Lansing fumbles FOIA requests

February 26, 2021; updated March 1

The City of Lansing isn't very good at complying with the Freedom of Information Act. I've got three FOIA requests outstanding right now. This one was sent December 24:

This is a Freedom of Information Act request. I would like the latest actuarial valuation reports for the Police & Fire and the ERS retirement systems. I'd like the reports for both pensions and retiree health care. If they are on the City's website, just tell me where to find them.

On February 11, I sent this to the city attorney's office, which handles all FOIA requests:

On December 24, I requested the latest actuarial valuation reports for the Police & Fire and the ERS retirement systems, both pensions and retiree health care. You promised them by January 21. That date has passed.

How hard can it be to carry out this simple task? These documents shouldn't be hard to find. You might try the Retirement Office. They are PDF files, easy to attach to an email.

Or is it that you just can't keep track of all these FOIA requests. I would suggest creating a chart on which you log in each request, calculate the due date (5 business days or 15 if you are requesting an extension - which you should do routinely) and then check your chart each day to see which ones are due.

They responded the same day with two of the four reports I requested. They provided the reports for pensions, but not for retiree health care. I wrote back:
City Attorney
Jim Smiertka

In my FOIA request I also asked for the latest actuarial valuation reports for retiree health care for ERS and Police & Fire. You won't find those in the Retirement Office. The Finance Dept should have them. They come out every 2 years. The last one I have for Police & Fire is "as of January 2018."

And on February 22, I made a suggestion:

If you can't find the ERS and Police & Fire retiree health care actuarial reports in the Finance Dept, what you could do is contact the actuary, Boomershine Consulting Group. Greg Stump is the guy who signed the last ones. His phone number is 410-418-5591. Ask for the ones for January 1, 2020.

As of March 1, I still don't have them.

FOIA request #2 was sent January 5:

This is a Freedom of Information Act request. I would like the following information for every City employee who received wages in 2020:

Name

Department

Position/job title

Union affiliation/bargaining unit

Salary/hourly rate

Regular wages

Overtime wages

Miscellaneous wages

Final leave payment

Total wages for 2020

Hire date

Termination date

As an example, I have attached the file you gave me in 2011 for 2010 wages.

I've reported on City employee wages two times in the past, for 2010 and 2016.

On January 13, the city attorney's office requested a 10 business day extension, promising a response by January 28. Normally, they would have to respond in 5 business days. On February 9, I sent a reminder:

You promised delivery on this FOIA request January 28. Did it get lost?

I've heard nothing more.

FOIA request #3 was sent January 21:

This is a Freedom of Information Act request. I would like the report for the inspection done on the home of Tamara Arend, 1128 Dakin Street, Lansing in April or May 2018 prior to the approval of her CDBG Housing Rehabilitation program grant and loan. I believe the inspection was done by Dennis Graham and was a complete inspection of all 3 floors.

That inspection report was needed for a possible lawsuit to get some relief for Ms. Arend, who I wrote about in the October 5, 2020 story Botched roof replacement ruins Lansing home. My FOIA request was denied on February 12:

On February 13, I appealed to city council president Peter Spadafore:

Ms. Arend clearly remembers that Dennis Graham came to the home before the roof replacement was started, did a thorough inspection and told her the home was in good condition. Further, your own housing program application form, which Ms. Arend signed April 3, 2018, requires an inspection. At the top of page 9, it says "A complete inspection of your home will need to be done in order to determine what work needs to be completed to bring your home up to current code."

On February 15, I discovered more evidence that the inspection had been done. I sent another email to Peter Spadafore:

Attached is a letter from Donald Kulhanek to Tamara Arend dated December 19, 2019 in which he says "You applied to participate in our housing rehabilitation program on April 25, 2018. At the time of your application, you complained that your roof was leaking. Dennis Graham from our staff inspected the house and agreed that the roof needed to be replaced."

The inspection was done. Are they saying that no report was written? Or that they lost it? Wouldn't HUD have required it?

He responded March 1 denying my appeal, saying the record requested does not exist. He offers no

explanation of why no report exists when the Kulhanek letter indicates that an inspection was, in

fact, done. What is the point of appealing a FOIA denial if all the city council president does is
Peter Spadafore

parrot the initial denial? The public deserves better.

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