City of Wayland FOIA Follies

[XLFD]

I had the feeling that the City Hall of Wayland was messed up after all the turbulence involving their City Manager swinging gate and the debacle of firing a police chief which the public has more confidence in than the sum of the rest of the City Hallers, but now I have more than a feeling.  I have a strong suspicion.  Like everything in life for me nowadays it started with a FOIA request-- what I thought was a simple FOIA request-- sent to the City Clerk of Wayland on April 23, 2012...

 

 

Sent: Monday, April 23, 2012 12:30 AM
To: [e-mail]
Subject: FOIA Request: Dan Miller's personnel records

Michelle,

Under provisions of the Michigan Freedom of Information Act (MCLA 15.231 et seq; MSA 4.1801 (1) et seq) I am requesting to receive scanned images sent electronically to this E-mail address or failing that, to personally inspect the following public records:

Former Wayland Police Chief Dan Miller's personnel records. Please include his personnel records with the Wayland Fire Department as well.

By all means, edit out any material that may be exempt due to privacy or other law enforcement exemptions, but please note the reasons why if it is not entirely obvious.

If you need any clarifications of this request, please reply expediently to this E-mail address.

If you determine that some of the requested information is exempt from disclosure, please detail what is being withheld and cite the exemption under FOIA.
If fees to comply with this request exceed $20, please contact me at this E-Mail address with those fees enumerated. We are a modestly funded newsblog that may qualify for reduced rates as per the Act.

As provided under FOIA, I would anticipate my request being filled within five working days of receipt of this letter.

Thank you very much for your help,

Tom Rotta

The Ludington Torch

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The response came one week later, informing me that the City needed more time to process the request.  This is allowed under the act, to reflect that it may take more than the 5 business days to get all the information sometimes.  This typically is invoked, however, when the records are found in many diverse locations and or other field offices, or are very comprehensive.  I found it odd that this would apply to his personnel records, that probably exist in one or two folders.  But they seemed to think that they would have to redact a bit of information.  Fine-- take ten more business days to do all that.  But that tenth business day came and went as May 14th turned into May 15th, and no response came.  That is an automatic denial of the request when you can't get it done within that extended time limit.  I sent her the following on May 15th to explain, complete with my contemplated complaint:

 

Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 1:40 PM
To: Michelle Herman
Subject: Re: FOIA Request: Dan Miller's personnel records

Ms. Herman,

I am prepared to file the Complaint for Injunctive Relief with the 51st Circuit Court tomorrow, drafted below so as to get the City of Wayland to produce the documents I have requested as per the FOIA, and which you have failed to respond to except to extend the deadline which has come and passed. Filing this in Circuit Court will subject me to a charge of $150 for the filing fee, and may subject the defendant, "City of Wayland" to repay this and any other fees, including any attorney fees, and may subject defendant to an extra $500 in punitive damages.

If you can get the requested information to my inbox by the end of today, May 15, 2012, I will not need to file this tomorrow, and you will not have to explain to the citizens of Wayland why you could not respond to a simple FOIA request within three weeks, as per your duty under law. Thank you.

Tom Rotta

The Ludington Torch

COMPLAINT FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF
1. This is an action under the Freedom of lnformation Act, MCL 15.231 et. seq., to order the production of agency records by the City of Wayland.
2. This court has jurisdiction over this action pursuant to MCL 15.240 (4).
3. Plaintiff has a right to inspect, copy, or receive copies of the requested public record of the public body by MCL 15.233(1) and the public body known as the City of Wayland has a corresponding duty to respond to a request for a public record within 5 business days after the public body receives the request by MCL 15.235(2).
4. Defendant is an agency of the State of Michigan and has a duty to abide by the FOIA laws of Michigan.
5. Plaintiff sent a FOIA request via E-mail to Wayland City Clerk, Michelle Herman, on April 23, 2012 regarding public records her agency was likely to possess. (Exhibit 1, highlighted)
6. Clerk Herman sent plaintiff an E-mail on April 30, 2012 (the 5th business day) asking to extend the time it had to respond by ten business days, as allowed by the FOIA, noting that plaintiff would have a response by May 14, 2012 (10 business days). (Exhibit 2)
7. Plaintiff received no response of any kind by the end of May 14, 2012.
8. Failure to timely respond to a request constitutes a public body's final determination to deny the request (MCL 15.235(3)).
9. Plaintiff has not been given information by Wayland's FOIA Coordinator as to who is the "head of the public body", nor their rights as for an administrative appeal by that agency, necessitating a Circuit Court appeal to enforce Plaintiff's right to inspect the records.

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff requests this court:
1) Order Defendant to provide access to the requested public records.
2) Judge the incontrovertible facts of this FOIA denial in expedited proceedings as provided for in MCL
15.240(5).
3) Award Plaintiff costs, fees, and other and further relief as it may deem just and proper.
4) Determine that Defendant has arbitrarily and capriciously violated this act by the refusal or delay in

disclosing or providing copies of a public record of immediate public interest, and award, in addition to any actual or compensatory damages, punitive damages in the amount of $500.00 to the plaintiff seeking the right to inspect or receive a copy of a public record.

-------------

Two hours and some odd minutes later, I received the following from Michelle, CCed to the City Manager and the City Attorney of Wayland:

 

Dear Tom:

I have attached a copy of the email sent 5/10/2012 by our City Manager, Mike Selden regarding your FIOA request. I have attached a copy of the document Mr. Selden sent to you on my behalf. Unfortunately, my mother-in-law passed away and the funeral was last week in Flint, Michigan.

If you are having difficulty reading viewing the attachment, please provide a mailing address and a copy will be mailed First Class Mail to your attention.

Respectfully submitted.

Michelle Herman

------------

I had sent the City a second FOIA request regarding records dealing with process serving of PPOs on May 3, because I had gotten bored waiting for the first to come in.  New City Manager Mike Selden extended that FOIA reply by ten days in his May 10th letter included therein with that topic clearly put on it.  Never was the original FOIA, the one in controversy discussed.  I didn't believe this was an oversight, and put this in my reply earlier this day:

 

TO:Michelle Herman

CC:Kurt P. McCamman Mike Selden

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 12:51 AM

Michelle,
If you will notice the material on the Motion for Injunctive Relief that I forwarded to you, it refers to the FOIA request I sent on April 23, 2012, to which you replied with a request to extend the time for a response on April 30, which went to May 14.

As I believe you, Mike, and Kurt may be playing legal games to escape culpability for the failure to timely respond to a FOIA request concerning what I feel are time-sensitive records of interest to the public, I am filing this Motion later on today, slightly amended, to reflect what could be perceived as an arbitrary and capricious withholding of public records by the City's continued reluctance to comply to a fairly simple request in over three weeks time.

Whereas I'm sorry to hear about your mother-in-laws passing, you still had a duty to perform or to delegate to another city officer. You failed to do so, frittered away the opportunity to amend that error I gave you yesterday, and now you will likely cost the taxpayers of Wayland some money and waste my time as well in procuring these records for the public.

Tom Rotta
The Ludington Torch

 

What a sad reflection on the stewards of the people's records down there in Wayland.  How neglectful of their duties to the public can they be?  A simple showing of a personnel file takes three weeks plus to retrieve?! 

And yet, these were the same folks who fired their police chief of over thirty years effectively for disposing of property properly, doing his sworn duties, and doing extra work from home.  Fancy that.

[Phil Convissor]

XLFD, I did not edit anything, miller didn't even show up on mine, that was a copy from my wifes facebook page that I posted, don't forget thats the miller support page. They have all the control. Shawn McGuire was not on the part that was printed off my wifes facebook login. So point you "fricken guns" in the other direction again.

And who doesnt put pictures of their kids on Facebook, Atlas you sound kinda wacked yourself. Are you ok Man.

[XLFD]

Thanks for sending me the supporting documents.  Forgive me for doubting your credibility on this issue and accusing you of tampering with the FB page.  I hadn't considered that some parties may have you or Hanne blocked on Facebook.  Please, have your credibility I borrowed yesterday returned back to you today. 

In the future though, if you use stuff from Facebook, it may be worth your while to note that some entries may be missing, as some of the pro-Chief Miller forces have you or her blocked. 

 

[Phil Convissor]

XLFD, Noted. And thanks, for the return

[Sweater Cows!]

Pictures can be set to "friends" or "friends of Friends" or "everyone" it appears yours are set to everyone. I suggest since you are making yourself known publically that setting you privacy settings for your photo's to "friends" would be a safe plan. If my ex had pics of of my kid for any wierdo to see you can guarantee he's have some major problems coming from me. People in prison can see facebook you know!