20-IB31 12/11/2020 FOIA Opinion Letter to Mr. Randall Chase re: FOIA Complaint Concerning the Delaware Association of Professional Engineers
Petitioner alleged DAPE improperly planned to discuss financial data in executive session per its published agenda.
DECIDED: This Office accepted the representation that financial data was not discussed in executive session and its inclusion on the agenda was an error. This error was a technical violation of FOIA for which no remediation was necessary.
Read More20-IB30 12/7/2020 FOIA Opinion Letter to Ms. Amy McFalls re: FOIA Complaint Concerning New Castle County
Petitioner alleged that the New Castle County Division of Police improperly denied a request for a copy of an arrest warrant. In response, the County provided an affidavit of its FOIA Coordinator asserting that the County did not have the requested records within its possession or custody.
DECIDED: As the County demonstrated it had no responsive records, no FOIA violation was found.
Read More20-IB29 12/2/2020 FOIA Opinion Letter to Mr. John Young re: FOIA Complaint Concerning the Christina School District Board of Education
Petitioner alleged that the Christina School District Board of Directors selected and negotiated terms of employment with a candidate for superintendent out of public view and a meeting’s agenda item, “Board Action on Superintendent Search,” was insufficient to meet the agenda items.
DECIDED: The Board violated FOIA by not noticing and preparing minutes of the meetings of the two Board members, who constituted a Board committee subject to FOIA. No FOIA violation was found relating to allegation about the agenda, because the agenda item provided adequate public notice of the Board’s action.
Read More20-IB28 11/9/2020 FOIA Opinion Letter to Councilmember Samuel Guy re: FOIA Complaint Concerning the City of Wilmington
Petitioner alleged that the Wilmington City Council President violated FOIA by notifying a councilmember of the revocation of their position without a public meeting, the City held a virtual public meeting and denied this councilmember meeting access codes and other items, and that FOIA does not permit a pre-emptive bar on a public body member’s participation in the public body’s meetings.
DECIDED: No FOIA violation was found.
Read More20-IB27 11/9/2020 FOIA Opinion Letter to Mr. Keith Steck re: FOIA Complaint Concerning the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control
Petitioner alleged that DNREC improperly denied a comment period at a hearing to members of the general public while permitting permit applicants to speak.
DECIDED: No FOIA violation was found, because the permit hearing is not subject to FOIA’s open meeting requirements.
Read More20-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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