[nfbmi-talk] Fw: Response to FOIA Request (FOIA Open Inquire)

joe harcz Comcast joeharcz at comcast.net
Thu Oct 6 17:24:16 UTC 2011


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Haynes, Carla (LARA) 
To: joe harcz Comcast 
Cc: Cannon, Patrick (LARA) ; Farmer, Mel (LARA) ; Turney, Susan (LARA) ; Zanger, Connie (LARA) ; Hull, James (LARA) ; Wallace, Judy (LARA) ; Luzenski, Sue (LARA) 
Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2011 12:53 PM
Subject: Response to FOIA Request (FOIA Open Inquire)


October 6, 2011

 

Mr. Paul Joseph Harcz, Jr.

E-mail: joeharcz at comcast.net

1365 E. Mt. Morris Rd.

Mt. Morris, MI 48458

 

Dear Mr. Harcz:

 

This letter is in response to your September 21, 2011, email request for copies of public records, received September 22, 2011, please be informed that the Department's Michigan Commission for the Blind (MCB) is processing this request under the state's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), MCL 15.231 et seq.

 

In your email, you requested information/records described as follows:  "Please remit to me the set asides of all sighted, non-disabled operators during the last fiscal year alone."

 

Pursuant to MCL 15.235, Section 5(2)(c) of the FOIA, your request is partially granted and partially denied.

 

Your request is granted as to existing, nonexempt records possessed by the Department/MCB falling within the scope of your request. However, pursuant to MCL 15.234, Section of the FOIA, the Department/MCB has assessed estimated, allowable costs of totaling $81.30 to process this request. The records possessed by the Department are print documents of monthly billings with a receipt stamp indicating that the Department's Revenue Accounting Division has received payment and attributed the monies to the proper accounts under the MCB, which includes the set-aside account.  As the Department/MCB does not have a method that differentiates between sighted or blind temporary operators, the records possessed are for all temporary operators in the Business Enterprise Program (BEP) for Fiscal Year 2011. 

FOIA Response - P.J. Harcz, Jr.

October 6, 2011

Page 2 of 2

 

 

 

 

Thusly, based on the amount of labor involved and the amount of material that must be produced, and reviewed regarding statutory privacy concerns, pursuant to MCL 15.234, Section 4(3) of the FOIA, the Department/MCB must assess costs to process this request because, in this particular instance, failure to charge for search, examination, review, and deletion and separation of exempt from nonexempt information would cause the  Department/MCB to incur unreasonably high costs for these activities that are excessive and beyond the normal or usual amount for these services; and would result in an undue financial and administrative burden per ADA regulations (28 CFR 35.160.164) which states:

"A public entity must ensure that its communications with individuals with

 disabilities are as effective as communications with others. This obligation

 does not require a public entity to take any action that it can demonstrate

 would result in a fundamental alteration in the nature of its services,

 programs, or activities, or in undue financial and administrative burdens."

 

The estimated cost of $81.30 to process this request is based on:

--Labor time to search for, copy, examine to redact exempt information,

  and put on a flash drive is 3 hours at $25.10/hr = $75.30.

--Flash drive and postage costs = $6.00 

 

Please send payment of $81.30 as indicated on the attached invoice.

Upon receipt of payment, the Department/MCB will continue processing this request; notify you of any statutory disclosure exemptions; any applicable remedial rights; and any balance due or owed.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

 

Carla Miller Haynes, FOIA Coordinator

Michigan Commission for the Blind

 

Attachments - Invoice and Email Request

 

Cc:    Patrick Cannon

          Mel Farmer

          Susan Turney

          Constance Zanger

          James Hull

          Judy Wallace

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                   DEPARTMENT OF LICENSING AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS

                                     FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT INVOICE

 

      NAME AND ADDRESS OF REQUESTER

       

      Mr. Paul Joseph Harcz, Jr.

      E-mail: joeharcz at comcast.net

      1365 E. Mt. Morris Rd.

      Mt. Morris, MI 48458

       

       
     BUREAU/OFFICE:
     Michigan Commission for the Blind
     
      ACCOUNT CODE:
     Index:  36200

      PCA: 11343
     
      REQUEST RECEIVED: 9-22-11
     
      TYPE OF REQUEST

             LETTER/SUBPOENA         FAX         x    E-MAIL
     
      REQUEST PARTIALLY DENIED  ( X ) YES    (  ) NO
      

      REQUESTED INFORMATION WILL BE:

       

         X              MAILED UPON RECEIPT OF PAYMENT

                MAILED/INVOICED FOR FULL PAYMENT

                PAID AND PICKED UP IN PERSON
     
      EXEMPT INFORMATION WITHHELD/REDACTED       (  ) YES           (  ) NO
     
      EXTENDED RESPONSE NOTICE ISSUED            (  ) YES           ( X ) NO
     

 

      DLARA CONTACT: Melvin Farmer, Central FOIA Coordinator (517) 373-0194
      Ottawa Building, 4th Floor, 611 W. Ottawa, Lansing, MI 48909
     

 


      

      The FOIA provides that the department may charge a fee to comply with requests for public records.  The processing fee is composed of hourly wages and benefit costs of the lowest paid employee(s) capable of processing the request; the duplication of records at assessed costs per page; mailing costs; and other related special costs.  Prior to searching and copying requested records, the department may request full payment or 50% of the estimated costs exceeding $50.00 with the balance required before mailing the records.  Assessed costs are related to your request for:

      "Please remit to me the set asides of all sighted, non-disabled operators during the last fiscal year alone."
     
       

                              INVOICE CALCULATIONS 
      

                    AMOUNT
     
     
      (Lowest Paid Capable Employee)

      LABOR (Locating and Duplicating):       No. of  Hours   2   x Hourly Rate $25.10

      LABOR (Examining and Extracting):      No. of  Hours   1   x Hourly Rate $25.10
     50.20

      25.10

       
     
     
       

      POSTAGE:   (estimate)  
     2.00
     
     
       

      DUPLICATING:            No.  of Pages           x Copying Rate Per Side $.25
      
     
     
                                                                                               

      OTHER:  (overtime, audio tapes, discs, photos, security, etc.) Flash Drive
      

                                     4.00 
     
     
       

      Make check or money order payable to:         STATE OF MICHIGAN

      Remit to:              Department of Licensing & Regulatory Affairs

      Office Services Mailroom

      7150 Harris Drive, P.O. Box 30015

      Lansing, MI  48909

      RETURN ORIGINAL COPY OF THIS INVOICE WITH YOUR PAYMENT.

       

      *Please note that if a deposit is requested, the indicated amount is an estimate of the cost of complying with your request. The actual cost may vary somewhat from this amount. 
      

      TOTAL                 81.30 
     
     
       

      DEPOSIT                            
     
     
       

      BALANCE TO BE PAID

       

      $81.30

                                          

       
     
     
        

 

Distribution:  Requester, Agency, Financial Services, FOIA Coordinator

 

NOTE TO FOIA COORDINATORS:
UPON PAYMENT OF DEPOSIT OR BALANCE SEND COPY TO CENTRAL FOIA COORDINATOR
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From: Cannon, Patrick (LARA)
Sent: Friday, September 23, 2011 8:09 AM
To: Farmer, Mel (LARA); Haynes, Carla (LARA)
Cc: Zanger, Connie (LARA); Luzenski, Sue (LARA)
Subject: FW: FOIA open inquire

 

 


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: joe harcz Comcast [mailto:joeharcz at comcast.net] 
Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2011 9:43 PM
To: nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org
Cc: Zanger, Connie (LARA); Hull, James (LARA); Cannon, Patrick (LARA); lydia Schuck MCB Comm.; John Scott MCB Comm.; Larry Posont MCB Comm.; Arwood, Steve (LARA)
Subject: open inquire

 

Dear Ms. Zanger and Mr. cannon,

 

It has come to my attention that we in MCB have not collected all set asides from sighted, non-disabled tempory operators for some time. I'm a bit confused by this documented fact in that MCB is required by PA 260 and the Randolph Shepard Program to offer a priority to blind folks in these concessions as the State Licensing Agency. I'm also confused in that this set aside is considered income for federal matching purposes.

 

So, correct me if I'm wrong here but don't we violate the mandates of the RS, VR and other programs when we don't require when using federal funds the same requirements of so-called temporary operators who are not blind in the same manner as we've done for blind operators?  And aren't these inequities primae facae evidence of mass, systemic, and willful violations of the ADA, and Section 504 in their clearcut discriminatory impact in that they clearly set and implement in fact and documented deed discriminatory standards of practice?

 

 

And, moreover a practical matter here...In short aside from the clear cut misappropriations of federal funds here aren't we as an agency losing appropriate federal match as again set asides are "income" and thus robbing the entire MCB program because of these derelictions of duties and misappropriations of federal funds in the first instance?

 

I mean think about it you clearly don't ask for the same inventory requirements as documented in fact and deed of these temporary operators let alone the same set aside requirements .

 

Shoot ALJ decisions in the public domain are rife during recent years where you all yanked licenses from operators, often appropriately for not paying or accounting for federally funded inventories. Oh I guess these were problems because the operators were blind?

 

But you don't set the same standard, and the same accountability for sighted, non-qualified temporaries?

 

Are the violations in law and equity here only obvious to an outsider likeme or even the casual observor on the seen?

 

What gives here?

 

I'd like some accounting let alone accountability here.

 

Please remit to me the set asides of all sighted, non-disabled operators during the last fiscal year alone. I want line item accounting and not voodoo accounting too.

 

sincerely,

 

Paul Joseph Harcz, Jr.

 

cc: MCB Commissioners

cc: Craig McManus, RSA

cc: Steve Arwood

cc: OIG, United States Department of education

 

 

 

 

Carla Miller Haynes

DLARA Michigan Commission for the Blind

201 N. Washington Sq., 2nd Floor

P.O. Box 30652

Lansing, MI  48909

Phone:  517/373-2063

FAX: 517/335-5140

 

www.michigan.gov/mcb

 
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