Records Request---it starts with a trickle...but it's an interesting trickle...

by: Celtic Diva

Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 00:51:25 AM AKDT

As you can see from the above picture, the Office of the Governor in Juneau received the check THAT ALL OF YOU MADE POSSIBLE (thank you!!!!) on July 8th.  

And yes, we have some results!

Dear Ms. Kellen,

Attached is a partial response to your May 23 request, as revised by your May 26 email.  

Sincerely,

Michelle Fabrello
Administrative Coordinator
Division of Administrative Services
Office of the Governor

According to the attached letter, they have fulfilled the part of the records request which involved finding out if Eddie Burke and Sheila Toomey filed requests like they claimed.  

(Yay...may have to pay more money...but that's a worry for later.)

First, we'll find out what Eddie wanted regarding Andree McLeod:

Wow...Eddie wanted ALL of the emails and/or letters between Andree McLeod and ALL STATE OF ALASKA employees...back to Dec. 2006, when Palin took office. I wonder who was actually going to sort through all those emails, as Eddie really isn't the type?

Could it be that he was getting them for people at C4P...hypothetically?

As it turns out, he was charged a fee, which I don't believe he's paid:

However, there are several interesting aspects to that:

1)  The $65,000 quote was exactly the same as mine.  

2)  It was also sent days after I INITIATED MY OWN RECORDS REQUEST to examine the one(s) Eddie and Sheila may have sent in as well as whether or not they were assessed fees.

The most fascinating aspect to this entire thing:

3)  Linda Perez states that 3 and 4 in my request have been satisfied, yet I SEE NO RECORDS REQUEST FROM SHEILA TOOMEY, who claimed back in May:

Your email to the above has been forwarded to me.

Your facts are incorrect. The governor's chief of staff did not forward me anything. The emails I quoted from are public documents. You may FOI them if you wish.

Thank you for your communication.

Sheila Toomey

So which Office of the Governor lackey DID forward an email from a private Alaskan citizen to you, Sheila? You clearly didn't get them from your own FOI records request.

Can you just smell the backlash?

Help shine a light on the Palin Administration--FAQs about this fundraiser

by: Celtic Diva

Fri Jun 19, 2009 at 14:32:12 PM AKDT

What is this fund for?

The primary focus of this fundraising drive is to collect the $5,552.64 fee needed for the Palin Administration to release records of potentially questionable conversations between with "preferred" members of the media.  The posts on this can be found **HERE** and HERE**. While this is my regular PayPal account that I use for blog expenses, they money I'm raising now is to go for the release of the emails involved in the records request.

I don't have a PayPal account nor do I want one.  Can I donate another way?

-- You don't need a PayPal account to give through PayPal.

-- I know there are those who do not wish to do financial transactions on line.  I will have a P.O. Box posted by this evening (June 22nd).

Is this tax deductable?

At this time, no.  I will end up reporting this as income on my taxes just like I did with the blog and other donations (to go to the Convention) I received last year.

What are your plans for fund accountability?

I will pay the State in person and get a receipt, which I'll scan-in and post on the blog in a place of honor to show you all what you've accomplished!

The beauty of PayPal is they have all the account activity records online for as long as the account has existed. So, in case there is a need to provide a list of transactions and dates, I can do that anytime.

**NOTE** I will NOT release the names or other information about ANYONE who gives to this fund drive.  These are NOT political contributions.  This is money raised to pay for the unreasonable fees charged by the Palin Administration in a records request per Alaska Statute 40.25.110 Public Records Open to Inspection and Copying; Fees.  This is (supposed to be) a non-partisan process that provides public information for minimal cost in a reasonable amount of time.  However, the Palin Administration has made obfuscation their mantra.

What if all the emails are redacted?  What if they continue to delay like they have done with the Democratic Party?  Will this be in vain?

It is definitely NOT in the long-term best interest of the Palin Administration to try and claim "Executive Privilege" on emails between or about a radio personality and a newspaper gossip columnist.  It's also not in the best interest to show a pattern of delay when they are supposed to be meeting their statutory responsibilities.  I will be writing and providing information about EVERY STEP of this process FOR THE RECORD, which is something I don't think anyone has done before.  The only way I can do that is to keep following through with the next step.  

As we in Alaska learned up-close-and-personally with Sarah Palin's VP candidacy, the national media researches EVERY INCH of that record when someone attempts to run for national office.    

No, this MOST DEFINITELY will not be in vain, no matter what the outcome.

AVATARS AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION AFTER A DONATION IS MADE:

Dolphin -- Friendship, intelligence and good luck

Wolf -- a cunning, intelligent creature, capable of out-thinking hunters. It teaches us how to read the signs of Nature in everything, how to pass by danger invisibly, how to outwit those who wish harm, and how to fight when needed.

Owl -- a creature of keen sight in darkness, and a silent and swift hunter. It can unmask those who would deceive or take advantage

Dragon -- The dragon symbolized the power of the Elements, especially Earth and Fire, as well as treasure and prosperity

Unicorn -- the symbol of supreme magical power.

So please help us make Palin accountable by helping us get those emails!

And the final amount for getting the Palin Administration to cough up public documents is...

by: Celtic Diva

Mon Jun 15, 2009 at 14:40:38 PM AKDT

To recap:

Eddie Burke (KBYR talk show host) and Sheila Toomey (Alaska Ear gossip columnist) both seemed to be participating in a coordinated smear campaign of citizen watchdog Andree McLeod.  Both received inside information from the Administration that they discussed in their respective mediums. Both made claims that they were receiving/had received documents from requesting records of the State.  Knowing how it works and knowing the timing required, that seemed highly unlikely if not impossible.

So, I did my own records request(s) looking to see what kind of communication between the Palin Administration and these media figures was actually going on.  The initial price tag--$65,000!  

I replied to Linda Perez, Administrative Director of the Department of Administration, combining the records requests into one and limiting the scope.  I also asked for an explanation of the search process that was taking 16 hours per employee.

I received a response back from Linda Perez, Palin's right-hand-woman, over at the Office of the Governor (click on the letter for a larger size of each page):

Yup...$5552.64!!

Even Eddie Burke himself was shocked!!!!

Two things of note:

1)  They are perfectly willing to reduce the fees if I decide to ignore the "deleted" emails and focus on the ones still in the active email file.  

Let's see...I'm going to send an email to several media figures, giving them "special" information.  What should I do with the email afterwards?  Hmmmm...

2)  They are refusing to waive the fees due to the "staff hours required" to process these many requests, not addressing the issue of "benefiting the public interest."

I find it fascinating that anyone I've talked to whose worked for any government agency other than the State of Alaska has said they've NEVER HEARD OF charging money for a record request.  As a matter of fact, the agencies within the Army I've talked to don't even charge for the copying costs!

The State's explanation for billing the fees plus the response I sent back (which included a list of questions from a System Administrator who does this stuff for other government agencies) is worthy of its own post, which I'll include tonight.  

Also, we'll discuss plans for payment of this bill, since it's the only way I'm going to get to see those records.

...an "Accountability-A-Thon" perhaps????

Palin's transparency-for-sale: At what cost? For this Alaska resident, about $65,000...**UPDATE**

by: Celtic Diva

Fri May 22, 2009 at 12:33:06 PM AKDT

Recently, I've done several posts on "backlash" attempts by the Administration.  Several of those posts expose how the Administration uses members of the media like Eddie Burke and ADN's Sheila Toomey as tools of their backlash.  These posts have directly led to several records requests which I have filed with the Palin Administration.

Pursuant to Alaska Statute 40.25.110, I request the Office of the Governor to duplicate and provide me with a copy of:

1) any and all email contact between you or any employee of the Office of the Governor (statewide) and Alaska resident Eddie Burke,  

2) any and all emails to/from you or any employee of the Office of the Governor (statewide) that discuss Eddie Burke in any way,

3) any and all records requests submitted which target emails to or from Alaska resident Andree McLeod, and

4) a fee breakdown, invoice or any other document which assesses the cost of retrieving the McLeod emails and whether those fees have been/will be charged to the requester.

(This was basically the same records request I used for Sheila Toomey as well.)

This week, I finally received a response to those requests.  They also provided me with the "costs" I would have to provide before they would be able to do this records request for me:

To provide complete responses to the email portions of your request, we will need to electronically search the email accounts of the 71 current and former employees who have worked in the Governor's Executive Offices since December 2006.  For that electronic search, we will need the assistance of the State Security Office in the Department of Administration, Division of Enterprise Technology Services (ETS).  ETS estimates that each email account retrieval, search, and record production will require 16 hours to complete.  The ETS hourly rate is $54.84, so ETS estimates its costs per email account will be $925.44.  Based on that estimate, ETS's estimated costs for obtaining records from 71 employee email accounts total $65,706.

Division of Enterprise Technology Services (ETS) is the State of Alaska version of any company's IT department.  ETS employees are public employees, paid with public funds.

In other words...ETS employees work for the people of the State of Alaska.

Yet, as an Alaskan citizen, I am being charged money...an EXORBITANT, UNREASONABLE amount of money...for a records search which is my statutory right as an Alaskan citizen.  

I'm being charged directly for something that's ALREADY PART OF THEIR JOB!

Plus, if it takes as long as they claim to do a simple email search on two names, then ETS should lose the "technology" part of their name...they have none.

Of course, just like with any "deal," now starts the negotiation. I sent these questions back to Linda Perez.

1) Am I correct in understanding your claim that it costs $925.44 to search and copy emails from one email account?  

2) Is this the standard rate and is everyone charged this fee who makes a request of this nature?

I received a reply, where Ms. Perez states:

1. Yes, the Division of Enterprise Technology Services charges $925.44 to conduct an electronic search of a state e-mail account and make electronic copies of the search results. I have attached a breakdown of the ETS process and resulting fee estimate.

2. Yes, these ETS costs are a standard rate that we charge whenever ETS conducts an electronic search of a state e-mail account to respond to a public records request.  Of course, these rates could change based on, e.g., changes in personnel costs or changes in the amount of time needed to complete the work.

I guess the ONLY way to find out if that's true with Sheila Toomey and Eddie Burke is to do my records request, right?  See the catch?

Of course, Governor Palin's penchant for secrecy is...well...no secret anymore.  Many who have filed records requests with the state have had to look into their pocketbooks first to determine how much honesty they can afford.  This was well documented by the New York Times during the campaign:

The governor and her top officials sometimes use personal e-mail accounts for state business; dozens of e-mail messages obtained by The New York Times show that her staff members studied whether that could allow them to circumvent subpoenas seeking public records.

Rick Steiner, a University of Alaska professor, sought the e-mail messages of state scientists who had examined the effect of global warming on polar bears. (Ms. Palin said the scientists had found no ill effects, and she has sued the federal government to block the listing of the bears as endangered.) An administration official told Mr. Steiner that his request would cost $468,784 to process.

I'll be sending my request modification to them sometime today.  While I will be significantly shrinking the parameters, which should significantly reduce the price, it's still going to cost several thousand. (I'll have to figure out the money end when I know the final tally.  I jokingly asked my husband if we could sell the house.  He didn't laugh.)

I'll update you when I know the final cost of this "open and transparent" government.

***************************UPDATE*************************

My reply to Linda Perez:

Ms. Perez:

Thank you for your prompt reply.

Several points:

-- I want to make sure that I have a clear understanding of the situation so, in summary:

1)     The ETS charges $925.44 per individual email account if they find it necessary to electronically search it.

2)     The ETS per/hour charge is $57.84

3)     This means that per individual email account, it takes an ETS employee 16 hours to do an electronic search.

Is this correct??  

If so, what type of "electronic search" on one email account for two names takes 16 hours?  Is that in anticipation that there will be a great many emails that will fit the "Eddie Burke" and "Sheila Toomey" search parameters?  If I shorten the date range to, say, one year or maybe six months...will it take less than 16 hours?

-- Your original response to my request (pdf file "Linda Kellen fee letter") also stated:

"Once you pay the fees and the record compilation is completed, we intend to review the records to determine whether they are truly responsive to your requests and whether they include any confidential or privileged information that should not be disclosed."

Since the letter was unclear, I wanted to ensure that some of the "16 hours" for the electronic search time was NOT actually taking into consideration the time required to "review" the documents to determine "privilege."  My understanding is that any estimate of anticipated costs for search and copying cannot include time likely to be spent reviewing the documents to see if they can or should be withheld due to a claim of privilege. (5902 S-11105 Fuller v. City of Homer, 113 P.3d. 659, 666)

-- I would also like to make these modifications to my records request:

1)  Change the "start date" to July 1, 2008.

2)  Limit the Governor's Office employee email accounts to be searched to Governor Sarah Palin, Linda Perez, Bill McAllister, Kris Perry and Sharon Leighow

3)  I would like all other parameters of my request(s) to remain the same.

-- Finally, per Section 40.25.110 of the Alaska Statutes, I would like to request a reduction or waiver of the final fees, once we have come to an agreement upon the modified request.  As we live on my husband's income because I do not have regular employment due to disability, my family would be unable to afford the extra expense.  Also, my request and use of these records more than qualifies as an exercise benefiting the public interest.  The results of my records request(s) will be published on my blog, Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis, which is specifically geared to Alaska issues.  I'm also using this as an opportunity to educate my readers not only on the workings of state government in general but specifically on the process surrounding the State of Alaska Public Records Act.  

Thank you and I await your response,

Linda Kellen Biegel

Thanks to your comments here and on Mudflats, as well as some of the private emails, I was able to craft that response!  Thank you for all of your help and support!