be reversed in order to preserve and protect a wealth of old documents.
Supervisor Wanda Williams cast the lone vote against the dissolution motion that Records Commission Chair Elissa DeCaro described as a maneuver “crafted in misinformation” and buried at the end of Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors public agenda.
Supervisor Mitch Mashburn moved for approval of the motion and was joined by Supervisors Erin Hannigan, Monica Brown and John Vasquez. For Hannigan, Brown and Mashburn, it was a flip-flop from their votes last May favoring the records panel.
Vasquez has opposed the records commission all along, DeCaro said, noting that he was the only supervisor in 2016 to oppose a contract with InfoCompass Business Solutions, an independent consultant, to assess the county’s historical records.
InfoCompass produced a lengthy $60,000 study on ways to preserve and ensure access to historic documents, but the document had been shelved by county staff for years. Supervisors were told Tuesday by staff that efforts are underway to implement many of the study’s proposals, but there’s no need for the Historic Records Commission.
“The dissolution of the Solano County Historical Records Commission is catastrophic, unwarranted, and an extreme disservice to the public interest,” DeCaro said, adding that a signature-gathering campaign is being launched in efforts to have the panel reinstated immediately.
The commission was established by supervisors in 1987 at the request of the “Solano County History Round Table,” a group comprised of members of 21 interested organizations, to ensure the perpetual retention and protection of the county’s historical records.
There were significant reasons for creating the commission, including the earlier disappearance from county files of various photos, documents and other materials. That included information on some of the more than 1,000 Solano County Japanese Americans who were imprisoned in internment camps during World War II.
Advocates for retaining the records panel included professional archivist Leslie Batson, who spent more than a decade as a volunteer managing Solano County archives. Batson told supervisors Tuesday that the commission provides a vital role of oversight, and is made up of people willing to donate their time to help preserve records and assist in research.
Training suggested by InfoCompass would help all employees tasked with handling historic record requests from the public. However, that suggestion and many other ideas in the InfoCompass study didn’t get beyond the desk of a since-retired county administrator.
Jim Kern, former Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum executive director who served for more than ten years on the records commission, has said the study was brought up repeatedly at meetings of the records panel but county employees had one excuse after another for not delivering it.
The most costly recommendation in the InfoCompass document is to renovate existing space or build a new records center that would range in size from about 3,000 to 4,300 square feet.
Also suggested is the hiring of a professional records manager to run the archives, handle research requests from agencies and the public, and help with training employees at the center and at other county offices where important records are maintained.
In addition, the study says public access to records would be streamlined as researchers could deal with “a single point of contact who is knowledgeable about the archive holdings and how records from different departments are connected and have evolved over time as opposed to having to submit the same request to separate departments.”
Until a central facility is built, the study says various county agencies with historical records should keep those documents separate from other records, and monitor researchers – including staff from other departments as well as the public – when they are looking at the old records. Proper controls on temperature and humidity in the storage areas also are recommended.
Also recommended are regular reports on archive activities and progress to county supervisors, written policies and procedures that can be used for training staff and volunteers, a department-by-department inventory of old records, a disaster preparedness strategy, and planning for archiving of electronic historical records.
Other suggestions include connecting with the Online Archive of California, which provides free public access to finding aids from collections of more than 200 contributing institutions, with an eye toward informing a broader audience of existing Solano County historical records.
The InfoCompass document acknowledges that the county faces a big job – managing more than 2,000 cubic feet of permanent and historical records. Most of the records are located at department offices in Fairfield. As of 2018, the departments wanted to manage most of their records at their own locations rather than ship them to a central archive.
Other records now in storage in Contra Costa County, in a Richmond warehouse, had been maintained by volunteers in Fairfield but were moved in 2015 when a Fairfield building lease was canceled.
The InfoCompass document also notes the various suggestions, if implemented, will preserve and protect historical records for future generations, and enhance all-important public trust.
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Vallejo and other Solano County communities are treasure troves of early-day California history. My “Solano Chronicles” column highlights various aspects of that history. If you have local stories or photos to share, contact me on Facebook or at [email protected].
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Link to InfoCompass report: https://www.solanocounty.com/depts/bos/meetings/videos.asp
Click on 2023 Board of Supervisors meetings, then on first item, agenda for Nov. 7 meeting. Agenda has links to the report. Video of meeting also available. Discussion of Historical Records Commission is at end of video.
Link to column in Vallejo Times-Herald: https://www.timesheraldonline.com/2023/11/09/brendan-rileys-solano-chronicles-historic-records-panel-shelved/
