A workplace climate/culture survey at the Leelanau County government center is under fire by Leelanau County commissioner Melinda Lautner, who feels that the consultant contracted to perform the survey may be influenced by correspondence between the county’s personnel committee and employees.
Lautner requested all this correspondence under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in mid-November, but the county prosecutor’s office said earlier this month that fulfilling this request will be costly at $5,000 with a 50% upfront deposit. Lautner told the newspaper that she is working with an attorney to see if she really must pay this fee, and the Leelanau Enterprise sought a legal opinion as well.
In a written response to Lautner, Prosecutor Joe Hubbell reported there were about 1,250 emails between personnel committee chair Kama Ross and county employees in the 10-week time frame specified by Lautner.
Per Michigan Common Law (MCL), the cost of a search is based on “the hourly rate of the lowest paid public employee capable of retrieving the necessary information.” Hubbell said this employee must be his chief assistant prosecutor, Tristan Chamberlain, as he says he is the only one qualified to determine if information is exempt and to make redactions.
Hubbell said every email needs to be reviewed to determine if it is exempt under MCL, which includes “information of a personal nature (that) would constitute a clearly unwanted invasion of an individual’s privacy” and “frank communication between officials and employees.” Chamberlain earns $50 an hour and Hubbell estimates it will take 100 hours to complete the request, hence the $5,000 price tag.
Barrett Young, an associate for Butzel Long — a law firm advising reporters through the Michigan Press Association legal hotline — asked to review Hubbell’s written response before weighing in with his opinion. Here’s what he said: “As a general matter, the prosecutor’s response is about what we would expect. The exemptions that he invoked (unwarranted invasion of a person’s privacy and frank communications) probably apply to at least some of the requested documents. The FOIA requester, however, could justifiably demand that the prosecutor provide more explanation for why each exemption applies,” Young said.
However, Young cited a separate MCL passage stating that “public records may be furnished without charge or at a reduced charge if the public body determines that a waiver or reduction of the fee is in the public interest” or “primarily benefitting the general public.” So, Young said, “the fees are optional.”
Young also said the $5,000 fee could be lowered if some tasks besides determining whether the correspondence is exempt from disclosure were to be assigned to other, lower-paid employees, or if the FOIA requester successfully argued that the estimated five minutes to review every email was “a bit high.”
When the newspaper followed up with Lautner on Tuesday, she said that she was still having conversations with an attorney. She said that she is considering advancing the argument that she should gain access to the correspondence (without having to pay a fee) so she can make an informed decision as county commissioner when the consultant comes and presents their findings in an action plan to the board.
Personnel committee chair and fellow county commissioner Kama Ross, who was named in Lautner’s FOIA request, said the results of the survey will be presented to the board at a committee of the whole meeting at 1 p.m. on Jan. 3.
“The survey results will help our committee, BOC and administration create a plan to address the challenges within the government center as effectively and quickly as possible. I trust that commissioner Lautner and the entire board will be hearing all that she/they desire without names/departments or other confidential information not required to further our commitment to our county employees,” Ross said.
The county board recently contracted the Michigan Leadership Institute (MLI) to identify the source of the problem and present an “action plan” to address the issues. Data is currently being gathered in one-on-one meetings between employees and MLI regional president John Scholten. This contract cost the county $6,500.
