[nfbmi-talk] Fw: i'm not kidding here

[Joe Sontag]

I hope you'll forgive me, Joe Harcz, but I couldn't resist forwarding this 
e-mail exchange for the purpose of demonstrating how Michigan's Freedom of 
Iformation Act is being abused and why an Open Government Commission might 
be a very good idea.

I was told earlier that a FOIA request from the Michigan Association of 
Blind Merchants to the BS For Blind people gang had an estimated cost of 
$2,400.00 and that the request would be processed further if yours truly 
paid $1,200 to get started.  Read the thread below and think of who would 
pay a deposit of $345,000+ for anything like this.

Joe Sontag

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "joe harcz Comcast" <joeharcz at comcast.net>
To: <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2012 19:17
Subject: [nfbmi-talk] i'm not kidding here


Dear Mr. Farmer,
We might need a U.S. and Michigan Attorney General's ruling on such recent 
purges of information as those you suggest don't you think.
 Regardless we might also need some court actions which you will surely 
lose, but don't forget the federal civil rights ramifications here as you've 
violated
my civil rights and again those of my class over and over again on these 
accounts using your abuses of State law...I certainly will be asking several 
attorney's
at law about this issue as you present it as well as those within the 
Michigan attorney General's office. And if that is not enough I'm going for 
personal
actions against yourself and others in this sordid affair.
I've already sent both your ludicrous e-mail here and the cc's of these 
principles in law involved have gone viral, aka the internet.
Best thing I can figure here for yourself and others involved is to be as 
open, transparent and  well.. transparent and not to continue to 
obfiscate...
 as you are as possible...otherwise ...well you know follow the laws of this 
land and not try to snow and mess with a man who is blind just because he is
blind.
That sort of thing can get folks like yourself in a whole lot of trouble and 
it sure can get the ones you are covering for in more trouble.
Say have you heard of "spoliation"?
Well I'm sure the feds and the Michigan A.G. have heard of that term.
Now, Mr. Farmer when you go to Federal Court are you certain that you wish 
to report that those cited actually destroyed electronic records as you've 
suggested
herein?
and are you sure as FOIA officer for the LARA personnel whom have violated 
state and federal laws here as you've suggested: namely Hilfiger, Zimmer, 
Atwood,
Cannon, et al  that you, Mr. Farmer wishes to fall upon his sword to protect 
them in these regards?
Or do you wish for me to pay your sorry behind quadzillions in personal 
funds for public records that should be made public in the first instance? 
Let me
tell you sir the only one paying for anything in these regards will be 
yourself in court orders and that goes to the scofflaws you are covering for 
too.
I'm really getting pretty tired of dealing with pathetic public officials 
here like yourself who is supposed to make public records accessable and who 
because
of my blindness and poverty preys upon me in such a vicious manner that is 
most ludicrous and a violation of civil and Constitutional rights upon its 
very
face.
and  I think it is a matter of federal investigation and again there are 
issues of spoliation of records that are criminal in nature involved here.
The choices for you, Mr. Farmer are whether or not you are going to remit 
required documents to this citizen and to the public or whether or not you 
risk
criminal charges.
For suborning spoliation by other means is indeed a criminal offense as are 
spoliation of anything or aiding and abetting in same.
Now this said I'm formally requesting right now from you Mr. Farmer any 
directive from the likes of Hilfiger, Arwood, Zimmer or anyone at LARA or 
any other
agency of government to deny me access to these records  by any means 
including those aforementioned.
Moreover, these documents and requests will be going to federal and state 
over site committees of both Parties, and again will become viral 
so-to-speak.
My requests for information in all of these regards have and will continue 
to go to all sorts of media and to all sorts of legal and other resources.
Moreover, once again as you've continued to prey upon my poverty and my 
blindness you, sir have made yourself liable to 1983 actions for your 
personal abuses
of my very civil rights established and codified under both the First 
Amendment on several grounds, and Article V of the 14th Amendment "due 
process and
equal protection" clause as defined under the ADA and the Rehabilitation 
Act, Section 504.
In short you make yourself culpable to actions and to damages and awards 
personally by acting in such a fashion depriving myself and my class of 
fundamental
civil rights protections knowingly. Thus the best resort is to give up the 
information as requested and not to engage in any other further civil rights
or allegedly criminal activities including what amounts to a bullying cover 
up of events here sir.
Most sincerely and With Litigation and Damages in Mind,
Paul Joseph Harcz, Jr.
cc: Richard Bernstein, Esq.
cc: senator John Gleason
cc: MCBCommissiniors
cc: Tom Quasarno, Michigan Attorney General's Office
cc: Michigan Attorney General
cc: Senator Debbie Stabenow
cc: Office for Civil Rights U.S. department of Ed.
cc: Michigan ACLU
cc: U.S. Department of Justice
cc: several media outlets
cc: several State of Michigan Legislators of Both Parties
 Message -----
Block quote start
From:
Farmer, Mel (LARA)
To:
'joe harcz Comcast'
Cc:
Haynes, Carla (LARA)
;
Cannon, Patrick (LARA)
Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2012 1:57 PM
Subject: RE: FOIA

Mr. Harcz, for your information, the records retention policies you refer to 
are applicable for hard copy records, not PC emails. PC emails are routinely
purged by employees, or the DTMB controlled system that automatically 
deletes emails not purposely saved. This is routinely done to maintain 
bandwith capacity
on the state’s internet system.

Thusly, without DTMB first performing a search for and retrieval of all 
purged emails of the 9 employees indicated in my response, the Department 
will not
be able to review and determine whether any of them may responsive to your 
February 29, 2012 request.

From: joe harcz Comcast [mailto:joeharcz at comcast.net]
Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2012 11:31 AM
To: Farmer, Mel (LARA)
Subject: Re: FOIA

March  7, 2012

Dear Mr. Farmer,

I am writing today to note one element of your ludicrous response here.That 
is your allusion to records that have been and may have been "purged" 
related
to this FOIA and related laws request.

We have state and federal issues at stake here. We have several laws at 
issue and now hundreds of millions of funds at stake.

Now I ask you this: "What documents have been purged"?

By the way how does this all jive with requirements for document retention 
under various laws and how might this all jive in lay terms with the "False 
Statements
Act"?

There needs to be and will be a Federal investigation of this issue sir.

Sincerely,

Paul Joseph Harcz, Jr.

Block quote start

----- Original Message -----

From:
Farmer, Mel (LARA)

To:
'joe harcz Comcast'

Cc:
Cannon, Patrick (LARA)
;
Haynes, Carla (LARA)
;
Burton, Diane (LARA)

Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2012 11:59 AM

Subject: FW: FOIA

March 6, 2012

Mr. Paul Joseph Harcz, Jr.

E-mail:
joeharcz at comcast.net

1365 E. Mt. Morris Rd.

Mt. Morris, MI 48458

Re:  Executive Order 2012-2 Email Records Request

Dear Mr. Harcz:

This notice is in response to your February 29, 2012 email request to me for 
copies of existing, nonexempt public records you describe as:

“…any e-mail correspondence between any personnel within the Michigan 
Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs during the past two months 
relative
to any transfers in fact or in the powers and duties of the Michigan 
Commission for the Blind including its board that went into Executive Order 
No. 2012-2.”

 Please be informed that the Department is processing this request under the 
state’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), MCL 15.231 et seq.

Pursuant to MCL 15.235, Section 5(2)(a) of the state’s FOIA ,your request is 
granted as to existing, nonexempt records in the possession of the 
Department
falling within the scope of your request; and subject to the payment of 
processing fees assessed per MCL 15.234 of the FOIA.

MCL 234, Section 4(1) of the state’s FOIA provides that a public body may 
charge a fee for public record search, including costs, for the search, 
examination,
review, and the deletion and separation of exempt from nonexempt 
information. The Department has determined that no Michigan Commission for 
the Blind staff
have any records related to this particular request. The Department has also 
determined that at least nine executive level employees will have to be 
drawn
away from their respective duties and assignments for an average of one hour 
each to search for, locate, and retrieve email records from December 29, 
2011
through February 29, 2012 to determine if they are responsive to your 
request; and to examine and review the responsive records for possible 
statutory
exemptions from public disclosure. Further, as it is possible that some 
emails responsive to this request may have been purged during the timeframe 
of
this request, the Department requested that the Michigan Department of 
Technology, Management and Budget (DTMB) provide an estimate of costs to 
search
for and retrieve purged records that may be responsive to this request. The 
DTMB estimate (see attached) is $745,416.00 .

The Department’s   estimated costs to process this request, based on the 
hourly wages ($62.34 /hr, including fringe benefits) of the lowest paid 
Department
employee ( State Division Office Administrator  17)capable of performing the 
necessary tasks to comply with your request, including the waiver of $20.00,
is   $541.06 .This  estimated processing cost is based on the following 
calculations:

--9 employees X 9 hours = 9 hours

--9 hours X $62.34/hour = $561.06

--$561.06 - $20.00 indigency waiver = $541.06

The combined DTMB and Department estimated costs to process this particular 
request is $745,957.06, including the indigency waiver of $20.00.

For the abovementioned reasons and pursuant to MCL 14.234, Section 4(3) of 
the state’s FOIA, the Department has determined that failure to charge a fee
in this particular instance would result in unreasonably high costs and 
undue financial and administrative burdens to the Department.

In order for the Department to continue the processing of this particular 
request, based on the above and pursuant to MCL 15.234, Section 4(2) of the 
state’s
FOIA, the Department requires a good faith deposit payment $372, 978.53 (50% 
of the $ 745,957.06 estimated cost)

 which includes the $20.00 fee waiver per MCL 15.234, Section 4(1) of the 
FOIA. See the attached FOIA invoice illustrating payment instructions

After receipt of the good faith deposit of $372,978.53 and upon completing 
the processing of your request, the Department will notify you in writing of
any balance due and payable (or owed you) before copies of the requested 
records are forwarded to you; explain any statutory basis for any claimed 
exemptions;
and inform you of your remedial rights.

Sincerely,

Melvin Farmer, Jr.

Central FOIA Coordinator

Attachment

                                                                          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.com

1365 E. Mt. Morris Road

Mt. Morris, MI  48458

REQUEST RECEIVED:  February 29, 2012

TYPE OF REQUEST:  Email

REQUEST PARTIALLY DENIED:  No

EXEMPT INFORMATION WITHHELD/REDACTED:  To be determined

EXTENDED RESPONSE NOTICE ISSUED:  No

REQUESTED INFORMATION WILL BE:  Emailed/Invoiced For Partial Payment

ACCOUNT CODE:  MCB Index:  36200    PCA:      11343

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:

Copies of E-MAIL CORRESPONDENCE OF ALL DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEES RELATED TO 
EXECUTIVE

ORDER 2012-2  FROM DECEMBER 29, 2011 THROUGH FEBRUARY 29, 2012.

INVOICE CALCULATIONS/INSTRUCTIONS

LABOR COST ESTIMATE

--Search/Review: Hours: 9 hrs. x Hourly Rate: $62.34 = 
$561.06

POSTAGE 
            --

DUPLICATING:  Number of Pages times Copying Rate of 
     --

OTHER (overtime, audio tapes, discs, photos, security, etc.): 
$745,416.00

SUBTOTAL: 
$745,977.06

Less waived indigency offset: 
$           20.00

INVOICE TOTAL: 
$745,957.06

DEPOSIT* 
$372,978.53

REMAINING AMOUNT TO BE PAID: 
$372,978.53

Make check or money order payable to:

STATE OF MICHIGAN

Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs

Office Services Mailroom

7150 Harris Drive, PO Box 30015

Lansing, MI  48909

PLEASE RETURN/REFER TO 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.

DTMB ATTACHMENT

 From: Surapaneni, Ramakrishna (DTMB)
 Sent: Monday, March 05, 2012 4:23 PM
 To: Sparks-Boak, Dorinda (DTMB)
 Subject: RE: FOIA

Dorinda

Estimate without Governor’s email accounts

Approximately 56 days backups to restore

Number of stores to restore around 6

Number mailboxes = 9 estimate ( 9 clients in 6 stores)

Number of stores to restore 56 X 6 = 336

Cost 6 stores to restore per date = 2218.50

Total estimated cost (2218.50 X 336) = $745416.00

Ram

R Surapaneni

State of Michigan – DTMB

From: Sparks-Boak, Dorinda (DTMB)
Sent: Monday, March 05, 2012 8:23 AM
To: Surapaneni, Ramakrishna (DTMB)
Subject: RE: FOIA

Roughly 9 or so:

Steven Hilfinger

Steve Arwood

Mike Zimmer

Melanie Brown

Diane Burton

Karen Towne

MCB Director Cannon

MCB Commissioners??? – No names given here

Governor’s E-mail??

From: Surapaneni, Ramakrishna (DTMB)
Sent: Monday, March 05, 2012 8:20 AM
To: Sparks-Boak, Dorinda (DTMB)
Subject: RE: FOIA

Dorinda

Can you provide number of email accounts and their names to estimate cost 
for FOIA?. We do not have access to their archives(.pst files).   Ram

R Surapaneni

State of Michigan – DTMB”

Block quote end
Block quote end
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