The Illinois Attorney General?s office has overruled a Franklin Park decision to withhold water bill records requested by a resident.
Resident Ken Zurek filed a freedom of information request on May 13 requesting copies of water bills related to a house on Louis Street.
The village denied the request, citing an exemption in the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. The exemption allows denial on the basis of ?personal information contained within public records, the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.?
Unwarranted invasion of personal privacy is defined as ?the disclosure of information that is highly personal or objectionable to a reasonable person and in which the subject?s right to privacy outweighs any legitimate public interest in obtaining the information.?
On May 19, the attorney general?s office wrote the village, saying the exemption was denied.
?This office has previously concluded that disclosure of records relating to public utility bills cannot be characterized as highly personal or objectionable to the reasonable person,? Assistant Attorney General Matthew Rogina wrote.
The village ?must disclose the billing records to Mr Zurek,? Rogina wrote, though it may redact ?private information? as defined by the Freedom of Information Act.
Village Clerk Tommy Thompson said he sent the records the same day he received the letter from the attorney general?s office.
?We always abide by what the (attorney general) says,? Thompson said.
In a separate letter, Zurek asked the attorney general?s office to review a March 28 town hall meeting, claiming violations of the Illinois Open Meetings Act.
In his letter, Zurek claimed the Village Board did not allow Zurek to address the board, failed to post an agenda for the meeting on the village website and held discussions on village business without proper notice.
The attorney general?s office said the town hall meeting ?did not constitute a meeting of the Village Board.?
The attorney general?s office also found that Zurek was given a chance to address the board, though it noted the board has not ?properly established and recorded rules governing public comment? and must adopt and apply such rules immediately, Assistant Attorney General Amanda Lundeen said.
?There were never any rules that you could only comment for a two-minute period or what was going on in that meeting,? Zurek said.
Lundeen agreed with Zurek that the village is obliged to post agenda?s of meetings on the village website. The village has posted trustee meeting agendas and minutes on its website, but will now start posting agendas for meetings of all committees and commissions, Thompson said.
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