Waiting for Lansing

City misses deadline on responding to a simple FOIA reques

Thursday, Aug. 7 — Much to my surprise — NOT — my latest Freedom of Information request to the city of Lansing did not arrive Tuesday, the date by which the city said it would.

That, of course, was after the city took advantage of the 10-day extension it is allowed under state law. I’m pretty confident the city’s software automatically generates a reply saying it will take another 10 business days.

My request is for a list of red-tagged properties. It’s my second stab at seeking it under the state’s Freedom of Information Act. The first time, I learned that the city no longer keeps such a list. Instead, the city provided me the last list it had created, which was at the end of January.

Once upon a time, cities actually just gave information to journalists without having to go through this rigmarole. In fact, public officials considered it rude when reporters filed FOIAs rather than just asking.

Now it seems like you can’t even get a piece of toilet paper if you’re a citizen using a City Hall bathroom without filing a FOIA.

But back to my red-tagged property-list request. After being shot down the first time when trying to obtain a current list, I contacted Scott Bean, Mayor Schor’s go-to media person.

He explained to me that the department was concerned about distributing the list because if it were published, homeless people might start moving into empty, red-tagged properties.  He also explained that the city employee who used to prepare the list had retired.

I told Bean if the city would give me the list, I promised not to publish it. I want it primarily to help feed our “Eye Sore” feature. In addition, I think it’s in the public interest to review it periodically to see if it’s growing or shrinking and to determine how long properties remain on it.

I then spoke with City Council President Ryan Kost about the list, as he would rule on an appeal. As it turns out, Kost used to request such a list regularly. He estimated it takes minutes to produce. Bean disputed that when I followed up with him.

I refiled my new request July 14, this time not asking for an existing list but rather asking the city to prepare such a list. Under state law, The city had five business days to reply. On July 18, the city said it would take up to another 10 business days — its right. It said I would hear from it Aug. 5, which was Tuesday.

I didn’t. Nor did I hear from it yesterday. The city’s FOIA  web page states this morning that my request is “in progress.”

I am going to update this story every day until I do hear.

This is not my first time the city dragged its feet on a FOIA request I made. I spent hundreds on the last one, and still, I never got what I asked for. I finally gave up in frustration.

That’s not happening this time.

Have you had a similar experience with the city of Lansing? Let me know at publisher@lansingcitypulse.com.