FOIA Rejection From Joliet City Clerk Under Review By Attorney General's Public Access Counselor

JOLIET, IL ? Joliet Patch has appealed Wednesday's Freedom of Information Act denial from Joliet City Clerk Lauren O'Hara to the Illinois Attorney General's Public Access Counselor. Patch's latest FOIA denial from O'Hara, who serves as her city's FOIA officer, involves Joliet Patch's attempt to learn the community where all Joliet's full-time employees now reside.

The Aug. 26 FOIA request to O'Hara made it clear that Joliet Patch was not seeking any specific addresses for Joliet's employees.

"Joliet Patch submits this FOIA seeking the town or community of residence for all full-time city of Joliet employees," the FOIA stated. "Please furnish A) the employee's name, B) the employee's position or job title and C) the community where they currently reside, AKA Joliet, Chicago, New Lenox. To be clear, Joliet Patch is not asking for the home addresses of any city of Joliet employees. This FOIA request mirrors one the city of Joliet granted to John Sheridan around 2021."

Joliet City Employee Residency Becomes Timely Topic For Community

Joliet Patch subsequently learned that both past and present Joliet City Hall administrations had granted similar FOIA requests to Sheridan, who serves as president of the Cunningham Neighborhood Council. Sheridan has been a long-time community advocate for open government, term limits for politicians and fiscal accountability.

Sheridan recently informed Patch that he obtained the communities showing where Joliet employees reside from a FOIA request to the city back in 2021 and again last November.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday afternoon, O'Hara notified Joliet Patch that "This letter is to inform you that your FOIA request is being denied for the following reasons; 5 ILCS 140/7(1)(b); Private information; defined as ?unique identifiers, including a person?s social security number, driver?s license number, employee identification number, biometric identifiers..."

On Aug. 13, O'Hara was the focus of a Joliet Patch story headlined, "Lt. Jeremy Harrison Investigation: Joliet City Clerk Rejects 3 Joliet Patch FOIA Requests." Readers learned that O'Hara, who now serves as the city of Joliet's Freedom of Information Act officer, has rejected three separate Freedom of Information Act requests from Joliet Patch pertaining to the recent removal of Joliet Police Lt. Jeremy Harrison from his regular duties at the police department.

This week's latest O'Hara FOIA denial has set up an open government battle between Joliet Patch and the city of Joliet administration of Mayor Terry D'Arcy that will be decided by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul's Public Access Counselor Leah Bartelt and her staff.

"I am formally requesting the Illinois Attorney General's Office review my FOIA denial in hopes of obtaining access to the community of residence for all city of Joliet staff," Joliet Patch notified the Public Access Counselor on Thursday. "Additionally, I have provided you with two attachments, correspondence from Joliet neighborhood association president John Sheridan showing that the city of Joliet last November and back in 2021 granted Sheridan's FOIA requests essentially asking for the same information.

"As editor of Joliet's most widely read news organization, am I being singled out and treated differently by Joliet City Hall because I represent the news media?"

The topic of Joliet city employee residency is a timely issue for the entire community.

In July, Joliet's news radio station WJOL 1340-AM reported that after a vote by the Joliet City Council, Joliet firefighters will no longer be required to live in the city of Joliet. The residency requirement was eliminated by Mayor Terry D?Arcy and the Joliet City Council. Now, Joliet firefighters can live within a 50-mile radius of Joliet, beginning at the corner of West Jefferson Street and Essington Road.

Joliet Patch Awaits FOIA Decision On Officer Kristen Ames' Cybertruck Crash

Incidentally, Joliet Patch now has two separate city of Joliet FOIA denials under review and awaiting a final decision by Leah Bartelt, the Illinois Attorney General's Public Access Counselor.

In August, Patch appealed the Joliet Police Department's FOIA denial seeking access to the body worn camera videos from police officials who responded to off-duty Joliet police officer Kristen Ames' Tesla Cybertruck crash. The one-vehicle crash at the corner of Tyler Drive and North Addleman Street happened when the Tesla smashed into a townhouse in Joliet's Wexford Subdivision. A gun belonging to a man who owned the Cybertruck was recovered from inside the Tesla, according to Joliet's traffic crash report.

On Thursday, Bartelt informed Joliet Patch that her office is still reviewing the Tesla Cybertruck case and has not made a final decision. She noted that a second news media organization also asked the attorney general's office to review its FOIA denial for the same Cybertruck crash incident.

According to her online bio, Bartelt became an assistant attorney general in January 2015 and was named the Public Access Counselor in March 2022.

"The Public Access Bureau works to educate public bodies and citizens about the Illinois Freedom of Information and Open Meetings Acts, and to address allegations that public bodies have violated those laws," her bio reads. "Prior to joining the Attorney General?s Office, Leah practiced law with the ACLU of Illinois and Sidley Austin LLP, and served as a law clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Leah is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Chicago."

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

Off-Duty Joliet Police Officer Crashes Man's Cybertruck Into Townhouse, Gun Found In Tesla

Lauren O'Hara Will Not Make $184,378 As Joliet's New City Clerk: Sing

Lt. Jeremy Harrison Investigation: Joliet City Clerk Rejects 3 Joliet Patch FOIA Requests