FOIA response

Editor,

Recently when I was contacted by the press regarding FOIAs. I was asked six specific questions: I wanted to make a couple of things clear.

1. How many FOIA requests does the city get?
2. Are certain people responsible for most of the requests?
3. How long do you get under the law to answer them?
4. Does it take a lot of staff time? Does that cost the taxpayers?
5. Can they be a burden?
6. Is there anything you can do about it?

I answered those questions and provided the reporter with back-up logs and stats.

Apparently, Joyce Knowles didn’t like the truth or the facts because she laced her response with several false accusations.

Her first false accusation was “They (the city) claim informing the citizens is a burden.” It is not a “burden” to provide what is every citizen’s right – access to public information – I never said it was a burden. I said it was time consuming and, of course, it costs the taxpayers money.

I have stressed transparency and open communication throughout my administration. This office has openly provided more information to the public on a regular basis than any previous administration. Why? Because I want the public to understand their city, our challenges and our successes. I encourage constructive citizen engagement because I value the fact that it is taxpayer dollars that run this town. The city staff and I take that fiscal responsibility very seriously.

The second false accusation made by Joyce Knowles was “Creative accounting!” in response to the cost to taxpayers to process the 55 FOIAs filed this year through July. The $18,240 of staff time, thus far in 2018, dedicated to FOIA production was very conservative. There’s nothing “creative” about taking a number of hours times an hourly rate to arrive at a total cost. The computations for the year-to-date cost was based on actual time spent answering the request, not on the time the request was received until it was picked up. The city is run with a very small staff. Any time taken from their normal job, even to just to make a copy, is a cost to the city and the taxpayers.

While she has filed many FOIAs, I doubt if she has ever processed one.

The Knowles stated they “believe they have made citizens more aware of how this council operates.” The council operates out in the open, in public. The public can attend council meetings or watch them on line, set up a meeting with me or any council members at any time. I have stressed to city staff, if someone comes in and asks questions, answer them.

Robert “Butch” Berry, Mayor