FOIA Officer
| Submitted | Aug. 27, 2018 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: William Daniels
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act., I hereby request the following records:
August 27, 2018
Barbara Mitchell
FOIA Officer
Chicago Park District
541 N. Fairbanks Ct.
Chicago, IL 60611
Dear Ms. Mitchell:
Under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, 5 ILCS 140, I am requesting copies of public records of the Chicago Park District (CPD) for the period from February 28, 2017 through August 27, 2018 that relate to the discussion and development of plans for the alteration of the golf courses in Jackson Park and the South Shore Cultural Center Park, and the construction of a new golf course on those sites. These records would include but are not limited to:
1) any and all agreements, between the Park District and Mark Rolfing and/or the Chicago Parks Golf Alliance or TGR Design or the Obama Foundation or the University of Chicago, including but not limited to consulting contracts, memoranda of understanding, or other letters especially those involving the payment of Park District funds to any outside person, consultant, or entity to support work on behalf of the golf course project. (This is not a request for the Master Agreement between the Chicago Park District and the Chicago Parks Golf Alliance signed on December 15, 2016, but for other agreements or written communications.)
2) email communications during this period between Michael Kelly or Patrick Levar or Heather Gleason or Nichole Sheehan
and
Mark Rolfing of Rolfing Development, Rolfing Sports, etc., or
Brian Hogan of the Chicago Parks Golf Alliance or
Beau Welling of TGR Design, or
Louise (aka Vera) McCurry of the Jackson Park Advisory Council or
Martin Nesbitt of the Obama Foundation, or
Derek Douglas of the University of Chicago or
Lisa Quinn, CPGA and The First Tee of Greater Chicago, or
Tracy Raoul, CPGA
Please send the documents to me via email to billdaniels@me.com
I understand that the Act specifies that there is no fee for copies of the first 50 pages (black & white, letter or legal size) and that the Park District’s fee for additional pages is 15 cents per page. I am willing to pay fees for this request up to a maximum of $50.00. If you estimate that the fees will exceed this limit, please inform me first.
I look forward to hearing from you in writing within five working days, as required by the Act 5 ILCS 140(3). Thank you for considering and responding to this request.
Sincerely,
Bill Daniels
405 N. Wabash Ave. #3910
Chicago, IL 60611
312 286 8042
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
William Daniels
From: Chicago Park District
Thank you for your FOIA request.
From: Chicago Park District
Direct: 312.742.4789
Email: foia@chicagoparkdistrict.com<mailto:foia@chicagoparkdistrict.com>
September 4, 2018
Bill Daniels
405 N. Wabash Ave. #3910
Chicago, IL 60611
Via Email
Dear Mr. Daniels:
The Chicago Park District is in receipt of your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request dated August 27, 2018 for the following document(s):
1) any and all agreements, between the Park District and Mark Rolfing and/or the Chicago Parks Golf Alliance or TGR Design or the Obama Foundation or the University of Chicago, including but not limited to consulting contracts, memoranda of understanding, or other letters especially those involving the payment of Park District funds to any outside person, consultant, or entity to support work on behalf of the golf course project. (This is not a request for the Master Agreement between the Chicago Park District and the Chicago Parks Golf Alliance signed on December 15, 2016, but for other agreements or written communications.)
The Chicago Park District responds with a notice that five additional business days are required to complete its search for and evaluation of the documents listed above.
Specifically, the extension is taken for one or more of the following reasons:
( ) the requested records are stored in whole or in part at other locations than the office having charge of the requested records;
( ) the request requires the collection of a substantial number of specified records;
( ) the request is couched in categorical terms and requires an extensive search for the records responsive to it;
(X) the requested records have not been located in the course of routine search and additional efforts are being made to locate them;
( ) the requested records require examination and evaluation by personnel having the necessary competence and discretion to determine if they are exempt from disclosure under Section 7 of this Act or should be revealed only with appropriate deletions;
( ) the request for records cannot be complied with by the public body within the time limits prescribed by 5 ILCS 140/3 (c) without unduly burdening or interfering with the operations of the public body;
( ) there is need for consultation, which shall be conducted with all practicable speed, with another public body or among two or more components of a public body having a substantial interest in the determination or in the subject matter of the request.
We will respond to your request by September 11, 2018.
For the record, the above-listed reasons for an extension of time to respond can be found in 5 ILCS 140/3(d) of the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.
In reply to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requesting the following document(s):
2) email communications during this period between Michael Kelly or Patrick Levar or Heather Gleason or Nichole Sheehan
and
Mark Rolfing of Rolfing Development, Rolfing Sports, etc., or
Brian Hogan of the Chicago Parks Golf Alliance or
Beau Welling of TGR Design, or
Louise (aka Vera) McCurry of the Jackson Park Advisory Council or
Martin Nesbitt of the Obama Foundation, or
Derek Douglas of the University of Chicago or
Lisa Quinn, CPGA and The First Tee of Greater Chicago, or
Tracy Raoul, CPGA
RESPONSE: Regarding the email portion of your above request, it is onerous to conduct an email search given the parameters set forth in your request. The Chicago Park District’s email search engine has the following requirements for a search: (1) the employee name or the email address of the account you wish searched; (2) key words you wish to search for; (3) the email address of each individual’s mailbox, if you seek email correspondence to and from two individuals; and (4) the timeframe to be searched. Your request is missing all the required items.
It is necessary that your FOIA request seeking email communications be clarified. Without email addresses, search terms or a timeframe, the Park District would have to retrieve each and every email for every employee for an unspecified period of time, which is both unduly burdensome and costly. After retrieving these emails, each and every email message a Park District employee received or sent would have to be downloaded and reviewed to determine if it is responsive to your request or exempt from disclosure. If an exemption were to apply, the Park District would need to redact such information. The entire process of retrieval of the emails, finding responsive records reviewing for exempt information, and then redacting the materials would be onerous. If you would like assistance in clarifying your request, please contact me at 312 742-4789.
If you have any questions feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
Barbara Mitchell
Freedom of Information Officer
Chicago Park District | 541 N. Fairbanks Ct. | Chicago, IL 60611
tel: 312.742.4789
FOIA@chicagoparkdistrict.com<mailto:FOIA@chicagoparkdistrict.com>
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~WRD000
From: Chicago Park District
Direct: 312.742.4789
Email: foia@chicagoparkdistrict.com<mailto:foia@chicagoparkdistrict.com>
September 11, 2018
Bill Daniels
405 N. Wabash Ave. #3910
Chicago, IL 60611
requests@muckrock.com<mailto:requests@muckrock.com>
billdaniels@me.com
Via email
Dear Mr. Daniels:
This letter is in reply to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request dated August 28, 2018 seeking the following information:
I am requesting copies of public records of the Chicago Park District (CPD) for the period from February 28, 2017 through August 27, 2018 that relate to the discussion and development of plans for the alteration of the golf courses in Jackson Park and the South Shore Cultural Center Park, and the construction of a new golf course on those sites. These records would include but are not limited to:
1) any and all agreements, between the Park District and Mark Rolfing and/or the Chicago Parks Golf Alliance or TGR Design or the Obama Foundation or the University of Chicago, including but not limited to consulting contracts, memoranda of understanding, or other letters especially those involving the payment of Park District funds to any outside person, consultant, or entity to support work on behalf of the golf course project. (This is not a request for the Master Agreement between the Chicago Park District and the Chicago Parks Golf Alliance signed on December 15, 2016, but for other agreements or written communications.)
RESPONSE: The Chicago Park District has no responsive documents as per your request.
In reply to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requesting the following documents:
2) email communications during this period between Michael Kelly or Patrick Levar or Heather Gleason or Nichole Sheehan
and
Mark Rolfing of Rolfing Development, Rolfing Sports, etc., or
Brian Hogan of the Chicago Parks Golf Alliance or
Beau Welling of TGR Design, or
Louise (aka Vera) McCurry of the Jackson Park Advisory Council or
Martin Nesbitt of the Obama Foundation, or
Derek Douglas of the University of Chicago or
Lisa Quinn, CPGA and The First Tee of Greater Chicago, or
Tracy Raoul, CPGA
RESPONSE: It is necessary that your FOIA request seeking email communications be narrowed and clarified. The Park District’s email search engine has the following requirements for a search: (1) the employee name or the email address of the account you wish searched; (2) key words you wish to search for; (3) the email address of each individual’s mailbox, if you seek email correspondence to and from two individuals; and (4) the timeframe to be searched. Your request is missing #2 and #3 of the required items. Therefore, it is necessary that your FOIA request seeking email communications be narrowed and clarified. If you would like assistance in clarifying your request, please contact me at 312 742-4789.
Pursuant to 5 ILCS 140/3(g), we are asking that you narrow your request to more manageable proportions. If you decide to narrow your request, you will be asked to submit a revised request to the Park District. Failure to narrow your request will result in a denial under 5 ILCS 140/3(g). Furthermore, if the request for documents is narrowed the Park District will not release any documents exempt under the Freedom of Information Act.
In the case of a denial, pursuant to 5 ILCS 140/9.5(a) you may file a Request for Review with the Public Access Counselor (PAC) at: Public Access Counselor; Office of the Attorney General; 500 South 2nd Street; Springfield, IL 62706. You also have the right to seek judicial review of your denial by filing a lawsuit in the State circuit court, 5 ILCS 140/11.
If you have any questions regarding this response, please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
Barbara Mitchell
Freedom of Information Officer
Law Department
Chicago Park District | 541 N. Fairbanks Ct. | Chicago, IL 60611
tel: 312.742.4789
Email: foia@chicagoparkdistrict.com<mailto:foia@chicagoparkdistrict.com>
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~WRD000