Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Mandamus filed against City of Toledo

We've been following GraphicsGuy's seemingly perpetual efforts to get information on the red light/speed cameras from the City of Toledo. Unfortunately, he still does not have the information requested.

A while back he sent a letter to the acting law director asking for attention to his request. He expected a response of some kind to his communication, but was disappointed yet again. I guess the lack of response was the final straw.

Today he filed a mandamus action against the city, asking for the records, attorney fees and the $100 per day 'compensation' provided for under Ohio law.

Stay tuned!!!

2 comments:

Timothy W Higgins said...

Maggie,

I am shocked at the lack of understanding in the city of Toledo. Graphics Guy obviously doesn't understand that only the Port Authority is required to prompt produce information requested under the FOIA.

Kudos t Graphics Guy for staying the course in this situation.

GraphicsGuy said...

Yes, the 'non-response' from acting law director Adam Loukx was indeed the final straw in my attempts to inspect documents guaranteed me by both the laws of the State of Ohio and the policies of the City of Toledo.

While Loukx very well may be 'up to his butt in alligators' trying to cover Carty's (il)legal blunders, I felt that some kind of response was appropriate. An note saying nothing more than “Thank you, we’re looking into it” would have been welcomed. Good business practice or at the very least, common courtesty dictate responding to emails, letters or telephone calls.

Apparently, Adam Loukx nor the City of Toledo possess these qualities.

Two documents were requested and neither were voluminous nor complex. One request concerned the details of the ‘Administrative Process’ the City mentions in TMC §313.12(d)(4) , and the other was a request to inspect the maintenance and certification records for the ‘Red Light Cameras’ within the city. These documents were of potential significance in a Hearing against the red light cameras but with these documents intentionally made unavailable by the city, the Appeal was lost.

The dissemination of Public Record Requests are set forth in both the Ohio Revised Code §149.43 and the City of Toledo Public Records Policy, so why were these documents not delivered one might ask.

Is the City of Toledo that inept that they can’t follow State Law and their own Public Records Policy? Is it because the Administration feels they are ‘above the law’?

Or could it be that there are no ‘maintenance/certification records’ for the red light cameras (which might open up a plethora of lawsuits for those that have been ‘ticketed’). Could it also be that contrary to the City’s statement "Appeals shall be heard through an administrative process established by the City of Toledo Police Department", there is no ‘Administrative Process’ – no ‘rules’ in place, and the hearing officer just ‘wings it’?

Thanks to the help from the law firm of Ciolek & Wicklund, these questions may be answered, and perhaps my Mandamus may further serve to demonstrate to the City of Toledo’s administration that the law is the law, and something we all have to abide by – Carty included.

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