CFBB, FOIA and You

The FOIA explicitly applies only to federal government agencies. These agencies are under several mandates to comply with public solicitation of information. Along with making public and accessible all bureaucratic and technical procedures for applying for documents from that agency, agencies are also subject to penalties for hindering the process of a petition for information. If “agency personnel acted arbitrarily or capriciously with respect to the withholding, Special Counsel shall promptly initiate a proceeding to determine whether disciplinary action is warranted against the officer or employee who was primarily responsible for the withholding.” In this way, there is recourse for one seeking information to go to a Federal court if suspicion of illegal tampering or delayed sending of records exists. However, there are nine exemptions, ranging from a withholding “specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy” and “trade secrets” to “clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.”

The U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a law ensuring public access to U.S. government records. FOIA carries a presumption of disclosure; the burden is on the government - not the public - to substantiate why information may not be released. Upon written request, agencies of the United States government are required to disclose those records, unless they can be lawfully withheld from disclosure under one of nine specific exemptions in the FOIA. This right of access is ultimately enforceable in federal court.

On the State and Local Level -
The Act requires all "public bodies" to make their public records available for inspection.
the term "public body" includes any
legislative, executive, administrative, or advisory bodies of the State, State universities and colleges, counties, townships, cities, villages, incorporated towns, school districts and all other municipal corporations, boards, bureaus, committees, or commissions of this State, and any
subsidiary bodies of those public bodies, including but not limited to committees and
subcommittees which are supported in whole or in part by tax revenue, or which expend tax
revenue, and also School Finance Authorities created under Article 1E of the School Code.

The Act expressly includes a non-exhaustive list of numerous types of information
within the definition of "public records." That list includes the following types of records:
(i) Administrative manuals, procedural rules, and instructions to staff, unless
exempted by subsection 7(1)(p) of the Act;
(ii) Final opinions and orders made in the adjudication of cases, except an
educational institution's adjudication of student or employee grievance or
disciplinary cases;
(iii) substantive rules;
(iv) statements and interpretations of policy which have been adopted by a public
body;
(v) final planning policies, recommendations, and decisions;
(vi) factual reports, inspection reports, and studies whether prepared by or for the
public body;
(vii) all information in any account, voucher, or contract dealing with the receipt or
expenditure of public or other funds of public bodies;
(viii) the names, salaries, titles, and dates of employment of all employees and
officers of public bodies;
(ix) materials containing opinions concerning the rights of the State, the public, a
subdivision of State or a local government, or of any private persons;
12
(x) the name of every official and the final records of voting in all proceedings of
public bodies;
(xi) applications for any contract, permit, grant, or agreement except as exempted
from disclosure by subsection 7(1)(g) of the Act;
(xii) each report, document, study, or publication prepared by independent
consultants or other independent contractors for the public body;
(xiii) all other information required by law to be made available for public
inspection or copying;
(xiv) information relating to any grant or contract made by or between a public
body and another public body or private organization;
(xv) waiver documents filed with the State Superintendent of Education or the
president of the University of Illinois under Section 30-12.5 of the School
Code, concerning nominees for General Assembly scholarships under
Sections 30-9, 30-10, and 30-11 of the School Code;
(xvi) Complaints, results of complaints, and Department of Children and Family
Services staff findings of licensing violations at day care facilities, provided
that personal and identifying information is not released; and
(xvii) Records, reports, forms, writings letters, memoranda, books, papers and other
documentary information, regardless of physical form or characteristics
having been prepared, or having been or being used, received, possessed, or
under the control of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority dealing with the
receipt or expenditure of public funds or other funds of the Authority in
connection with the reconstruction, renovation, remodeling, extension or
improvement of all or substantially all of an existing "facility" as that terms is
defined in the Illinois Sports Facility Authority Act 70.

So -
It has nothing to do with ...
What is each Village elected officials response on same sex marriages?

What is each Village elected officials response on abortion?

What do THE TRUSTEES do to find out what the public wants voted on, or against, in the community?

The key piece common to both the Federal legislation and the State legislation ...

That 'Public Records' be made available upon request.

Ralph Dupree wrote:

So -
It has nothing to do with ...
What is each Village elected officials response on same sex marriages?
What is each Village elected officials response on abortion?
What do THE TRUSTEES do to find out what the public wants voted on, or against, in the community?

THANK YOU. I've been saying this all along.

Now, I suppose if the village board were to (hypothetically) take a vote on whether to allow gay marriage in Bolingbrook, THEN each trustee's vote would be a matter of public record. Other than that, it's irrelevant.

http://www.forexunblock.info/init.php...

FOIA Requests and Answers

We have been asked to make our FOIA requests "known" to the Public
By Candice Ward

Many people are curious into what we are looking into for the week and what our process is to run stories. Many of you are wondering if we are following up on your stories or are even working on them. Some of you would like to follow the requests to see how the Village handles FOIA processes. Either way, we are posting our FOIA's online this week to show the residents.

To the Library:

1. Copies of the contracts under which such Project Manager, the Library Director, and Karen Anderson are engaged.
2. Who signs the PM, Director, and Anderson’s time cards, and reason for who is allowed to sign them.
3. What is the official policy for the library board handling out of state Trustees?
4. What is the schedule for reimbursing the the $7,000 spend for the logo never received ? Who is in charge of recouping this $7,000 in logo costs?
5. What was the appraised value of the Romeoville Library? Where will the profits from the sale go to? When will this be reported to the public?
6. Who is in charge of full time employees performance appraisals, what is their qualifications to do so, and who reviews their work?
7. How many people have been terminated in 2006, 2007, 2008, and currently in 2009? How many of them were employed for over 5 years?
8. What is the policy for terminated employees to be able to use thier own public library after termination?

The Police

1. Are there procedures/policies, or an actual domestic violence task force in place for abusive officers? If so, what is it, who enforces it, and how is it managed and implemented.

2. Have the Police force implemented any programs that have been offered to them from Jan Russell, who oversees the domestic violence task force in Chicago, or from Diane Wetendorf, who has an organization called, www.abuseofpower.info ? If so, when, who is in charge of them, and how is the accountability of this program enforced?
3. When the calls from the Crime Stopper hotline comes in, what is the process/ procedure for handling these calls? Who is in charge of implementing this process or procedure, and who keeps the complaining resident informed of the time lines?
4. I would like a copy of the police report for the stabbing of Mr. Tom Banners son a see in the image on the right:
few weeks ago across the street from the high school. It was a stabbing with a screw driver. I would also like the arrest record of the perp. Which detective is handling the case?
5. I would like to see the documents from 2004 to current to support each deposit, and reason of deposit, of grant money and sharing from drug bust recovery money from the Justice Department that was placed in the general fund instead of allocated for the mandated purpose (cars, computers, equipment).

6.. Inventory procedures for all confiscated items collected, including drugs, weapons, etc. Who can go into the inventory closet, what is the sign in and out procedures, and what are the controls of these procedures?

7. What is the return process for confiscated personal items like wallets with DL's and SS Cards in them?(In helps to reduce identity theft cases).
8. All complaints filed against officers for abuse (domestic, marital, spousal, girl friend/ boyfriend, children) in the past 5 years.
9. All formal documentation of what was done to reprimand these actions.
10. Any policy or procedure in place for handling these calls or complaints.
11. Any complaints filed against Fire Department personnel for abuse, sexual, child, or domestic.
12. Police report on the stabbing two weeks ago in the park across from the high school where a young boy was stabbed multiple times with a screw driver.
13. Police report on the stabbing at Tailgators of "Jay/ Jason" that resulted in a fight with a band member.

Village FOIA's
The question has been posed to our media group from the public and I am asking for a response that I can post. Since the trustees cannot be contacted with questions and all questions must go through the Mayor and the Village Attorney for political answers, please send me each trustee response to the following questions.
1. What is each Village elected officials response on same sex marriages?
2. What is each Village elected officials response on abortion?
3. What is the actual guideline each trustee has for being available to the public, since running on a transparency in government election?
4. What do THE TRUSTEES do to find out what the public wants voted on, or against, in the community?
Past FOIA Problems
02/18/2009: Bonnie Alicea requested a FOIA for Woodridge vs. Bolingbrook. Partial information was received. The outcome and totals were not received. No letter of denial was issued.
02/17/2009: Bonnie Alicea requested a FOIA for the Golf Course Financials. She received a verbal denial based on “You need to get these from the golf club directly”. No letter of denial was issued.
02/17/2009 Bonnie Alicea requested a list of FOIAs for specific contractors, asking for contracts, bids, and financials, including meeting minutes for these. On 2/27/09 she sent in another request since no response on the first one. She received partial information on March 10th. One specifically stated “Nothing in system” for Crown Recycling. No formal denial letter was issued. Bonnie paid for a copy of the FOIA because it had writing on it.(See attached). Later when she requested Crown again, she finally received it on the third attempt.
4/15/09 Bonnie Alicea requested the FOIA for Comcast Cable agreement, as it is listed as “Franchise owner Village of Bolingbrook” on the Comcast bills. In return she got a cable package- Joy Cable from 1986.
April 27, 2009 Bonnie Alicea requested the FOIA for information about vacant commercial buildings and taxes. She received a list of vacant RETAIL property and denied taxes. A letter was sent but no formal denial reason or appeal process.
April 13th, 2009 Lynn requested 6 FOIAs. She was denied 5 without appeal process and no formal denial codes.
Her denial letter stated that #1 nothing available.
#2 Received.
#3 Additional time needed for extension, still nothing available as of May 19th.
#4 and #5 Denied
#6 Denied

April 26th, 2009 Bonnie Alicea requested a FOIA for two sets of meeting minutes. A seven day extension letter arrived. On May 12th, 6 days late, Bonnie received a call that the FOIA was ready. When she picked it up she was told all the information was there. Only one set was there. When Bonnie asked, she was told there was no meeting minutes for one of them. Bonnie saw something written on her FOIA and paid for a copy showing a denial. No formal letter came with denials.
April 27th, 2009 Bonnie Alicea requested a FOIA pertaining to the Hobby Lobby building. They claim there are no documents, but if we submit our proof they will come up with the documents. No formal appeal process was on those letters.
April 21st, Bonnie Alicea and friends attended a Village Budget Workshop. Roger Claar announced that the budget would not be available online until after it was passed. We were told it could be viewed ahead of time in the offices. Bonnie and Lynn went in to view the budget. They earmarked some important pages. Maggie, Carol Penning’s assistant said it would take a while to copy, which was not clearly understood. Right at 5pm, closing time, they charged Bonnie and sent her off with her envelope. When they got to the car, Bonnie and Lynn noticed that the most important copies were not in the package. Bonnie immediately emailed Carol Penning to let her know that Lynn would be back in at 9am, the day they were passing the budget, to get these copies.
When Lynn arrived the next morning, she was told the budget was not available for review all day because the people that had the book were unavailable all day. She was also told that no copies could be made.
Lynn and Bonnie attended the budget meeting, at which time Bonnie confronted the Mayor to ask why it was unavailable. The Mayor pointed out to the crowd that the budget Bonnie viewed was not correct.(He showed us the wrong budget?) and the sheets Bonnie got copied the day before were, in fact, proposed but not what was being passed. According to the village, this initial meeting was not video taped or recorded, and no meeting minutes. The meeting Bonnie questioned the budget that was “wrong” was all caught on tape.
Nov. FOIA's

WHAT IS THIS FOR?

In the 2009-2010 budget there are categories for expenditures. These are not clear. Why?

One project with no name is $223,000.00 and another no name for almost $4 Million! Doesn't the taxpayers have a right to have a name placed on these amounts?

We have been asked to make our FOIA requests "known" to the Public
By Candice Ward

Many people are curious into what we are looking into for the week and what our process is to run stories. Many of you are wondering if we are following up on your stories or are even working on them. Some of you would like to follow the requests to see how the Village handles FOIA processes. Either way, we are posting our FOIA's online this week to show the residents.

To the Library:

1. Copies of the contracts under which such Project Manager, the Library Director, and Karen Anderson are engaged.
2. Who signs the PM, Director, and Anderson’s time cards, and reason for who is allowed to sign them.
3. What is the official policy for the library board handling out of state Trustees?
4. What is the schedule for reimbursing the the $7,000 spend for the logo never received ? Who is in charge of recouping this $7,000 in logo costs?
5. What was the appraised value of the Romeoville Library? Where will the profits from the sale go to? When will this be reported to the public?
6. Who is in charge of full time employees performance appraisals, what is their qualifications to do so, and who reviews their work?
7. How many people have been terminated in 2006, 2007, 2008, and currently in 2009? How many of them were employed for over 5 years?
8. What is the policy for terminated employees to be able to use thier own public library after termination?

FOIA's to the police the Police

1. Are there procedures/policies, or an actual domestic violence task force in place for abusive officers? If so, what is it, who enforces it, and how is it managed and implemented.

2. Have the Police force implemented any programs that have been offered to them from Jan Russell, who oversees the domestic violence task force in Chicago, or from Diane Wetendorf, who has an organization called, www.abuseofpower.info ? If so, when, who is in charge of them, and how is the accountability of this program enforced?
3. When the calls from the Crime Stopper hotline comes in, what is the process/ procedure for handling these calls? Who is in charge of implementing this process or procedure, and who keeps the complaining resident informed of the time lines?
4. I would like a copy of the police report for the stabbing of Mr. Tom Banners son a few weeks ago across the street from the high school. It was a stabbing with a screw driver. I would also like the arrest record of the perp. Which detective is handling the case?
5. I would like to see the documents from 2004 to current to support each deposit, and reason of deposit, of grant money and sharing from drug bust recovery money from the Justice Department that was placed in the general fund instead of allocated for the mandated purpose (cars, computers, equipment).

6.. Inventory procedures for all confiscated items collected, including drugs, weapons, etc. Who can go into the inventory closet, what is the sign in and out procedures, and what are the controls of these procedures?

7. What is the return process for confiscated personal items like wallets with DL's and SS Cards in them?(In helps to reduce identity theft cases).
8. All complaints filed against officers for abuse (domestic, marital, spousal, girl friend/ boyfriend, children) in the past 5 years.
9. All formal documentation of what was done to reprimand these actions.
10. Any policy or procedure in place for handling these calls or complaints.
11. Any complaints filed against Fire Department personnel for abuse, sexual, child, or domestic.
12. Police report on the stabbing two weeks ago in the park across from the high school where a young boy was stabbed multiple times with a screw driver.
13. Police report on the stabbing at Tailgators of "Jay/ Jason" that resulted in a fight with a band member.

Village FOIA's

The question has been posed to our media group from the public and I am asking for a response that I can post. Since the trustees cannot be contacted with questions and all questions must go through the Mayor and the Village Attorney for political answers, please send me each trustee response to the following questions.

1. What is each Village elected officials response on same sex marriages?
2. What is each Village elected officials response on abortion?
3. What is the actual guideline each trustee has for being available to the public, since running on a transparency in government election?
4. What do THE TRUSTEES do to find out what the public wants voted on, or against, in the community?

Past FOIA Problems

02/18/2009: Bonnie Alicea requested a FOIA for Woodridge vs. Bolingbrook. Partial information was received. The outcome and totals were not received. No letter of denial was issued.



02/17/2009: Bonnie Alicea requested a FOIA for the Golf Course Financials. She received a verbal denial based on “You need to get these from the golf club directly”. No letter of denial was issued.



02/17/2009 Bonnie Alicea requested a list of FOIAs for specific contractors, asking for contracts, bids, and financials, including meeting minutes for these. On 2/27/09 she sent in another request since no response on the first one. She received partial information on March 10th. One specifically stated “Nothing in system” for Crown Recycling. No formal denial letter was issued. Bonnie paid for a copy of the FOIA because it had writing on it.(See attached). Later when she requested Crown again, she finally received it on the third attempt.



4/15/09 Bonnie Alicea requested the FOIA for Comcast Cable agreement, as it is listed as “Franchise owner Village of Bolingbrook” on the Comcast bills. In return she got a cable package- Joy Cable from 1986.



April 27, 2009 Bonnie Alicea requested the FOIA for information about vacant commercial buildings and taxes. She received a list of vacant RETAIL property and denied taxes. A letter was sent but no formal denial reason or appeal process.



April 13th, 2009 Lynn requested 6 FOIAs. She was denied 5 without appeal process and no formal denial codes.

Her denial letter stated that #1 nothing available.

#2 Received.

#3 Additional time needed for extension, still nothing available as of May 19th.

#4 and #5 Denied

#6 Denied

continued...

April 26th, 2009 Bonnie Alicea requested a FOIA for two sets of meeting minutes. A seven day extension letter arrived. On May 12th, 6 days late, Bonnie received a call that the FOIA was ready. When she picked it up she was told all the information was there. Only one set was there. When Bonnie asked, she was told there was no meeting minutes for one of them. Bonnie saw something written on her FOIA and paid for a copy showing a denial. No formal letter came with denials.



April 27th, 2009 Bonnie Alicea requested a FOIA pertaining to the Hobby Lobby building. They claim there are no documents, but if we submit our proof they will come up with the documents. No formal appeal process was on those letters.



April 21st, Bonnie Alicea and friends attended a Village Budget Workshop. Roger Claar announced that the budget would not be available online until after it was passed. We were told it could be viewed ahead of time in the offices. Bonnie and Lynn went in to view the budget. They earmarked some important pages. Maggie, Carol Penning’s assistant said it would take a while to copy, which was not clearly understood. Right at 5pm, closing time, they charged Bonnie and sent her off with her envelope. When they got to the car, Bonnie and Lynn noticed that the most important copies were not in the package. Bonnie immediately emailed Carol Penning to let her know that Lynn would be back in at 9am, the day they were passing the budget, to get these copies.



When Lynn arrived the next morning, she was told the budget was not available for review all day because the people that had the book were unavailable all day. She was also told that no copies could be made.



Lynn and Bonnie attended the budget meeting, at which time Bonnie confronted the Mayor to ask why it was unavailable. The Mayor pointed out to the crowd that the budget Bonnie viewed was not correct.(He showed us the wrong budget?) and the sheets Bonnie got copied the day before were, in fact, proposed but not what was being passed. According to the village, this initial meeting was not video taped or recorded, and no meeting minutes. The meeting Bonnie questioned the budget that was “wrong” was all caught on tape.


Nov. FOIA's

WHAT IS THIS FOR?

In the 2009-2010 budget there are categories for expenditures. These are not clear. Why?

One project with no name is $223,000.00 and another no name for almost $4 Million! Doesn't the taxpayers have a right to have a name placed on these amounts?

This is my first time posting, but here is what I think...

1. Why would the Mayor NOT give documents? Sounds fishy to me!

2. It matters to me if the Trustees are for or against abortion or gay marriage. I want my elected officials to have the same views and values as I do, or I won't trust them to make the best decision for me.

3. I did go to the Village web site to look at these no name dollars being spent. I was appalled.

4. When the media talked about Claar in the Tribune, I opened my eyes. Now the watch dogs make sense to me.

5. I just signed the trustee by district. I believe in it and it is apparent that the people on this site (CFBB Instigator and Ralph Dupree) work for the Mayor and are trying to bash good people and a great organization that fights for the residents.

Really? You can FOIA someone's personal views? Man you people are dumb. You do more harm than good for your cause because you don't know the laws, you don't know the rules, and you simply refuse to look into properly filing FOIA's and how the system works. That, and flinging around half-baked conspiracy theories all over the place. Just go away.

Sue wrote:

This is my first time posting, but here is what I think...
1. Why would the Mayor NOT give documents? Sounds fishy to me!
2. It matters to me if the Trustees are for or against abortion or gay marriage. I want my elected officials to have the same views and values as I do, or I won't trust them to make the best decision for me.
3. I did go to the Village web site to look at these no name dollars being spent. I was appalled.
4. When the media talked about Claar in the Tribune, I opened my eyes. Now the watch dogs make sense to me.
5. I just signed the trustee by district. I believe in it and it is apparent that the people on this site (CFBB Instigator and Ralph Dupree) work for the Mayor and are trying to bash good people and a great organization that fights for the residents.

Sue,

Do you know what an FOIA is? It appears that you do not. Requesting a FOIA allows you to obtain a DOCUMENT not to ask any question that you want. If the village has a DOCUMENT that specifies what the position is for the elected officials on gay marriage, they have to provide it. If no such document exists, there is NOTHING for them to provide.

What DOCUMENT are you looking for?

Not only that point, but does it really matter what the Trustees and Mayor think about abortion, gay marriage or any other social issue? They are not in positions that will make decisions on these topics, nor should they be. I want them to stick to the decisions that keep the Village running properly. I don't give a rat's patoot what their personal views are on social issues. Now, if we are talking about State or Federal elected officials, then you would have a leg to stand on, but it's still not FOIA material.

Ugh. The simplemindeness of some of my fellow BB residents makes me want to puke.

Bill wrote:

<quoted text>
Sue,
Do you know what an FOIA is? It appears that you do not. Requesting a FOIA allows you to obtain a DOCUMENT not to ask any question that you want. If the village has a DOCUMENT that specifies what the position is for the elected officials on gay marriage, they have to provide it. If no such document exists, there is NOTHING for them to provide.
What DOCUMENT are you looking for?

Sue wrote:

2. It matters to me if the Trustees are for or against abortion or gay marriage. I want my elected officials to have the same views and values as I do, or I won't trust them to make the best decision for me.

Sue, you can ask the Mayor and Trustee their opinion on abortion and gay marriage, but the FOIA does not require them to give you an answer. As others have, and will continue to point out, FOIA only applies to public documents.

Now, you are free to judge them based on their silence on these issues. You are free to respond by supporting the districting resolution. You are free to demand an answer, but you cannot force them to answer.