Peoria Standard

Another day, another denial of information by the City of Carlinville, a government oversight group alleged on its website recently.

According to the Edgar County Watchdogs (ECW), the state attorney general’s public access counselor (PAC) is reviewing another instance of Carlinville’s failure to respond to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. The reluctance follows a string of complaints by citizens, the ECW said.

Robert Brogue sent the PAC a request for review after the city did not respond to two FOIA requests he submitted to City Clerk Carla Brockmeier, the first of which asked for proof that the mayor and all City Council members have attended both FOIA and Open Meetings Act training. He also requested credit card and charge account statements for the city for the past six months and all City Council and mayoral expense reports and claims for the same period. 

In his second request, Brogue asked for minutes and recordings of the city’s electoral board meetings and agendas and public notices for the same, as well as the minutes and other records for a specific meeting that was held in a private office.

Brockmeier was legally required to respond to the requests within five days, which Brogue said she did not do, according to the ECW. The PAC has requested that Brockmeier respond to Brogue’s request or demonstrate that she has already responded by Thursday.