On the tail end of a discussion on Urbana’s policies and conduct regarding public records requests, something remarkably out of order happened. City Clerk Phyllis Clark interrupted Council member Jared Miller to recite a condescending and factually erroneous lecture on the Freedom of Information Act.
Miller was in the process of suggesting that the Council could determine some best practices for FOIA requests when Clark eerily said, as if from the depths, “you are wrong Jared”. Clark then spoke out of order for more than two minutes straight while the Mayor and Council humored her. Clark referred to Miller as “darling” and told him to “stay in your lane”.
Perhaps worse than the fact that Clark’s rambling monologue was out of order, it didn’t make any sense. Miller was spot-on correct when he was suggesting that the City of Urbana could adopt their own set of best-practices within the law, rather than continuing with the newly established practices of FOIA Officer Curt Borman. Borman’s posture has been to deny everything possible and charge as much as possible for FOIA requests (actually, Borman frequently takes it far beyond what is legally permissible and has engaged in an number of illegal practices, well documented by CheckCU).
Very nearly 100% of the FOIA exemptions cited by the City of Urbana are by choice, and exactly 100% of the FOIA fees charged by the City are by choice. The Illinois statute does not require public bodies to make these exemptions or charge any fees at all. Clark argued that the City could not adopt its own practices, which is simply wrong – public bodies do it all the time.
Clark’s interruption seemed to be charged not with knowledge, but with a hatred for the residents of Urbana, and their right to acquire public records. Clark seemed to be arguing purely to be an antagonist to public access, and little else. Clark said, “when you are being beaten by the people who are asking for this stuff simply because they can, that’s not fair”.
Due to Clark’s interruption, Miller was unable to finish speaking, and the meeting ended.
It should be noted that Phyllis Clark currently serves as City Clerk not having been elected, but by appointment by Mayor Diane Marlin after the resignation of Charlie Smyth.
You can view Phyllis Clark’s interruption of the October 5th Urbana City Council meeting here:
It is amazing to see such an overall lack of competence in a city that supposedly is not lacking in brains. During the short time that Phyllis Clark has been clerk she has learned nothing about how to conduct herself as a city official.
In the immediate incident, Clark should have been asked to leave, and if she had not complied, should have been charged with a misdemeanor according to the laws of Urbana that apply to interference with official acts.
I commend Alderman Miller for his patience in describing how FOIA is handled according to law. He should have been allowed to continue.
Now that Clark has been re-elected, the real scandal is why.
Ask the Ammons and their local sponsor for the answer.
I double down on my previous comment.