99-IB17: FOIA Complaint Against Town of Townsend
The Complainant alleged that the Town of Townsend violated the Freedom of Information Act in reviewing and approving a measure to mandate trash collection. Held: Upon review of the notice and agenda, the town complied with the notice requirements of FOIA in discussing and, ultimately, approving a set of mandatory trash collection procedures. No FOIA violation had occurred.
Read More99-IB16: FOIA Complaint Against Del. Dept. of Transportation and City of Wilmington
The Complainant alleged that the Delaware Department of Transportation and the City of Wilmington had violated the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”). Held: FOIA does not permit the Attorney General to adjudicate any FOIA dispute between a citizen and a department that the Attorney General is obliged to represent, such as the Delaware Department of Transportation. In any event, the Complainant had not identified any meetings that were held in violation of FOIA or public records that were not provided to him upon request. Instead, the complaint focused on allegations of other statutory violations by the City of Wilmington, which were beyond the scope of the Attorney General’s FOIA jurisdiction. No relief was therefore warranted.
Read More99-IB15 Re: Freedom of Information Act Complaint Against City of Newark
The Complainant alleged that the City of Newark violated the Freedom of Information Act by holding a meeting to discuss public business that was not open to the public. The City responded that the meeting in question was not a meeting of a council committee or other public body, but included representatives of the City, the State of Delaware and other state agencies to discuss a letter of award with the consulting firm that had been the winning bidder for a city contract. Held: The meeting was not one of a “public body” and it was therefore not required to be open. It included representatives across a number of state agencies, and largely consisted of City employees, not members of the City council. No FOIA violation had occurred.
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