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Friday, July 07, 2006
Does Ghiz Only Operate By Mandamus?
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
On June 17th—long before the now infamous BlackBerry debacle—I submitted this open records request to Leslie Ghiz’s office. After nearly a month, I still have not had records provided.
In short, Ghiz issued a press release to the Enquirer during what appeared normal operating hours. Section 101-41 of the Cincinnati Municipal Code states that Council office resources cannot be used to support or oppose placing an initiative on a ballot—and Ghiz’s angry press release was about opposing the Learn and Earn campaign.
So I sent this letter:
Dear Councilmember Ghiz:
The Enquirer political blog posted a press release from you yesterday entitled “ANGRY GHIZ SAYS DO NOT SIGN GAMBLING PETITIONS!”
I would like to know if you sent this email from your Council office. If so, you are in violation of the Cincinnati Municipal Code, section 101-41.
Under all applicable open records laws, please provide me with copies of any emails or other physical documents you sent this week (June 12th through June 16th, 2006) to any media outlets, including but not limited to The Cincinnati Enquirer, The Cincinnati Post, WCPO, or Cincinnati.com. Please provide any emails or other physical documents you distributed this week about the Learn and Earn campaign.
Please provide these records in electronic format whenever available. Otherwise, I am willing to pay reasonable copy costs up to five dollars for documents responsive to this request.
Thank you, in advance, for your prompt attention to this matter.
Respectfully,
The Dean of Cincinnati
About a week later—still before the BlackBerry debacle—I phoned Ghiz’s office and asked the status of this request. I was told they had referred the matter to the Solicitor’s office, to discover what, if anything, they were required to supply.
Sounds like they have records they would rather not release.
But here’s the problem: the only recourse any citizen has when stonewalled by a public office is to file a mandamus in the courts. There is a filing fee, which is rather expensive for working people who do not have a couple hundred dollars to throw around. If the public office is found guilty of not providing records, the court costs will be reimbursed—but look at the game our elected leaders can now play with us! They can not provide records, betting on whether the person who wants them would actually bother to involve the courts and front money for a filing fee.
I think it is wrong for open records laws to be played with at the expense of citizens. I guess that’s what happens when everyone who runs for office is a lawyer.
So, for good measure, I just sent the following:
Dear Councilmember Ghiz:
On June 17th I submitted an open records request (a copy is provided below). This was before the issue involving your BlackBerry.
I never received a written response from your office, though a week later, when I called, I was told the matter had been forwarded to the Solicitor so you could find out what you were required to provide.
The scope of my request is rather narrow. I am surprised the Solicitor would need several weeks to review the press releases you sent out during one week’s time. Therefore, I am thinking that perhaps you forgot to respond to my initial inquiry.
Please provide me with documents responsive to my requests under Ohio’s open records laws.
Respectfully,
The Dean of Cincinnati
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07 Jul 2006 at 10:39 pm | #
How much do you need? I will start a collection.
08 Jul 2006 at 12:46 am | #
No matter what she’s the best looking Council Gal since “Foxy Roxy”!
08 Jul 2006 at 08:16 am | #
The law means nothing to her. SHE IS THE LAW.
DIDN’T SHE TELL YOU THAT SHE WAS AN ATTORNEY?
How dare you question her Jason!
08 Jul 2006 at 09:07 am | #
Widen your scope….meaning, when you make a public records request with one member, you should CC the balance of Council, the Mayor, the City Manager, and the City Solicitor.
Also, you should put a deadline for materials.
Don’t tell what you want the files for….I would like to know if you sent this email from your Council office. If so, you are in violation of the Cincinnati Municipal Code, section 101-41.
Use this for public records request.
08 Jul 2006 at 09:11 am | #
Thanks for the tips, Howard. I’ll use that approach from now on.
Of course, I don’t think my potential stylistic error releases her from her responsibilities.
08 Jul 2006 at 11:22 am | #
But for good measure, I just sent the following:
08 Jul 2006 at 03:51 pm | #
I don’t think that any additional resources have been used by her Press Release e-mail. Her computer would still have been on anyway. The switches & routers would still be routing. The mail server would still be passing on e-mail.
Additional cost to the city for sending the e-mail?
Zero Dollars & Zero cents.
Yes it cost less than the one print out of a campaign invitation that Cole printed out made a few months ago.
As a tax payer, how can I be peeved that Ghiz’s actions cost no money. Call me when she prints out a few thousand campaign flyers on the city’s dime.
08 Jul 2006 at 04:33 pm | #
The provision in the Charter makes no mention of using dollars. It says that resources may not be used for certain activities.
The point isn’t whether it cost anything; the point is whether she is using her resources inappropriately.
Ghiz has come out, in some instances, as a champion of following the rules. That should apply to her, too. I’d like to know if she followed the rules in this case, or not.
08 Jul 2006 at 06:31 pm | #
Actually, the section is titled “Sec. 101-41. Council Office Expenses” in which context the term “resources” is limited to dollars. If you weren’t blinded by your overzealous and juvenile partisanship, you would have noticed that. So, funnelcake is right and you are wrong.
I think the hefty court costs are a good idea, in that they discourage frivolous fishing expeditions like this one.
08 Jul 2006 at 07:06 pm | #
That’s a matter of interpretation, Les.
As a taxpayer, I pay for my elected leaders to have certain resources—which are to be used according to guidelines.
She did not use them according to guidelines, at my expense.
08 Jul 2006 at 07:34 pm | #
Dean - Say Ghiz walks over to Cranley in Cityhall and says “Hey Cranley, read through this proposed legislation on gambeling in Ohio. Argosy is really screwing our city over by shutting us out & keeping a local monopoly on gambling in their Indiana casino. Cranley reads it using the light provided by light bulbs charged by electricity paid for by the city.
Is that really using city resources or are we taking it just a little too far. I bet they were keeping themselves alive by breathing the air in city hall while that was done too! Common sense needs to step in as some point.
That said
Les - Although I consider the Dean’s reason for the request quixotic, his original request was fairly limited in scope. There is no reason for Ghiz not to hand over the request for information so long as it was sent through the city e-mail system & not her own.
The council members may not like it, but their government e-mails are not their own (Just like every employee’s work e-mail is not their own).
08 Jul 2006 at 07:48 pm | #
I admit it is strange, on the one hand, to determine a dollar amount here. Obviously we should not compute light-bulb wattage per second and take that off paychecks with each tick of a hand-wound clock.
Similarly, it is difficult to say how much “pain and suffering” is worth—yet our legal system regularly “computes” dollar amounts for such situations. I view the idea of “reimbursement” more in line with the latter and not the former.
And my request was VERY limited in scope. Also remember that City Hall is allowed to CHARGE reasonable copy expenses—so it’s not like I’m doing this for free.
We could really streamline this process by making all emails sent from council offices available online—with the email addresses of the person to whom it was sent automatically redacted.
(OK… That’s just an idea off the top of my head, and I don’t know if it’s a good one or not… But it would save time and create more access and oversight.)
09 Jul 2006 at 08:26 pm | #
Everyone: if she is so innocent as many of you have said, then what does she have to lose answering Dean’s inquiry? Won’t it just make him look stupid if she has nothing to hide?
09 Jul 2006 at 09:12 pm | #
Thank you, Matt & Scott, for the voice of sanity.
10 Jul 2006 at 06:49 pm | #
What I don’t understand is how all of these comments are made between 9-5 shouldn’t you all be working? Instead of complaining and being anal about press releases a person who genuinely cares about the City is sending out, maybe you should get a job. And Jason don’t you have more important things to be doing other than harassing our elected officials, like making a mortgage payment Mr. I’m about to lose a $64,000.00 house! Let our elected leaders work, you may not agree with them, but at least they are doing what they think is best for our City, and being productive…
10 Jul 2006 at 10:00 pm | #
Do share what your research has discovered. What is next? Boiling bunnies?
Could it be that Jason has touched a nerve and the Ghizbots are going berzerk.