Ann Arbor withholding staff communications cited as reason for rejecting conference center proposal

Ann Arbor City Council members decided this week to reject a private developer's proposal to build a hotel and conference center on city-owned property downtown, citing concerns about the legal and financial risks. But what exactly were they told by city staff?

That information is privileged, city officials say.

Council Member Stephen Rapundalo, D-2nd Ward, last week cited communications from CFO Tom Crawford and City Attorney Stephen Postema as the primary reason for changing his mind about the proposal from New York-based Valiant Partners.

City Council Member Stephen Rapundalo

Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com

"It's like anything, the devil's in the details, and I think really what changed my mind, in terms of what was presented to us, was an analysis that we received from the city attorney's office and from the CFO about a number of issues that were raised," he said. "It was enough to give me pause for thought."

AnnArbor.com attempted to obtain copies of those communications under the Freedom of Information Act. But the city sent AnnArbor.com a rejection letter on Thursday, citing two reasons why it believes the records are exempt from disclosure.

1. Information or records subject to the attorney-client privilege. MCL 15.243(1)(g)

2. Communications and notes between City staff and Council members that are of an advisory nature to the extent that they cover other than purely factual materials and are preliminary to a final agency determination of policy or action and for which the public interest in encouraging frank communication between officials and employees of public bodies outweighs the public interest in disclosure. MCL 15.243(1)(m)

AnnArbor.com is considering its options for appealing the city's decision.

In its FOIA request, AnnArbor.com asked for copies of all communications since March 1 from Crawford or the city attorney's office to City Council regarding Valiant's proposal.

Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529. You also can follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's e-mail newsletters.