20-IB26 10/28/2020 FOIA Opinion Letter to Ms. Marie Hatkevich and Mr. Harvey Shulman re: FOIA Complaint Concerning the City of Rehoboth Beach
Petitioners alleged that the Rehoboth Beach listed an agenda item for a meeting that was impermissibly vague because it did not include the name of a nominee to its membership. The agenda item was amended less than seven days before the meeting to include the name of the nominee.
DECIDED: The City violated FOIA by not briefly stating its reason for amending its agenda, as required by FOIA.
Read More20-IB25 10/28/2020 FOIA Opinion Letter to Mr. Bruce Vivari re: FOIA Complaint Concerning the City of Rehoboth Beach
Petitioner alleged that Rehoboth failed to respond to multiple records requests.
DECIDED: This Office determined that the City violated FOIA by failing to timely respond to three requests.
Read More20-IB24 10/21/2020 FOIA Opinion Letter to Ms. Jeanne Kuang re: FOIA Complaint Concerning the Wilmington Neighborhood Conservancy Land Bank
Petitioner alleged that the Land Bank improperly assessed charges for legal review of requested documents. The Land Bank responded that the review of nonpublic information would be done by a staff member rather than an attorney and would thus be considered administrative.
DECIDED: The Land Bank violated FOIA, as the determination of whether information is exempt from FOIA is legal review. This Office recommended that the Land Bank update its cost estimate accordingly.
Read More20-IB23 10/13/2020 FOIA Opinion Letter to Mr. Richard Abbott re: FOIA Complaint Concerning the Environmental Appeals Board
Petitioner alleged the EAB improperly deliberated an appeal twice in executive session. DNREC argued that 7 Del. C. § 6008(a) permitted these deliberations.
DECIDED: No FOIA violation was found.
Read More20-IB22 10/6/2020 FOIA Opinion Letter to Ms. Jeanne Kuang re: FOIA Complaint Concerning the City of Wilmington
Petitioner alleged that City applications for federal grants and emails with federal agencies were improperly withheld. The City argued that the completed applications were under the exclusive control of the federal government and email requests should be directed to the Delaware Department of Technology and Information. DECIDED: The City violated FOIA by denying the requests.
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