ARCOLA, IL. (ECWd) –
On September 5, 2013, the Illinois Attorney General sent a closing letter to a Freedom Of Information Act request for review that I submitted alleging a FOIA denial by Arcola Twonship in that they did not respond to my request for public records. At the time I submitted the complaint to the AG, I had not received a response from Arcola Twp. Between the time I filed the complaint, and the twp answering the complaint, they had already sent a reponse to my intitial FOIA request.
The AG stated: “Because the township responded to your request, we conclude no further action is warranted.”
I agree with the AG’s assessment of the situation, and while reading the AG’s response, you will find NOTHING in it that references their “ruling” in anyones favor, and that includes the towship’s.
The disturbing part to me, and what should cause outrage amongst the taxpayers of Arcola Township, is that “as a matter of routine” the township appears to be routing FOIA reuests and responses thru their attorney – and paying him with your tax money. In this case, everybody thought somebody else sent the response.
View the AG letter and Mr. Petty’s response (paid for with your tax dollars) below:
[gview file=”https://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/25611-f-m-pb-resp-mun.pdf”]
2 Comments
Lake Lady
Posted at 10:55h, 27 OctoberThe Township has a meeting Monday night the 28th.On the agenda is a FOIA from John Kraft,also an item concerning the township atty.Mr. Petty.You don’t suppose there will be another medical emergency?You remember,the first court date was postponed because the Township Atty.(Mark Petty)had a medical issue,and thanks to the advances in the medical field he was able to enjoy the festival.I’ll be intrested to see if there won’t be another unforeseen problem come up.Joe,since you guys don’t invite the paper to the meetings,could you post here whats going on behind locked doors?
Unhappy Taxpayer
Posted at 07:54h, 26 SeptemberWhen will it ever stop?jmkraft is right,we as taxpayers in this township should be outraged at the actions of the board.Something must be wrong for them to run everything thru their atty. and not answer the Foia’s.I don’t want to hear anybody bitch about their tax bill again,because if you think it’s ok to spend tax money this way then it’s not high enough.