Ann Arbor Residents Submitted More Freedom of Information Act Requests Than Local News Media in 2013
by Rob Smith
ACCORDING TO THE City of Ann Arbor’s log of FOIA requests submitted between January 2013 and May 2014 519 FOIA requests were submitted to the Ann Arbor City Clerk’s office. Thirty-three of the 519 requests came from The Ann Arbor News and the online news site AnnArborChronicle.com. The A2Indy, launched in October 2013, filed five requests. The Ann Arbor Observer filed no FOIA requests. Fewer than a dozen FOIA requests came from local bloggers. Former Annarbor.com lead blogger Ed Vielmetti is one of those local writers.
The Columbia Journalism Review reported in a September 2013 story about the shuttering of AnnArbor.com and the rebranding of The Ann Arbor News: “To fill that gap, a host of locals have themselves become self-styled news ‘organizations’—like Julie Weatherbee, who has become known for live-tweeting city council meetings twice a month, as well as other local events.
“Edward Vielmetti is a longtime Ann Arbor blogger and Arborwiki editor who, for about 18 months, was lead blogger for AnnArbor.com. (His position was cut during an earlier round of reorganization and shrinking.) Vielmetti, on his own initiative, leveraged his strong network and became a go-to source of local news. People ‘feed me information, either directly via email or via @ messages on Twitter,’ he wrote via email.”
In the 16 month period included in the 13-page FOIA log provided, Julie Weatherbee submitted no Freedom of Information Act requests and Ed Vielmetti submitted eight requests.
AnnArborChronicle.com editor David Askins, submitted twice as many requests as did Vielmetti. The kinds of records sought were quite different than those requested by Vielmetti, as well. Whereas Vielmetti requested copies of policies, lists and surveys Askins requested copies of City Attorney communications and emails.
Why Care About FOIA?
Matt Rumsey is a policy associate who works at the watchdog Sunlight Foundation, an organization that studies governmental transparency and the Freedom of Information Act. He writes in a piece titled, “When Government Transparency Falters, FOIA Shines Light on Major News”: “FOIA is important to everyone, not just because everyone can use it but because the journalists who use it most visibly are trying to obtain information that they make available to you—the public.”
Rumsey goes on to explain that, “transparency isn’t always the government’s first instinct, which is why the Freedom of Information Act, known as FOIA, is crucial to our democracy.”
Expanding FOIA
On June 24, the Senate Judiciary Committee unveiled long-awaited legislation to reform the 1966 federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that would make it more difficult for government agencies to withhold documents from the public.
One of the most significant changes to the law, on which lawmakers and transparency advocates have spent months working together, revolves around a FOIA exemption that transparency advocates say has been widely misused, and cited thousands of times to explain why certain records must be concealed from the public.
Exemption 5 applies to government records that are part of a behind-the-scenes decision-making process — called “deliberative” — and covers any “inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters,” drafts and attorney-client records. It’s a discretionary exemption that government agencies could waive in favor of disclosure. But transparency advocates say the government rarely does.
Nate Jones, the FOIA coordinator for George Washington University’s National Security Archive, said “everyday requesters” would greatly benefit if the bill, dubbed the FOIA Improvement Act, is passed and signed into law.
U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy is one of the sponsors of the proposed reforms. He said this at a press conference: “The Freedom of Information Act is one of our nation’s most important laws, established to give Americans greater access to their government and to hold government accountable.”
The Michigan Press Association is pushing for reform of the Michigan Freedom of Information Act statute which went into effect in 1977, including setting a maximum charge for photocopying and requiring that requesters be alerted to requested information and records available online.
Reforming Ann Arbor’s Freedom of Information Act Policy
Several Ann Arbor City Council members want to make FOIA less cumbersome. The city’s FOIA policy was made more cumbersome and costly in November 2009 thanks to a resolution proposed by ousted Ward 3 Council member Leigh Greden. The former AnnArbor.com reported Greden lost his seat on Council thanks to an email scandal triggered by Freedom of Information Act requests made by both the public and the media.
Council members Jack Eaton and Mike Anglin are both interested in relaxing the city’s FOIA policy. Eaton, elected in 2012, has said that he is preparing to tackle the issue.
“Transparency is important and I want to make it easier for people to get access to public records,” said Eaton.
Anglin, who supported the group of citizens in their efforts to use FOIA to gain access to Council emails sent during open meetings, is equally supportive of FOIA reform.
“These are public records that belong to the public,” said Anglin. “We need to remember that.”
The Ann Arbor Independent runs into roadblocks thrown up by government officials loathe to release potentially embarrassing public records. Most recently, Ann Arbor officials sought to charge The A2Indy over $700 for copies of two personnel files, a copy of a four-question test and a batch of emails. Officials also refused to release copies of the same public records to a Council member, afraid the public records would be shared with the public.
Documents released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request show city officials charging The Ann Arbor News over $750 for records of employee mileage reimbursements. Officials also sought to charge Edward Vielmetti $10 for a copy of Ann Arbor’s document retention policy.
According to City Administrator Steve Powers, in Q1 2014, private business submitted 37 percent of the total FOIA requests and residents/individuals 27 percent of the requests. Media requests made up 22 percent of the total.
A large number of FOIA requests submitted over the past 16 months are related to the city’s Footing Drain Disconnect Program. Locals have filed a lawsuit claiming that the program violates their Constitutional rights. Fire reports also comprised a large number if the total requests made.
Among the FOIAs submitted by local media, was a December 2013 request for documents released in response to a request submitted by The Ann Arbor Independent. Such requests are known as piggybacks.