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Portage council adopts revised FOIA rules after debate over who should hear appeals
Summary
After debate about whether appeals should be decided by the city manager or the full council, Portage City Council unanimously approved updated Freedom of Information Act procedures that keep fee appeals at staff level while preserving council review for content appeals, per amendments adopted at the June 24 meeting.
Portage — The Portage City Council on June 24 unanimously approved amended City of Portage Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) procedures after a lengthy discussion about whether appeals should be handled by a single administrator or the full council.
Council member Burns moved to amend and approve the updated FOIA procedures and guidelines, proposing language that limits the city manager’s role to processing‑fee appeals while reverting timing and content‑appeal language so the council remains the appellate body for content denials. The motion carried on a roll call vote with all present councilmembers voting yes.
Opponents of shifting content appeals to the manager argued the change would effectively eliminate a level of review for citizens. “By making the city manager the arbitrator of that appeal, it really doesn't provide an appeal to the citizens,” Council member Urban said during the discussion. Urban and other councilmembers said such appeals are rare but that keeping council as the appellate body preserves public oversight.
City Manager McGinnis and the city attorney explained the proposed change was intended to streamline responses and meet statutory timing requirements. “It is lawful under state law and under case law to do that, if you want to,” the city attorney said, describing how municipalities may designate the head of the public body to hear appeals to avoid frequent special meetings and to comply with the 10‑business‑day statutory window.
Council members and staff described current practice: clerks and department staff prepare FOIA responses and the city attorney’s office reviews redactions and legal bases for withholding. The clerk confirmed complex or sensitive requests still bring in the attorney and, when needed, the city manager.
The language approved at the meeting (as amended) directs fee appeals to the city manager while preserving council review procedures for appeals involving withheld or redacted content. The council also directed the clerk and city attorney to finalize the redline edits to ensure the approved wording reflects the council’s intent.
The council’s action ends a local debate prompted in part by a recent staff‑level review of a solicitor’s‑permit appeal and by a December 2024 FOIA appeal that councilors said had shown the process can involve delicate personnel or privacy issues. Under the revised procedures, a requester who disagrees with an administrative appeal decision still may seek judicial review in circuit court.
Next steps: Clerk Ekloff and the city attorney will finalize the adopted redline edits and publish the updated procedures on the city website as required by law.
