I’m posting a link to Thursday’s oral argument in the Michigan Supreme Court. Cory Johnston posted the link on his Village page shortly after the video was posted, but I wanted to add it here and add some thoughts. The entire video is less than an hour long.
I think that Richard did an excellent job arguing my side of the case. The Justices had already read everything that had been filed, so the purpose of the arguments on Thursday was primarily for the lawyers to answer questions regarding their case strengths and weaknesses and perhaps to highlight a few key points. Each side was supposed to have 20 minutes to speak, but it went on a bit longer than that.
If you do take the time to listen, I want you to remember that Richard was not just speaking for me. The case may have started in the small town of Clarkston when our charter-appointed city attorney decided to withhold 18 pieces of correspondence from me by physically keeping them in his office and refusing to turn them over to city hall. This same charter-appointed attorney told you exactly what he thought about your right to know about your own government at a city council meeting on April 27, 2015 when he said that the “information comin’ out of city hall is gonna to have to be adjusted” and “[t]he public doesn’t have to know every little hiccup in life that happens.” And he certainly did follow through on that when I sent my FOIA request weeks later. Oddly, all 18 pieces of correspondence related to former council member Sharron Catallo’s children.
Because of the actions of the charter-appointed attorney, and a majority of our city council believing that it’s perfectly fine to hide records pertaining to city business in off-site files, we’ve now reached a point in my case where a decision will affect every taxpayer in the state, including you. In that sense, while Richard’s arguments are my arguments, they are yours as well.
The attorney arguing for the city has been handsomely paid for over four years now by the Michigan Municipal League’s Liability and Property Pool with funds originating from local taxpayers throughout Michigan. He vociferously opposes your right to know about your own government and the actions of your city officials (remember, the charter-appointed attorney is an officer of the city, the same as the city manager). He tried to convince the Justices that every public employee and every public official in Michigan cities, villages, townships, and counties should have the right to control what we can learn about our government by merely stashing records in some place other than city hall. He claims that these people, and this type of conduct, isn’t covered by the FOIA statute. When you hear him talk, know that he’s arguing against your rights, not just against mine.
Lansing is a long way to drive when you can watch the arguments live on the Michigan Supreme Court’s YouTube channel or see a replay of the arguments online as most people have done. Yet, there was one other person from Clarkston who made that long drive to see the live arguments. Who was that person? Why, it was none other than our current mayor Eric Haven. Yes, the same guy who told the city council that they should stop conjecturing, hypothesizing, agree, be thankful, and “cease and desist,” when they demanded to know why these 18 records were being hidden, who made the decision to hide them, and whether there was a way to release the records and end a lawsuit that they didn’t want the city to be associated with.
Gosh, I wonder which side Mr. Haven was silently cheering for on Thursday morning. Actually, I’m not really wondering that. I know who he is and what he stands for, and by now, you should too.
The court should issue an opinion no later than July 31st of this year, which is the end of the current term.