"FOIA" by Mayor? Laurel's IT Vendor, Illegal Fees, and Some Unanswered Questions

What this sequence establishes:

1. The Mayor directed an informal archive search using his own terms - not the requestors' terms - before formal FOIA requests were processed
2. The search was narrowed from 70,000 results to approximately 600 by Roberts, using parameters that did not match what the requestors asked for
3. The person who ran that informal search is the same person who ran the formal April production
4. That person's name was specifically redacted from the formal production - but the city missed his first name in the body of Strecker's February 4 reply
5. That person continues to publicly mock the community members whose records he is handling

To: City of Laurel - City Attorney, City Council, City Staff

Michele and City of Laurel -

Thank you for the fee schedule and for continuing to respond while traveling. I have three issues to raise.

1. The city's FOIA fee schedule violates state law.

The schedule charges $50/hour for city staff research, $150–$250/hour for contracted staff, and $250/hour for city attorney review. MCA 2-6-1006(5) caps all public records search fees at $25/hour and requires the most cost-efficient method. Under subsection (5)(c), the first hour of service is free after a $5 filing fee. The city's rates are 2x to 10x the statutory maximum. State law preempts this schedule.

I do not consent to a "quote from IT" for the four email searches I submitted on March 26. These are narrow searches - two parties, 55 days each - that any city employee with email access can perform in minutes. Under the statute, this falls well within the first free hour. I expect production, not a bill.

2. The city's IT vendor has a direct conflict of interest in this matter.

John Roberts, a Senior Network Technician at Morrison-Maierle - the company operating as "Systems Technology Consultants" under the city's contract - has been publicly and actively antagonizing community members on social media regarding the facility. Screenshots are attached showing:

• His Facebook profile listing his employer as Morrison-Maierle
• His comment dismissing community concerns: "these people never actually do any research before posting this shit lol"
• His comment calling a community member "honey" and telling them to "go play in your sandbox"
• His comment: "You people need something productive to do your time, Jesus Christ" - to which Mayor Waggoner personally replied: "I like John's humor"
• A thread showing Roberts deleting his own comments when community members began screenshotting them, and Mayor Waggoner's engagement with Roberts being called out by constituents

This is the person - or this person's company - that is handling public records production, quoting fees to the city for FOIA compliance, and determining what documents are "responsive." The mayor who signed this vendor's contract renewal on February 10 is publicly endorsing this employee's mockery of the citizens requesting those records.

I am formally requesting that the city confirm in writing: what search terms were used for the consolidated FOIA pull, the full document count by custodian, and that no records have been altered, withheld, or deleted during vendor processing.

3. Kelly and Brittney have not answered a yes-or-no question.

I understand your explanation that they were uncomfortable responding due to the legal issues raised, and that your office has addressed the legal questions. I appreciate that. But the question I asked Kelly and Brittney is not a legal question - it is a factual one: Have you been asked or directed by Waggoner or Markegard to delay, limit, or withhold production of any records?

That is a yes or no. It does not require legal analysis. Your answer on their behalf - however thorough - is not a substitute for their individual, personal responses. If the answer is no, it should take five seconds to say so. The continued silence on this specific question is noted.

Respectfully,
Matt Gilg