From time to time I still blog about FOIA here

[link]

It’s not as frequent as I once did for “one of Ann Arbor’s publications” (nice touch, that) but the scope is wider and I do what I can.

since the NYT Benton Harbor cover story was mentioned here, i hope it’s ok that i say Kudos to Roger Bybee for taking it on:

Thursday Dec 22, 2011
When Democracy Becomes Disposable
By Roger Bybee [link]

Perhaps we will see greater awareness of how fragile a thing self-government really is.

[link]

is the relevant response letter.

In a truly open society, FOIA would be a tool of last resort to compel release of controversial information. Routine requests for clearly public information, like fire station response time maps, should be accommodated immediately, without any stalling actions.

I think you identified the fundamental problem with the City’s view of its citizens with the excerpt: “…The general policy of the City is to not release information that is exempt from disclosure under FOIA or other law.”

The Michigan Courts have long held that the Section 13 exceptions to FOIA disclosure are discretionary. In Blue Cross & Blue Shield v Insurance Bureau Hearing Officer, 104 Mich App 113 (1981), the court explained that even if a public record is subject to an exemption, the public body is not required to withhold the information. Exemptions are purely discretionary because the FOIA presumption favoring disclosure is so strong.

In addition to its policy of withholding materials exempted by section 13, the City also appears to deny disclosure when an exemption might apply, just to test the requester’s resolve.

The FOIA is meant to provide the electorate the means of acquiring information about the manner in which their elected representatives and governmental employees conduct the people’s business. The City’s policy and conduct seems to thwart that goal.