[Michlib-l] FOIA Request

Tue Mar 12 13:29:48 EDT 2024

Hi Guys,

We got those same emails a couple of weeks ago.  Being a new director, I 
was worried, so I emailed a trusted colleague.  He and his colleague 
gave me some EXCELLENT advice that I would like to pass on to you.

He wrote, "/Oh gosh. That's nothing for her to fret over. I would not 
even go so far as to say “hit with a FOIA” like its negative... It’s one 
of those “open government” places that makes wage information of 
government employees easily accessible. [My library] gets one every 
year. I am not sure what triggers their interest other than random 
samplings of local governments and schools in a geographic area. I have 
another one I get every quarter called Smart Procure. They ask for All 
purchases made. These are just big mass FOIA companies for “holding 
government accountable”. They don't actually care about her. It’s just a 
stat for their database. //Other than the time it takes to fill out a 
report, which for her should not be too bad, it’s an extra large nothing 
burger. With pickles ;). "

/Looking at it THAT way made me realize that it was no big deal and made 
me feel SO much better.  I had our bookkeeper run two quick reports on 
Quickbooks and emailed them off, and then we had two extra large nothing 
burgers... with pickles.

I hope that helps and makes you feel a little less worried.

Kari Besancon (Bə-sank’-in), MLIS
District Director
Iosco-Arenac District Library
zv323
989-362-2651
k.besancon at vlc.lib.mi.us

On 3/12/2024 1:06 PM, Lynne Lesky via Michlib-l wrote:
> We also got them. We are working on how to respond. I will let you 
> know what we do. This is also my first time responding to a FOIA 
> request, but I was told that we get this one every year, so we are 
> looking for what we sent last year.
>
> Lynne
>
> Lynne K. Lesky, Director
> Alanson Area Public Library
> 7631 Burr Avenue PO Box 37
> Alanson, MI 49706
> (231) 548-5465
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Michlib-l <michlib-l-bounces at mcls.org> on behalf of Kay Hurd 
> via Michlib-l <michlib-l at mcls.org>
> *Sent:* Tuesday, March 12, 2024 12:59 PM
> *To:* michlib-l at mcls.org <michlib-l at mcls.org>
> *Subject:* [Michlib-l] FOIA Request
> I have received 2 separate requests for financial records from 
> American Transparency.  Is anyone else getting this?  If so, how are 
> you handling it?  This is my first time.
> Thanks,
> Kay E. Hurd
> Director
> Almont District Library
> 213 W. St. Clair
> P.O. Box 517
> Almont, MI. 48003-0517
> 810-798-3100  voice
> 810-798-2208  fax
>
> director at adlmi.org
> khurd at adlmi.org
> www.adlmi.org
>
>
>
>
>
>
> 03/08/2024
>
> Records Access Officer,
>
> Pursuant to the FOIA, this is a request for *an electronic copy of all 
> payment transactions for Almont District Library for calendar year 
> 2023 or fiscal year 2022-2023*. This could be considered one of the 
> following reports: /Vendor Payment Checkbook Report, Checkbook 
> Register, Expenditure Data, Transactional Detail Payments, Online 
> Checkbook, or Disbursements/. Here is an online example from the City 
> of San Anonio, Texas 
> (https://www.sanantonio.gov/Finance/bfi/registers#50043241-fy2019). We 
> would accept any existing report which contains a minimum of the Payee 
> Name, Amount and Date of each transaction.
>
> The principal purpose of this is to make this information more 
> accessible to the public and to disseminate information regarding the 
> health, safety, and welfare of the general public. This request is not 
> for personal or commercial benefit and we are exercising the general 
> rights of the public. For this reason we are requesting a waiver of fees.
>
> If there is a fee for this data, please obtain my approval in writing 
> prior to proceeding with this request. All documents can be e-mailed 
> to Michigan at OpenTheBooks.com. We would prefer a file format of csv or 
> xlsx.
>
> If any records or portions of records are withheld, please provide the 
> exemption and the name of the individual responsible for the decision.
>
> Thank you for your prompt consideration of my request. If you have any 
> questions, or if I can be of any assistance, please e-mail me at 
> Michigan at OpenTheBooks.com.
>
>
> Sincerely,
> Christopher Schreiner
> American Transparency
> P.O. Box 970999
> Boca Raton, FL 33497-0999
>
>
>
> 03/08/2024
>
> Records Access Officer
>
> Pursuant to the FOIA, this is a request for a copy of the following 
> records: An electronic file (ie Excel, PDF, Word) of any and all 
> Almont District Library employees including part-time, temporary, 
> seasonal employees and elected officials for year of 2023 (fiscal or 
> calendar year). Each employee record should contain the year of 
> compensation, first name, middle initial, last name, hire date 
> (mm-dd-yyyy), base salary amount, bonus amount, overtime amount, gross 
> annual wages and position title.
>
> The principal purpose of this is to make this information more 
> accessible to the public and to access and disseminate information 
> regarding the health, safety, and welfare of the general public. This 
> request is not principally for personal or commercial benefit. Our 
> agency is just exercising the general rights of the public. For these 
> reasons, we are requesting a waiver of fees. If there is a charge for 
> this service, please obtain my approval in writing prior to proceeding 
> with request.
>
> All documents can be e-mailed to Michigan at OpenTheBooks.com or mailed 
> in electronic format (preferred format would be .csv or .xls). If any 
> documents are not provided in the format specified, please provide the 
> state or federal statutes relied upon for that decision. If any record 
> or portion of a record responsive to this request is contained in a 
> record or portion of a record deemed unresponsive to the request, I 
> would like to inspect the entire document. Under the Open Records 
> Act/Freedom of Information Act, all non-exempt portions of any 
> partially-exempt documents must be disclosed. If any records or 
> portions of records are withheld, please state the exemption on which 
> you rely, the basis on which the exemption is invoked, and the name of 
> the individual responsible for the decision.
>
> Thank you for your prompt consideration of my request. If you have any 
> questions, or if I can be of any assistance, please e-mail me at 
> Michigan at OpenTheBooks.com.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Christopher Schreiner
> American Transparency
> P.O. Box 970999
> Boca Raton, FL 33497-0999
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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