All stories about FOIA

FOIA Friday: Dealing with FOIA abuse and restrictions on FOIA access

If you are a municipal administrator, you may be responsible for responding to citizen FOIA requests. Generally this is a routine matter, but at times there may be a political conflict that causes someone to use the Michigan Freedom of Information Act laws as a weapon to harass, bully, hector or intimidate you or your staff with overly frequent, poorly written, and badly timed FOIA efforts.

Or, perhaps, a citizen is trying to find something out, is frustrated with the municipal response and escalates his FOIA efforts until the two sides reach the point where they need to go to court to sort it out.

Here's a review of two cases in Michigan where city officials have dealt with this problem, and some of the solutions they have tried to put into place. It also includes suggestions for how to avoid the appearance that you, the upstanding and righteous citizen, are one of those people who abuse the system.

This column is part of the weekly FOIA Friday series.

State court rules that government officials' personal e-mails aren't subject to FOIA

A sweeping decision released by the Michigan Court of Appeals today places new limits on the state's Freedom of Information Act, concluding that personal e-mails exchanged between government officials are not subject to disclosure.

The ruling stems from a case out of Livingston County Circuit Court involving the Howell Education Association, the Howell Board of Education and Howell Public Schools. Click here to read the full opinion.

FOIA Friday: Open Meetings Act and the required public posting of notices

The Michigan Open Meetings Act spells out rules under which local governments must provide access to and record information about public meetings. It also sets the standard for notifying the public about when meetings are going to occur, both regularly scheduled meetings and special meetings.

This issue of FOIA Friday is a short photo essay on what can go right and what can go wrong with public notices. The focus is on the ubiquitous public notice posting board inside government offices where someone can walk in, with or without an Internet connection or a newspaper subscription, and see at a glance what meetings are scheduled, which ones are cancelled, and what special meetings are taking place. You'd think that would be easy to get right, but it's a source of more easily preventable problems than you might think.

FOIA Friday: Sunshine Review: establishing the standard for government transparency

The Sunshine Review is a collaborative online almanac which establishes a level of transparency for local government Web sites. This encourages the disclosure of helpful, basic information that should be provided to all constituents. It uses the same Mediawiki software that powers Wikipedia and Arborwiki, and is edited by a team led by Kristin McMurray, a Central Michigan University graduate who works for the non-profit Sam Adams Alliance.

The Sunshine Review assesses government Web sites on a standard scale to determine just how well they do at providing the basic information that is expected of government.  The first post in what looks like a series of reviews of local government is a description of the criteria that the Sunshine Review uses to determine just what good government looks like.

FOIA Friday: how to appeal a rejection, without going to court

You've been following the FOIA Friday series, and maybe you've sent in your own Freedom of Information Act requests. They have come back, but you still don't know what you want to know, because either the agency has told you that they won't give you what you asked for or because details are redacted and you don't know why.

The Michigan FOIA law contains provisions for appealing a rejection without requiring that you hire a lawyer or go to court. Here's some simple guidelines for filing your appeal, with some language that you can use to start from to help you get what you want even if you have to ask twice.

FOIA Friday: fees, and how to keep them low

The Michigan Freedom of Information Act spells out requirements for government agencies responding to FOIA requests and sets out the terms for what fees can be charged. It also spells out penalties for government bodies who fail to comply with requests.

Depending on what you ask for, the process of finding it inside a government bureaucracy can be hard, time consuming, and thus expensive work. This edition of FOIA Friday shows some cases where the bill for FOIA requests was extremely large, and gives tips for how to whittle your request down in size and shape to have it consume less time and create better results.

If you haven't been following the whole series, the introduction provides a good perspective.

FOIA Friday: On deciding whether to believe a document is authentic

In 2004, CBS News anchorman Dan Rather was caught in controversy when government documents purporting to be authentic contemporary records of criticism of George Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard in 1972 and 1973 were challenged as being recent computer-produced fakes.

All sorts of government records, either purportedly retreived by FOIA or leaked to the press or to activist organizations, have some kind of murky origins that should force you to pay closer attention to help determine if that purported proof is actually accurate. This edition of FOIA Friday looks at some signs that you can look for in an all-digital era to see that what seem to be authentic records actually are what they say they are.

If you haven't been following along, the introduction to the FOIA Friday series is a good start.

FOIA Friday: Tree maintenance, schools

This week's FOIA Friday looks at trees, and the difference that wholesale publication of municipal data can make when cities need to make decisions about street tree maintenance. 

New Canaan, Conn., like Ann Arbor, is a town full of trees, including trees that sometimes need to be trimmed or cut down. Whenever a tree is cut down, someone wonders who made the decision and why, and if the answer is not easy to find, you may find a FOIA request not far behind.

Also in this week's edition, some FOIA requests in progress from AnnArbor.com education reporter David Jesse.

If you're not familiar with this series, the first post gives a good introduction.

Ypsilanti city attorney reviews Open Meetings Act in digital age

With the ever increasing reliance on e-mails and texting to communicate, public officials have to be more careful what they say, or do, using those technologies.

That was the message Ypsilanti City Attorney John Barr sent to council members at a recent meeting. Barr led a discussion about how technology like e-mail could cause public officials to violate the Open Meeting Act - whether they intend to or not.

With poll: 6 proposals: Ann Arbor leaders must decide between development and open space

Ann Arbor officials will have their pick between polar opposites - a new high-rise development or an urban park - when they decide the fate of the Library Lot downtown.

Six competing proposals have emerged in response to a request for proposals for a 1.2-acre city-owned lot in the heart of downtown.

Three of them are hotel-related. Another envisions a senior citizen apartment complex. And two propose urban park concepts.

Disclosure of Ann Arbor City Council e-mails creates transparency

Some 2,700 pages of previously secret e-mails sent by Ann Arbor City Council members now are available in a public database.

Should anybody care?

Ann Arbor residents came to a recent City Council meeting with signs in support of Council member Mike Anglin's idea to create a database of past e-mail exchanges, but council rejected the proposal. (Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com)

“Isn’t it nice when we script things?’’

City evaluating six proposals for development of Library Lot in downtown Ann Arbor

Six groups beat a Friday afternoon deadline to submit proposals for development of the Library Lot in downtown Ann Arbor.

City Administrator Roger Fraser said the proposals will be opened and analyzed Monday morning.

Man injured during assault at The 5th Quarter in Ann Arbor

A 20-year-old man was assaulted early Monday during a fight at the The 5th Quarter that involved the club's security personnel, Ann Arbor police Lt. Renee Bush said.

The man was taken by ambulance to Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital after the 1 a.m. incident, Bush said.

edward vielmetti, lead blogger

FOIA Friday: FOIA Friday: personal electronic mail as public records

With the publication of over 2,700 pages of e-mail from Ann Arbor's City Council on Nov. 5, I've had a lot of reading to do. Much of it is mundane, the ordinary work of government; sometimes what slips in are messages completely unrelated to the functioning of government, simply personal messages sent between colleagues about vacation plans.

This week's FOIA Friday covers other stories I've found related to cases where citizens and the media have been reading through electronic mail released under Freedom of Information Act requests, and focuses particularly on those instances where there are personal messages mixed in with work messages on systems maintained by government organizations.

If you haven't been following the FOIA Friday series, the introduction is a good place to start.

poll: Do you care about City Council e-mails?

AnnArbor.com government reporter Ryan Stanton has a story today about more than 2,700 pages of e-mail exchanged between members of Ann Arbor City Council during meetings in 2007, 2008 and 2009. The e-mails were obtained by citizens through Freedom of Information Act requests.

Ever since they first came to light earlier this year, the e-mails have sparked controversy, triggered a lawsuit and forced at least one councilmember out of office.

Take a look: More than 2,700 pages of Ann Arbor City Council e-mails available for viewing

Let's start off by pointing out this isn't breaking news, nor is it a typical news story. Rather, it's an organic effort by a news and information Web site to make available to the public, at no cost, e-mails traded between Ann Arbor City Council members during public meetings.

Several citizens have reacted to recent controversy over the e-mails by demanding the City Council create an online database where all messages traded between council members since 2002 would be available for public viewing. A majority of council members refused, saying it would be a waste of staff time and money. They instead encouraged citizens to pursue the e-mails through Freedom of Information Act requests.

FOIA Friday: National Security Archive and sidewalk repair

FOIA Friday is a regular column about using Freedom of Information Act laws to shed light on the activities of government. This week's installment looks at the National Security Archive, a non-profit library at George Washington University that collects declassified information about the workings of the federal government. We'll also delve at least a little bit into the minutiae of how sidewalks get repaired in Ann Arbor.

If you missed the start of this series, the first post is a good introduction.

Ann Arbor City Council e-mail scandal topic of 4th Ward race

A scandal over e-mails traded among Ann Arbor City Council members during meetings has already contributed to the ouster of one longtime council member.

Whether it will have any impact on another council member’s bid to keep her seat remains to be seen. Voters will decide Nov. 3 between Marcia Higgins, D-4th Ward, and independent challenger Hatim Elhady.

Higgins, who has served on council since 1999, is defending herself against charges by her opponent that she participated in backroom deals and snarky chatter with other council members during meetings.

edward vielmetti, lead blogger

FOIA Friday: Making the process inexpensive, effective, and easy

When you send in a request under the Freedom of Information Act, there are several likely responses that are not the answer you want to get. This week's FOIA Friday covers the question of composing a really good request - one that gets you exactly what you want or a little bit more at minimal expense to everyone involved and as rapidly as possible.

If you missed the first FOIA Friday column, go back there for an introduction - otherwise keep reading after the jump.

Ann Arbor City Council candidates reveal stances on issues at debate

Ann Arbor City Council Member Sabra Briere, D-1st Ward, responds to a question during Thursday night's candidate debate hosted by the League of Women Voters. Briere faces off against independent challenger Mitchell Ozog, right, in the Nov. 3 election.

Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com

Ann Arbor City Council Member Sabra Briere is running for reelection Nov. 3, but she'll have to fend off independent challenger Mitchell Ozog to stay in office.

Briere, D-1st Ward, met her opponent for the first time Thursday night at the League of Women Voters candidate debate. Ozog, who has declined requests to be interviewed by AnnArbor.com, revealed himself as a political refugee who fled Poland two decades ago.