FOIA

Christopher Taylor:  Campaigning as “collaborative”: Four current Council members endorsed against him. POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: U-M employs Taylor’s wife, Eva Rosenwald, full-time. Accepted $4,000 campaign donation from U-M…

THE DETROIT FREE PRESS recently filed suit against the University of Michigan Board of Regents for allegedly violating the state’s Open Meetings Act statute. The allegations are based on analyses of over a year’s worth of votes taken by the…

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…

CITY ADMINISTRATOR Steve Powers answers directly to City Council. The city’s Charter requires the 11-member group to annually review the City Administrator’s performance. Council sets his pay and has the ultimate authority to fire him. …

ANN ARBOR CITY Administrator Steve Powers, hired in 2011, has sent an email to a City Council member claiming that high fees assessed for providing public records are justified because “...there is a direct benefit provided to the…

IN ITS APRIL 3 issue, The Ann Arbor Independent reported on the firing of city staffer Terry Holman shortly after Holman’s partner, Leon Bryson, announced in January 2014 he intended to run for Ann Arbor City Council against incumbent Chuck…

THE ANN ARBOR Independent is committed to in-depth reporting on local news as well as accountability journalism. This means the newspaper relies on the Freedom of Information Act to request public records. Over the past four months, the…

In May 2012 former Superintendent Dr. Patricia Green told parents to use the Freedom of Information Act to access public records and information. The new Superintendent urges transparency and minimal reliance FOIA for routine requests. …

Long-time Ann Arbor Transportation Authority Board members Jesse Bernstein and David Nacht will be "retiring." The public story is that the two have served their terms and are happily busing off into the sunset. Political insiders, however,…

by P.D. Lesko Freedom of Information Act requests are governed by the notion that public government has the obligation to err on the side of transparency. It is also governed by the principle that if public records released would benefit…