Augusta County bungles another FOIA response in surprise Morelli resignation

The article highlights significant failures in governmental transparency regarding the sudden resignation of a local supervisor. Despite a Freedom of Information Act request seeking records related to the resignation and alleged sexual harassment, the county withheld key communications and provided incomplete data. This selective disclosure suggests an institutional effort to obscure the internal dynamics and motivations behind the leadership change, rather than adhering to open records laws. Crucially, the missing evidence includes text messages between the resigning supervisor and other board members that occurred during closed meetings. These omitted messages reveal informal discussions and emotional reactions to the event, contradicting the official narrative of a quiet and procedural departure. The gap between the requested records and those actually provided indicates that the government is leveraging legal exemptions, such as attorney-client privilege, to protect private administrative deliberations from public scrutiny. This case is highly relevant to open data advocates because it exposes how "data" in government is often incomplete or curated before reaching the public. True transparency requires not just the release of documents, but the accountability for what is excluded. When agencies withhold contextual communications, they prevent citizens from understanding the full picture of governance, undermining trust and making it difficult to hold officials accountable for their decisions and conduct.

Source: augustafreepress.com
Published on 2024-01-13

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« By Escanaba Daily Press staff ESCANABA — The Escanaba City Council met with the heads of the city’s departments this week to discuss upcoming expenditures, future projects, and the wishlists of city staff. Here are some highlights of the discussion. THE BASICS City Mananger Jim McNeil described the city’s general fund as “healthy,” pointing towards a trend over the past few years for revenue to outpace expenditures. “We’re hanging in this holding pattern of a modest surplus, (but) I don’t expect that to last forever, though,” he said. When it comes to revenue, the city is expecting an increase in revenue from property taxes as the result of a 5% inflation modifier and a rise in property values across the city. It’s unclear how much the city will receive in statuary revenue sharing from the state, which relies on Michigan’s 6% sales tax as a funding source. Even with the modest increase in revenue from taxes, much of that revenue is expected to be eaten up by the city’s pension system. The city exited the Michigan Employees Retirement System last year to manage its own pension fund for city employees who were not part of the city’s public safety pension system, which is also internally maintained. While the move away from MERS gives the city control over investments backing the fund and gives better protection from negative market events, it does leave the city responsible for all aspects of the plans, including auditing and ensuring the plans are funded. “Our goal, as we’ve discussed, is really to maintain a fairly aggressive contribution path. We don’t want to kick the can and be paying on these for another 15-20 years,” said McNeil, who aims to have the pensions fully-funded as soon as possible. One of the other concerns for the city over the past few budget cycles has been the motor vehicle fund. Unlike other funds in the city that directly impact a single department, the motor vehicle fund is used by all city departments that require the use of motorized equipment, including things like squad cars, snow plows, and other heavy equipment. In essence, all vehicles are part of the fund and each department pays rent into the fund for use of those vehicles. If the cost of maintaining equipment is higher than the amount paid for rent, the fund loses money — something that is common in municipalities where equipment and vehicles aren’t replaced frequently. As of the end of the last fiscal year, the fund was back in the black, reporting a profit of about $214,000. “We’re seeing signs of life. What we’re doing is working. We’re not done yet, but certainly it’s going to take several years to get this to a fund that is fully functional. I imagine, with the price of equipment, we’re going to need a fund with several million dollars in it to really be healthy,” said McNeil, who noted rentals had outpaced expenses and allowed for the purchase of new equipment. CUSTODIAL At the request of the city’s custodian, residents can expect a few changes at city hall. Sidewalk that is damaged by the library will be replaced and the parking lot will be reengineered to remove the islands, allowing for better plowing in the winter. RECREATION The majority of projects discussed by Escanaba Recreation Director Kim Peterson for the coming fiscal year are projects that are already in the works. The department is awaiting word on whether or not a grant application to construct dedicated pickleball courts in the city has been approved. If the grant application was denied, the city will begin looking for alternative sources of funding for the project. The planned conversion of the Webster Wading Pool into a splash pad is still expected to be completed in June, however the $17,000 originally planned for the project is no longer available. Due to past agreements, the wading pool must be converted into some form of park facility or the land will be transferred to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The department is also continuing the process of making the Catherine Bonifas Civic Center into a certified emergency shelter. WATER, WASTEWATER AND STREETS The city is continuing a number of water and wastewater projects. Following delays related to necessary electrical components, the city’s water treatment plant project is expected to be completed in June or July. Water Plant Road, which was closed due to the project, was officially reopened Wednesday. Planning is ongoing for upgrades at the city’s wastewater plant. The project is expected to be put out for bids this spring. The ongoing lead line replacements throughout the city are still a major project for Escanaba. As the replacements continue, the city has decided to do full-width reconstruction of portions of road in locations where water mains are replaced. Previously, the city had explored full or partial reconstructions in areas where service lines were replaced, but the cost would make these reconstructions unfeasible. Other planned projects in the coming years for the water department include upgrades in the Michigan Department of Transportation corridor between Menards and Bay College, which is slated for major construction in the 2026-2027 fiscal year. Because of the sheer number of projects that the water and wastewater departments will be undertaking in the coming year, a number of public meetings to explain the projects are planned. The dates of those meetings has not been announced. LIBRARY While the library has faced tough cutbacks that required leaving some positions unfilled in the last year, the library as a whole has also experienced some wins. The library’s new bookmobile launched last year, and while it has not yet left the city limits, Library Director Carolyn Stacey said the response has been positive and the public relations boost from the bookmobile has made it worth the expense. In many ways, the library has had a banner year. Check-outs were up 12%, visitors to the library were up 11%, use of in house computers at the library were up 26%, and new cardholders were up 14%. “Our library is a city library that functions as a county library but with no funding from the county,” she said. Historically, restructuring the library district or seeking a county millage for library services has been rejected. That leaves reworking contracts between the library and townships — a laborious and time-consuming process — as the primary way to increase funding from outlying areas. DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY Downtown Development Authority Director Craig Woerpel, who was hired roughly a year ago to lead the authority, said it was his intention to continue the DDA’s focus on marketing and events, as his board had directed him to focus on when hired. In addition to continuing things like pop-up markets, live music events, and the DDA’s management of the city’s annual Christmas parade, he intends to develop a partnership with the Delta County Economic Development Alliance to promote workshops for potential resident entrepreneurs in the coming year. One of the primary challenges for the DDA, however, is vandalism at the Escanaba Marketplace, which has been a concern for the DDA since the Marketplace was first opened in 2018. Woerpel noted he had seen multiple children, some as young as eight years old, damaging the property — mostly idly and without malice. These incidents have largely been unreported to police, as they involve children. However, the council recommended Woerpel work with public safety whenever the property is damaged so parents can be notified. PUBLIC SAFETY Most of the challenges facing Escanaba Public Safety are related to staffing shortages. While some of these shortages have been addressed through the department’s sponsorship of new recruits through the police academy, the additional fire response training means any new recruits are not fully trained for at least a year. The staffing shortages have had two major effects on the department, beyond leaving the department short-staffed. First, the department is paying out more in overtime to the remaining officers — leaving a question mark in the department’s budget that won’t be fully-addressed until the end of the fiscal year. Second, it prevented the city from acquiring a second K9 officer after a private donation to fund the dog, because the officer that would become its handler could not be spared for the necessary training downstate. Other concerns are the aging public safety building, which needs extensive HVAC work; and added Freedom of Information Act costs. The number of FOIA requests have doubled in recent years, and requests are only expected to increase once the department’s new bodycams are fully-implemented. This may require a part-time position in the department to become a full-time position to handle the additional workload. ELECTRIC A significant concern for the city’s electric department is new legislation requiring the amount of renewable energy credits (RECs) the city must produce or purchase to increase over the next 11 years. For the period between 2024 and 2029, the law requires 15% of the city’s electricity purchased to either be produced by solar or wind or for the necessary credits to be purchased to offset the shortfall. Based on the most recent numbers, that means the city would need 19,500 RECs, 2,500 of which would be produced by the city’s solar farm, leaving the city to purchase 17,500 RECs. At roughly $3 per REC, that leaves the department with a $52,500 bill. The amount of RECs required will increase to 50% from 2030 to 2034 and by 2035, reach 60%. It is also expected that the cost per REC will increase substantially during this period, potentially costing the city and ratepayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. In preparation, the electric department is planning to conduct a rate study during the next fiscal year. This will help determine whether residents rates should be increased incrementally or all at once, and in either case, by how much. PLANNING AND ZONING Upcoming expenditures for the planning and zoning department are relatively low, with the primary concern being professional services costs related to a review of the city’s master plan and the development of form-based code. Form-based code differs from traditional zoning rules — known as “Euclid zoning” — by establishing the requirements of buildings in a certain area rather than designating what types of uses can occur in that area. This allows for more mixed-use developments and, in many cases, simplifies the zoning code by reducing redundancies between districts. The city of Marquette uses form-based code in its waterfront district. PUBLIC WORKS The majority of the issues facing the city’s public works department are related to staffing and the age of equipment, some of which is over 30 years old. The biggest anticipated equipment request is for the replacement of the city’s 2009 garbage truck. “It’s costing us more money that it’s worth,” said Public Works Superintendent Kent Dubord. The department is also planning to repair sidewalks and crosswalks and is seeking upgrades to its facilities, including the building itself, the fuel station, and the salt dome. CLERK The primary concern for the clerk’s office is the number of elections taking place in the next year, including an special recall election in May for the county commission. City Clerk Phil DeMay stated during the meeting that one of his primary goals was to increase the wages of poll-workers, partly to attract more workers in light of a sometimes-hostile political climate towards election workers and partly to make the city more competitive than its neighbors for potential workers.

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