Dana Nessel

ALPENA –Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is coming to Alpena on Oct. 29 for a free public forum on the importance government transparency.

The event begins at 1 p.m. at the Alpena County Library, 211 N. 1st Ave. The News and the Michigan Press Association are sponsoring the event.

Residents have the right to know as much as possible about what their local and state governments are doing, and Michigan’s Freedom of Information and Open Meetings acts help ensure people get the information they request, Nessel said. Unfortunately, people using FOIA are sometimes given the runaround, denied access to government documents, or charged an exorbitant fee.

Those will be a few of the points Nessel will cover at the Alpena event, one of several the attorney general and MPA have hosted around the state.

“These seminars provide an opportunity for residents, elected leaders, and the media alike to learn about the key parts of Michigan law that ensure we keep government and its officials from conducting business behind closed doors,” Nessel said in an email to The News on Friday.

The Center for Public Integrity ranks Michigan last in the nation in terms of transparency, largely because the governor’s office and Legislature are exempt from FOIA and the state lacks financial disclosure requirements for elected officials or state officers.

Nessel said that, while her office doesn’t create or pass legislation, she advocates for changes when she believes they need to be made, especially when it pertains to openness.

Nessel said some action has been taken in Lansing that would provide better transparency, such Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s executive orders banning the use of private email accounts for government business and mandating each state department appoint a public liaison to work in tandem with FOIA coordinators to ensure prompt responses to document requests.

Whitmer’s executive orders stopped short, however, of opening up her office to FOIA requirements. Michigan is one of just two states where the executive branch is fully exempt from open-records laws and one of eight where the the Legislature is explicitly exempt, the Associated Press reports.

Nessel said she is hopeful, however, that will change.

“There appears to be an interest in the Legislature with the bipartisan introduction of legislation that expands FOIA to the Legislature and the executive office,” she said in the email to The News. However, “Michigan remains at the bottom of the pack when it comes to transparency in government. Transparency for all elected officials, irrespective of their positions, should be a requirement. No elected official should be exempt from sharing information with the people they are elected to serve.”

Even the most seasoned people who utilize FIOA can find the process cumbersome. Nessel said that, although some requests could be costly because of the amount of work needed to gather data, more often than not, they are not expensive.

“The FOIA process can be a little confusing to navigate if an individual looking for information doesn’t know what to ask for or how to ask for it,” she said. “It is one of the reasons the governor earlier this year established transparency liaisons within each of the departments — to help those requesting information navigate the process. Sometimes, it is a matter of helping the requester narrow in on what they’re looking for, and it can make all the difference in terms of costs. I am proud that we have processed the vast majority of our FOIA requests at no charge, but we have received requests that require a great deal of labor-intensive work — and that costs the state money.”

The News specifically invited several local government officials to Monday’s event, and dozens have already said they’re planning to attend. Interest in the event was so high that the Alpena County Board of Commissioners rescheduled a board meeting so commissioners and staff could attend.

The Alpena forum is one of many the attorney general has hosted since taking office in January, and she thinks the relationship she has with media is important in getting the word out about issues.

“I continue to go around the state advocating for more transparency and educating our residents about the Freedom of Information Act and the Open Meetings Act and I am grateful to the Michigan Press Association for partnering with our office to host these seminars,” she said.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ss_alpenanews.com.