OEMC Email Logs

Dear Alexandra:

Thank you for your interest in information from the Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC). Your FOIA request has been received and is being processed. Your FOIA Center reference number for tracking purposes is: F240741-012624
You have requested the following records: To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act., I hereby request the following records:

Records sufficient to show the following email logs:

1. A log of all emails to/from Tim Thomasson

December 15, 2023 through December 31, 2023.

Please search all of OEMC email accounts as well as personal accounts used for public business. The logs should include but not be limited to: sender, recipient(s), date and time, subject line, and attachment.

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,

Alexandra Gelzin

Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/
The Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC) responds to all public records requests in accordance with the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 ILCS 140/1 et seq.  If further time is needed to assemble and copy all documents responsive to your FOIA request, we will contact you with a time estimate and a request to extend. You can monitor the progress of your request at the link below and you’ll receive an email when your request has been completed. Thank you for using the Chicago FOIA Center.

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FFICE OF MERGENCY ANAGEMENT ND OMMUNICATIONS
CITY OF CHICAGO 02/01/2024 RE: FOIA Request #F240741-012624 Alexandra Gelzin requests@muckrock.com MuckRock News, DEPT MR157822 263 Huntington Ave Boston, MA 02115
Dear Alexandra Gelzin: On behalf of the Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC), I am responding to your Freedom of Information (FOIA) request that our office received on January 26, 2024, wherein you requested the following information: To Whom It May Concern:"

Pursuant to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act., I hereby request the following records:

Records sufficient to show the following email logs:

1. A log of all emails to/from Tim Thomasson

December 15, 2023 through December 31, 2023.

Please search all of OEMC email accounts as well as personal accounts used for public business. The logs should include but not be limited to: sender, recipient(s), date and time, subject line, and attachment.

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,

Alexandra Gelzin

Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/ The FOIA provides in 5 ILCS 140/3(g) that requests for all records falling within a category shall be complied with unless compliance with the request would be unduly burdensome for the complying public body and there is no way to narrow the request and the burden on the public body outweighs the public interest in the information. I am requesting clarification as to what you are seeking when you use the phrase " A log of all emails to/from Tim Thomasson  December 15, 2023 through December 31, 2023". Because of the broadness of the phrasing, the language could potentially include a myriad of documents that would be exempt from disclosure. Also, without further clarification, a massive search would be required to look for documents that would potentially be included under the umbrella of " records. A log of all emails to/from Tim Thomasson December 15, 2023 through December 31, 2023". Thereby, as your FOIA request is currently written, the dedication of staff and/or resources is unduly burdensome on the daily operations of the Department of The Office of Emergency Management and Communications. Your FOIA request for is also unduly burdensome because it A log of all emails to/from Tim Thomasson December 15, 2023 through December 31, 2023. presumably includes e-mails .  In order to effectively run an email search, the Department of The Office of Emergency Management and Communications needs the names or email accounts that you wish searched. The present email system’s tool set cannot identify the department where an email user works, and therefore, a search cannot be based on a department. Parameters that would assist the Department of  The Office of Emergency Management and Communications in conducting an email search include: (1) the e-mail address of the account you wish searched; (2) key words you wish to search for; (3) the e-mail address of each individual’s mailbox, if you seek e-mail correspondence to and from two individuals; and (4) the timeframe to be searched. As to the portion of your request seeking records other than emails, OEMC does not have the capability to apply search terms to records other than emails.  Your request for does not sufficiently identify the records you are seeking.  As the Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor has noted (see 2017 PAC 47756, issued June 20, 2017),  Illinois courts have held, “[a] request to inspect or copy must reasonably identify a public record[.]”  Chicago Tribune Co. v. Dept. of Financial and Professional Regulation, 2014 IL App (4th) 130427, par. 33.  A FOIA request “reasonably describes records if ‘the agency is able to determine precisely what records are being requested.’” Kowalczyk v. Dept. of Justice, 73 F.3d 386, 388 (D.C. Cir. 1996) (quoting Yeager v. Drug Enforcement Admin., 678 F.2d 315, 326 (D.C. Cir. 1982)).  In order to process your request for records other than emails, you must specify the records you are seeking.” Therefore, it is necessary that your FOIA request seeking " be A log of all emails to/from Tim Thomasson
December 15, 2023 through December 31, 2023" narrowed and clarified. If you would like assistance in narrowing your request, please contact me, and I will assist you. Otherwise, as explained above, as your FOIA request is currently drafted, the Department of The Officer of Emergency Management and Communications is unable to respond to the request. To the extent a portion of your FOIA request has been denied, you have a right of review by the Illinois Attorney General's Public Access Counselor who can be contacted at 500 S. Second St., Springfield, IL 62706 or by telephone at (877)-299-FOIA. Email: public.access@ilag.gov. You may also seek judicial review of a denial under 5 ILCS 140/11 of FOIA. Sincerely, A. Martin OEMC FOIA Freedom of Information Officer Office of Emergency Management & Communications 1411 W Madison Chicago IL 60607 312-746-9403

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FFICE OF MERGENCY ANAGEMENT ND OMMUNICATIONS
CITY OF CHICAGO 02/09/2024 RE: FOIA Request #F240741-012624 Alexandra Gelzin requests@muckrock.com MuckRock News, DEPT MR157822 263 Huntington Ave Boston, MA 02115
Dear Alexandra Gelzin:
On behalf of the Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC), I am responding to your Freedom of Information (FOIA) request that our office received on January 26, 2024, wherein you requested the following information:
"To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act., I hereby request the following records:

Records sufficient to show the following email logs:

1. A log of all emails to/from Tim Thomasson

December 15, 2023 through December 31, 2023.

Please search all of OEMC email accounts as well as personal accounts used for public business. The logs should include but not be limited to: sender, recipient(s), date and time, subject line, and attachment.

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,

Alexandra Gelzin

Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/ With respect to your request, your request is considered unduly burdensome because it presumably includes e-mails.  In order to effectively run an email search, the OEMC needs the names or email accounts that you wish searched.  The present email system’s tool set cannot identify the department where an email user works, and therefore, a search cannot be based on a department.  Parameters that would assist the OEMC in conducting an email search include: (1) the e-mail address of the account you wish searched; (2) key words you wish to search for; (3) the e-mail address of each individual’s mailbox, if you seek e-mail correspondence to and from two individuals; and (4) the timeframe to be searched. Therefore, it is necessary that your FOIA request seeking all emails to/from Tim Thomasson December 15, 2023 through December 31, 2023." be narrowed and clarified.  If you would like assistance in narrowing your request, please contact me, and I will assist you.  Otherwise, as explained above, as your FOIA request is currently drafted, the OEMC is unable to respond to the request. If you agree to narrow and/or clarify your request, you must submit a revised written request to my attention.  The OEMC will take no further action or send you any further correspondence unless and until your current request is narrowed in writing.  If we do not receive your narrowed request within fourteen (14) calendar days of the date of this letter, your current request will be denied. To the extent a portion of your FOIA request has been denied, you have a right of review by the Illinois Attorney General's Public Access Counselor who can be contacted at 500 S. Second St., Springfield, IL 62706 or by telephone at (877)-299-FOIA. Email: public.access@ilag.gov. You may also seek judicial review of a denial under 5 ILCS 140/11 of FOIA. Sincerely, M. Mason - OEMC FOIA Freedom of Information Officer Office of Emergency Management & Communications 312-746-9403