ARCOLA, IL. (ECWd) –
In another of the many recent alleged violations of the Freedom Of Information Act, Arcola Township is facing its fifth civil suit for their failure to provide public records when requested.
This one is particularly special because it shows the arrogance of the township officials when it comes to complying with the law.
Kirk Allen, after attending the hearing on FOIA suit 2013-MR-53 and observing the township attorney, Mr. Mark T. Petty, inform the judge twice, in open court, that Kraft had filed 30 FOIA requests within a year, decided to verify that statement that everyone in the courtroom knew was an out-right lie.
Allen sent a request to Arcola Township for a copy of all the FOIA requests received (just the requests, not the responsive documents) in that time-frame and the answer was returned that there were no documents response to that question!
This is how Arcola Township has been answering requests for public records, by claiming everything is a question, and that they don’t have to answer questions. But that’s fine, their childish ways are coming at the expense of the taxpayers that put them in office.
Remember this at the next election, the township is purposely refusing to answer FOIA requests and willfully creating massive legal fees, all with your money. They will try to claim we ask for public records, but all they need to do is provide the requested records when asked and follow the law. Instead, you will pay more in legal bills this year than Deanna makes working in both the township and the fire department.
Let that sink in for awhile…then read this article again, and read these articles (here).
The original FOIA request and the answer to the request:
[gview file=”https://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Kirk-Request-Answer.pdf” save=”1″]
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