[Vendorsmi] Fw: [nfbmi-talk] Fw: Response to FOIA Request (FOIA Open Inquire)
Joe Sontag
suncat0 at gmail.com
Wed Oct 12 17:31:25 UTC 2011
----- Original Message -----
From: "joe harcz Comcast" <joeharcz at comcast.net>
To: <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2011 13:24
Subject: [nfbmi-talk] Fw: Response to FOIA Request (FOIA Open Inquire)
----- 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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