25-IB06 1/21/25 FOIA Opinion Letter to Randall Chase re: Delaware General Assembly, Division of Legislative Services
Petitioner alleged that the Division of Legislative Affairs of the Delaware General Assembly violated FOIA by failing to provide an affidavit with its response to his request and making improper redactions to the employee confidentiality policies.
DECIDED: The Division did not violate FOIA by failing to provide an affidavit with its response to the request or by redacting the employee names from the documents provided.
25-IB05 1/21/25 FOIA Opinion Letter to Jennifer Pawloski re: Association of Coastal Towns
Petitioner alleged that the Association of Coastal Towns (“ACT”) violated FOIA by failing to provide notice of the public comment period on its December 13, 2024 meeting agenda and by dissolving instead of following this Office’s recommendations.
DECIDED: ACT violated FOIA by failing to include the public comment period on its agenda. The remaining claim is outside the scope of this Office’s statutory authority.
Read More25-IB04 1/17/25 FOIA Opinion Letter to Representative Sean Lynn re: Delaware General Assembly, Division of Legislative Services
Petitioner alleged that the Division of Legislative Affairs of the Delaware General Assembly violated FOIA by failing to provide an affidavit with its response to his request, failing to provide all requested confidentiality policies, and making improper redactions to the employee confidentiality policies. In addition, the petition asserted non-FOIA claims regarding the legality of the requested policies and the General Assembly members’ rights regarding records access.
DECIDED: The Division did not violate FOIA by failing to provide an affidavit with its response to the request or by redacting the employee names from the documents provided. As the remaining claims were moot or outside the scope of this Office’s jurisdiction, they were declined for consideration.
25-IB03 1/13/25 FOIA Opinion Letter to Jennifer Pawloski re: Town of Bethany Beach
Petitioner alleged that the Town of Bethany Beach violated FOIA by failing to respond to a request for a modified request.
DECIDED: The Town violated FOIA, as the Town did not engage with the petitioner regarding the modified request.
Read More25-IB02 1/13/25 FOIA Opinion Letter to Alicia Battaglino re: City of Wilmington
Petitioner alleged that the City of Wilmington did not provide a full response to the request for citations issued by a specified inspector.
DECIDED: As the City provided sufficient sworn statements to support its response, no violation of FOIA was found.
Read More24-IB28 07/26/2024 FOIA Opinion Letter to Carol DiGiovanni re: FOIA Complaint Concerning Village of Arden
Petitioner alleged that the Village of Arden violated FOIA by holding a June 23, 2024 information session without proper notice.
DECIDED: The Village violated FOIA by failing to meet its burden to demonstrate the June 23, 2024 meeting was not subject to the open meeting requirements of FOIA.
Read More24-IB27 07/12/2024 FOIA Opinion Letter to Casey Hall re: FOIA Complaint Concerning the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control
Petitioner alleged that the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control improperly denied a request for records related to a Division of Fish and Wildlife law enforcement incident.
DECIDED: No violation of FOIA was found.
Read More24-IB26 06/26/2024 FOIA Opinion Letter to Thomas Gaynor, Steven Linehan, and Concerned Citizens of Rehoboth Beach re: FOIA Complaint Concerning the City of Rehoboth Beach
Petitioners alleged that the City of Rehoboth Beach failed to follow open meeting requirements when hiring the new City Manager at a much higher compensation package than advertised.
DECIDED: The City violated FOIA by holding an executive session for an improper purpose and failing to discuss the employment contract and compensation package in open public session, by failing to properly notice two executive sessions, and by failing to notice a public comment period on the agendas of the meetings.
Read More24-IB25 06/26/2024 FOIA Opinion Letter to State Representatives Madinah Wilson-Anton, Paul Baumbach, Cyndie Romer, Sophie Phillips, and Eric Morrison re: FOIA Complaint Concerning the Christina School District Board of Education
Petitioners alleged that the Christina School District Board of Education violated FOIA by: 1) holding an unannounced executive session at its May Board meeting to discuss Robert’s Rules of Order, which is not a permitted reason for an executive session; 2) conducting a vote of no confidence in the superintendent at the May meeting without proper notice on the agenda; and 3) discussing and voting to rescind a contract and to suspend the superintendent without appropriate public notice on the March Board meeting agenda.
DECIDED: The Board violated FOIA by holding an unannounced executive session for an improper purpose and by failing to provide adequate notice in its March and May meeting agendas for the votes regarding the contract rescission and vote of no confidence. No violation was found with respect to the notice of the executive sessions on the March Board meeting agenda and the notice for the vote on the employee suspension on this same agenda.
Read More24-IB24 06/25/2024 FOIA Opinion Letter to Warren Rosenkranz re: FOIA Complaint Concerning the Village of Arden
Petitioner alleged that the Village of Arden violated FOIA by privately discussing and approving the posting of the December 7, 2023 meeting minutes of the Governance Task Force via emails among the Task Force members.
DECIDED: The Village’s Task Force conducted a “meeting” as defined by FOIA and committed a violation of FOIA by failing to follow the open meeting requirements.
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