SHADYSIDE, Ohio – At its March 10 meeting, the Village of Shadyside council passed a resolution to post the names of people who submitted Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests on its official, public Facebook page.
Council member Mike Meintel told council members he believes FOIA requests take up too much of Chief Records Clerk Jerry Elliott’s time.
However, after further consideration, Village Solicitor Kelly Kotur tells River News Network that she suggested to council that they “refine” the policy and not post requesters’ names. Instead, she suggests council lets the public know the number of requests it receives and how those are addressed. She did not have the number of FOIA requests the village received as of Tuesday morning.
Kotur says she does not want people to be discouraged from submitting information requests.
“I don’t want it to look like we are discouraging people from making requests,” Kotur said.
She added that people have a right to request information from the village.
“People are free to request the public records that they want,” Kotur added.
Kotur said that council has not implemented the FOIA request policy and that no requester names have been posted on social media.
Kotur said she will discuss her suggestions with village council at their next meeting on April 14.
Stay with River News Network for updates on this developing story.
