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Suffolk Press Releases - Requested under FOIA - And I will continue to do so.

By Scott • on July 25, 2008

UPDATE: Ms. Woodson is charging me $15.00 for all press releases from June 21st through June 30th, mailing them to me on CD.

All she would have had to do is have Ms. Debbie George forward her previous emails to me and there would have been minimal legwork.

It is my opinion, that Ms. Woodson is trying to make this as inconvenient as possible to preclude any further requests by this or any other blogger.

On July 22nd, I sent the following email to Ms. Debbie George (her published email is invalid) and Ms. Dana Woodson of the City of Suffolk.

Scott’s Morning Brew scottsmorningbrew -at- gmail.com

dwoodson@city.suffolk.va.us,
Communications@city.suffolk.va.us

Tue, Jul 22, 2008 at 9:12 PM

Subject: FOIA Request

Jul 22 (2 days ago)

I formally request, copies of all press releases issued by the City of Suffolk Virginia from June 21 through July 22 2008.

I will accept these items in electronic format attached to an email, on compact disc or in paper form, which ever is easiest for your staff.

If you would prefer, you can place this email address on your mailing list to receive them as they are issued.

My intent is to request these items under Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act on a monthly basis.

Thank you,
Scott D. White
[address and phone number deleted]

This was in response to this article I wrote on July 22nd and a multitude of articles written across the blogosphere regarding Ms. Debbie George’s denial to add a local blog to her mailing list to receive press releases.

Suffolk denying bloggers press releases
Suffolk won’t release press releases to blogger
A SIMPLE REQUEST
The City of Suffolk says blogs are not media
Bloggers Denied Press Releases
Bias against blogs and other social media continues
City of Suffolk vs. Inside Suffolk Virginia blog
Bloggers denied Suffolk, Portsmouth VA press releases

I just got off the phone with Ms. Woodson, the FOIA Manager for the City of Suffolk. She had called and emailed me the morning of the 23rd of July with a request to contact her regarding my request.

I wasn’t able to contact her until today.

She stated she wanted “clarification” of my request. I am not sure how much more clear I could be but I called. She made it clear that she would fulfill my FOIA request but would not add me to the mailing list since that was for “media only”. (Note to self: All future telephone conversations concerning this will be recorded.)

I told her that I would be sending this request on a monthly basis.

UPDATE: Just receieved the following email from Ms. Woodson:

Dana Woodson DWoodson@city.suffolk.va.us
Scott White <scottsmorningbrew -at- mail.com>

Fri, Jul 25, 2008 at 11:20 AM

RE: Unable to answer the phone

11:20 AM (14 minutes ago)

Thank you. Please call me so that we can confirm the charges for this request.

– Dana Woodson
757.514.4101

and then this:

Dana Woodson DWoodson@city.suffolk.va.us
Scott White <scottsmorningbrew -at- gmail.com>

Fri, Jul 25, 2008 at 11:36 AM

RE: Unable to answer the phone

11:36 AM (7 minutes ago)

Mr. White:

I need a confirmation from you, first, that you are willing to pay for the request before we produce it. Once I receive your response, I will send your request to the staff who will provide the documents and they will send me a time and document estimate for completion. I will give you the estimate, and based on your response, we will proceed with responding to your request.

Thank you,

Dana

The Virginia Freedom of Information Act states:

F. A public body may make reasonable charges not to exceed its actual cost incurred in accessing, duplicating, supplying, or searching for the requested records. No public body shall impose any extraneous, intermediary or surplus fees or expenses to recoup the general costs associated with creating or maintaining records or transacting the general business of the public body. Any duplicating fee charged by a public body shall not exceed the actual cost of duplication. The public body may also make a reasonable charge for the cost incurred in supplying records produced from a geographic information system at the request of anyone other than the owner of the land that is the subject of the request. However, such charges shall not exceed the actual cost to the public body in supplying such records, except that the public body may charge, on a pro rata per acre basis, for the cost of creating topographical maps developed by the public body, for such maps or portions thereof, which encompass a contiguous area greater than 50 acres. All charges for the supplying of requested records shall be estimated in advance at the request of the citizen.

G. Public records maintained by a public body in an electronic data processing system, computer database, or any other structured collection of data shall be made available to a requester at a reasonable cost, not to exceed the actual cost in accordance with subsection F. When electronic or other databases are combined or contain exempt and nonexempt records, the public body may provide access to the exempt records if not otherwise prohibited by law, but shall provide access to the nonexempt records as provided by this chapter.

Public bodies shall produce nonexempt records maintained in an electronic database in any tangible medium identified by the requester, including, where the public body has the capability, the option of posting the records on a website or delivering the records through an electronic mail address provided by the requester, if that medium is used by the public body in the regular course of business. No public body shall be required to produce records from an electronic database in a format not regularly used by the public body. However, the public body shall make reasonable efforts to provide records in any format under such terms and conditions as agreed between the requester and public body, including the payment of reasonable costs. The excision of exempt fields of information from a database or the conversion of data from one available format to another shall not be deemed the creation, preparation or compilation of a new public record.

I WOULD ENCOURAGE ALL BLOGGERS WHO FEEL SLIGHTED BY THE CITY OF SUFFOLK IN THIS FIASCO TO SEND FORMAL REQUESTS FOR THE INFORMATION!!!

Sooner or later they will figure out that adding an email address ONCE is far more efficient that filling FOIA requests over and over again.

The following generic information on FOIA requests is provided. Please do not take this as pure gospel but its accurate as far as I know.

——————————————————–

The Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), located § 2.2-3700 et seq. of the Code of Virginia, guarantees citizens of the Commonwealth and representatives of the media access to public records held by public bodies, public officials, and public employees.

A public record is any writing or recording — regardless of whether it is a paper record, an electronic file, an audio or video recording, or any other format — that is prepared or owned by, or in the possession of a public body or its officers, employees or agents in the transaction of public business. All public records are presumed to be open, and may only be withheld if a specific, statutory exemption applies.

The policy of FOIA states that the purpose of FOIA is to promote an increased awareness by all persons of governmental activities. In furthering this policy, FOIA requires that the law be interpreted liberally, in favor of access, and that any exemption allowing public records to be withheld must be interpreted narrowly.

Your FOIA Rights

You have the right to request to inspect or receive copies of public records, or both.
You have the right to request that any charges for the requested records be estimated in advance.
If you believe that your FOIA rights have been violated, you may file a petition in district or circuit court to compel compliance with FOIA.

Making a Request

You may request records by U.S. Mail, fax, e-mail, in person, or over the phone. FOIA does not require that your request be in writing, nor do you need to specifically state that you are requesting records under FOIA.
- From a practical perspective, it may be helpful to both you and the person receiving your request to put your request in writing. This allows you to create a record of your request. It also gives us a clear statement of what records you are requesting, so that there is no misunderstanding over a verbal request. However, we cannot refuse to respond to your FOIA request if you elect to not put it in writing.
Your request must identify the records you are seeking with “reasonable specificity.” This is a common-sense standard. It does not refer to or limit the volume or number of records that you are requesting; instead, it requires that you be specific enough so that we can identify and locate the records that you are seeking.
Your request must ask for existing records or documents. FOIA gives you a right to inspect or copy records; it does not apply to a situation where you are asking general questions about the work of an entity nor does it require that entity to create a record that does not exist.
You may choose to receive electronic records in any format used by the entity in the regular course of business.
- For example, if you are requesting records maintained in an Excel database, you may elect to receive those records electronically, via e-mail or on a computer disk, or to receive a printed copy of those records