Response to the city of Wilmington and new FOIA requests

NOTE: the following letter is a response to the city of Wilmington, it should be self-explanatory:

 

                                                                        Ken Grant

                                                                        15 S. Dillwyn Road

                                                                        Newark, DE 19711

                                                                        302-588-4151

                                                                        ken.grant7@gmail.com

Martin C. Meltzer

Assistant City Solicitor

City of Wilmington Law Department
Louis L. Redding City/County Building
800 N. French Street, 9th Floor
Wilmington, DE 19801

Faxed to: 302-571-4565

Dear Assistant City Solicitor Meltzer,

I have received your reply to my recent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. In the interest of keeping this dialogue clear, I will reproduce your reply in boldface type and offer my responses.

Dear Mr. Grant:

    This is the City's formal reply to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Please be advised that all FOIA requests must be submitted on the City of Wilmington's FOIA form which can be found on the City's website.

I was not aware that all FOIA requests must be submitted on the City of Wilmington’s FOIA form, that certainly is not stated on the web page nor in the City Code (at least I could not find it there, I could be wrong). It’s possible that requirement may be included in the Rules of Public Access to Records of the City of Wilmington, but I could not find those rules online, either.

If you could please provide me with a copy of the Rules of Public Access to Records of the City of Wilmington, I will make sure those rules will be followed.

In accordance with your request, I am filing eleven FOIA requests using the City of Wilmington FOIA form.

    Furthermore, your request must be more specific.  Information about the City of Wilmington's parking tickets for calendar years 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 is too broad to act upon. There is information about the City's parking tickets in various departments; i.e. J.P. Court 20, Finance, Delinquent Notices, etc.

I realized after filing on December 21 that request was vague and submitted a more detailed request on December 23.

Again, in accordance with your request, I think you will find the eleven FOIA requests on the City of Wilmington FOIA forms to be more specific.

Additionally, please note that under 29 DEL.C. 10003(a), the City is only required to permit you to inspect and copy public documents during business hours with a reasonable expense involved in the copying of such records that would include retrieval, review and copying.

First, I’m well aware that inspection and copying of public documents should take place during business hours, that’s why I had requested Friday, January 13, and I’m more than willing to schedule any future date to inspect and copy public documents during business hours.

Now, let’s address this issue of the reasonable expenses involved in the copying (including retrieval, review, and copying) of public records.

First, you will find that I had addressed that issue in my original FOIA request, allow me to restate:

In order to save money on paper and ink, we hope to copy the information electronically. Please advise on the best format for such an arrangement (USB thumb drive, writable disc, etc.).

So, here’s the thing.

1. I am more than willing to pay reasonable expenses for the time and effort required to obtain the public information I am requesting.
2. As we are now well into the second decade of the 21^st Century, I would like to obtain as much information electronically as possible (the majority of this information should be easily e-mailed to ken.grant7@gmail.com - assuming that the city keeps accurate records of a program responsible for more than $3 Million of the city’s annual revenue stream). Some of my associates have access to scanners and would be happy to scan information rather than having us pay the $.50 per page the city charges.
3. I attempt to do most things as efficiently as possible, for example, the web site and videos I have created – WilmingtonParking.blogspot.com – have so far cost me approximately $4.37. I have budgeted $42 from my personal account for the information I am requesting.
4. If the city must charge more than $42, please let me know as soon as is practical. Specifically, I would like an itemized breakdown of the charges. I’ve already spoken with some people about the possibility of putting on a series of fundraising events for this purpose – we can have concerts featuring local musicians, radio-thons, and I could go on tour to various high schools and civic organizations to raise the money needed. We could call it the “Free the Public Information Tour” with posters all over town depicting the public information locked away behind bars with members of the city administration and council as prison guards and the Mayor as the prison warden. We can sell T-Shirts and auction off various items used in the Public Service Announcements we’ve been producing. One thing, if I do end up setting up fundraisers, speaking at schools and civic associations, and doing media interviews about this fundraising effort, I believe everyone will have the same question: Why is the city insisting on charging so much for public information? I would like my answer to be as accurate as possible. So please let me know which answer I should offer:

A.     The city of Wilmington is engaging in a common tactic to discourage citizens from accessing public information

B.     The city of Wilmington does not keep even the most rudimentary records or statistics about this $3 Million a year revenue program, so many hours must be spent now gathering that information

C.     For the same reason the city of Wilmington engaged in the enhanced parking ticket program to begin with, to raise revenue

D.    All of the above

E.     Other

      While I am fully aware that Governor Markell’s Executive Order No. 31 does not apply to the city of Wilmington, I believe the city should take a good look at this order and seriously consider implementing similar policies, here’s a synopsis:

Executive Order No. 31 will:

§  Reduce copying costs.  Under existing FOIA policies, state agencies may charge copying fees ranging from $0.10 to $0.50 per page for standard black-and-white copies.  Under the new policy, fees for such copies will be $0.10 per page, with the first 20 pages free.  Thus, requesting parties from many agencies may save up to 60-80% over what they would have paid under existing agency policies.

§  Adopt a “No Wrong Door” policy.  If a Requesting Party initiates a FOIA request that would more appropriately be directed to another agency, the agency must promptly forward the request to the FOIA coordinator at the appropriate agency.

§  Make it easier to request public records.  The policy allows individuals to initiate FOIA requests in person; by mail, fax, or email; or via the form required by SB 87.  Existing agency policies permit individuals to initiate requests in some of the above ways, but not all.

§  Provide a point of contact in each executive branch agency.  Each executive branch agency must designate a “FOIA Coordinator” to serve as the point of contact for FOIA requests, and to coordinate the agency’s responses.  The FOIA Coordinator, who must be identified on the Agency’s website, is required to make every reasonable effort to assist parties requesting public records under FOIA.   Click here for list of FOIA Coordinators.

Executive branch agencies must develop a portal for receiving FOIA requests through the internet, if they don’t already have one, by December 1, 2011 and adopt new FOIA policies no later than February 1, 2012.

Now, back to your response:

   Upon submitting the City's standard form with your specific request, I will contact you in order that you may set up an appointment at the appropriate department or departments for your inspection and/or copying.

Again, I want to make this as easy as possible for all of us, so I’m going to offer the following decision to the city of Wilmington for each FOIA request filed today:

1. The city of Wilmington can provide the information electronically via e-mail to ken.grant7@gmail.com, and/or
2. The city of Wilmington can mail the information to me at 15 S. Dillwyn Road, Newark, DE 19711 (keeping in mind the above information concerning costs), and/or
3. The city of Wilmington can allow my associates and me to inspect and copy the public records in the appropriate department or departments.

    Please feel free to contact me if any further information is required.

Likewise.

One last thing that I hope the city will find useful.

I want the city of Wilmington to understand why I am filing these requests.

I believe the city of Wilmington has the potential to become a truly stellar city, I have been inspired by the entrepreneurs, artists, students, and residents who choose to live, work, and visit the city of Wilmington. I believe aggressive and illegitimate parking tickets present an unnecessary obstacle to the city’s growth. I believe we, as a community, can create a fair and equitable system. I believe that if we, as a community, cannot resolve these issues, then we have no hope to address the more complex issues facing us.

With that in mind, I wholeheartedly desire the cooperation of the government of the city of Wilmington.

I thank you for your time and consideration, and I look forward to hearing from you.

With Resolve and Sincerity,

Ken Grant

cc: John R. Sheridan, City Solicitor

      Brenda James-Roberts, Senior Fist Assistant City Solicitor

      John R. Rago, Director of Communications

      Lawrence Lewis, Delaware State Solicitor, Department of Justice

      Readers of www.WilmingtonParking.blogspot.com

An illegitimate ticket averted...

Robert C. Auer just sent this report a few minutes ago:

I had my incident an hour ago.
1201 N. Market. Lots of parking on 12th St. Put 25¢ in meter. (I'm and electrical inspector and had one at that building.) Came out and was walking behind parking guy. He didn't see me and looked at the meter which plainly said 3 minutes left. He walked to the rear of my vehicle and was starting to write a ticket; when I walked to my vehicle and mentioned that I still had 3 minutes left. He turned and walked off.

Great editorial from the News Journal

Some excerpts from today's News Journal editorial:

Complaints have been nonstop since stepped-up enforcement became a solution for lost income from fees and other sources over the past six years.
Yet try as it might to respond on a case-by-case basis, the city has not been able to get ahead of the perception that it is more concerned about revenue generation than correcting illogical and unfair parking laws downtown and in city neighborhoods.

Click Here to read the complete editorial.

The NBC 10 Story

Many Thanks to NBC 10 in Philadelphia for the great story on the Wilmington Parking Ticket Issue.

Click Here to view the story.

View more videos at: http://nbcphiladelphia.com.

One business owner's story

There has been an amazing outpouring of stories since making a couple of appearances on the Rick Jensen Show on WDEL, the News Journal front page story this morning and the NBC 10 report this evening.

Here's one story, printed with permission:

I own a small business in Wilmington located in the same location since the '80s. I've seen the ticketing become more aggressive in the past few years.

One incident still has me scratching my head and frankly has me looking to relocate outside of the city. Realizing this whole mess is about generating revenue for the city, it seems rather short sighted of the city if I and other businesses like mine are considering leaving. My business employs about twenty, all paying wage tax.

           

Here is what happened. Every week twice a week unsuspecting customers are victims of the forty dollar fine for being in the way of the street cleaner. When I can, I Tell my customers to park somewhere else to avoid ticketing. When a customer does get a ticket I pay it for them so as to not lose their patronage. One of my customers recently got a ticket. This is where it gets crazy. Parked behind her was another customer who did not get a ticket. It appeared to be a friend of the ticket writer as they engaged in a brief chat. I questioned the ticket writer as to why one customer got the ticket and the other did not, I was told to mind my own business and to let him do his job. I have to mention the vehicle that did not get the ticket was parked in a spot marked no parking here to corner. I paid the customer's ticket. About a week later while I was parked in the spot where the guy who didn't get a ticket was parked, the spot marked no parking, the same ticket writer swooped down out of thin air and issued me a ticket for parking in a no parking zone.....Right in front of my store.....while I was standing there after loading it for an event........He smirked and said have a nice day.

I wrote to appeal both tickets. The first on the basis that it was unfair to issue one customer a ticket and not the other. The second on the basis that the ticket was unnecessary as I was using the spot as my loading zone which it previously was posted as. Needless to say, that was a waste of time , paper and ink.  Why the loading zone sign was ever removed never occurred to me and I never paid too much attention to it. I ALWAYS had parked there for loading and unloading.

In going through some old photos I came across a photograph showing the parking spot marked loading zone. The very spot where I got the ticket and the ticket writers friend did not. I have to admit for a quick minute I thought .maybe I could re-appeal and get my forty bucks back. Then reality hit "you can't beat city hall". My time might be better spent looking for a  location outside the city.

Any way I wish I could say it feels good to vent.

I think you are doing a good job of making folks aware of the crap that is going on. Please keep up the good work.

Welcome NBC 10 Viewers!

Had a great time talking with Doug Shimell from NBC 10 earlier today - I'll post a link to that story when it's posted.

For now, we have this:

Parking Is Driving Them Mad in WilmingtonOnline campaign launched to make sense of confusing regulations

 Wilmington residents and business people have a new place to vent about the problems they have with parking in the city.

An online campaign against the parking system is gaining support on wilmingtonparking.blogspot.com.
Creator Ken Grant isn't just interested in complaining about parking problems, he’s also asking for constructive input to pass onto city officials to help improve the system.
He’s even got a meeting set up on Jan .13 with a group of officials, to pass on some of those complaints and ideas.

Click Here for the full report.

Welcome News Journal readers!

Today's News Journal features a front page story about the Wilmington parking ticket issue.

Here's a couple of excerpts:

Campaigns such as Grant's are a way for residents to fight back, said Erik Feder, who helped start Tired of Parking Tickets Inc., a New York-based online company that provides motorist parking information in several major cities, including New York and Philadelphia. This includes parking regulations block by block, information on where it's legal to park and advice on what to do if a motorist gets a parking ticket.

"The more information you know and how prepared you are, the less likely you are to get a ticket," Feder said.

...

Because one video lampoons the city's parking signage as confusing or inaccurate, Montgomery said, Wilmington's Transportation Office and Downtown Visions have embarked on a joint review of every sign in the downtown district to make sure they portray accurate information.

"We will also check for outdated signs or signs that may be missing," he said.

The city also is preparing a fact sheet on parking laws, rules and regulations and will post it on its website soon, he said.

You can read the complete article here.