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October 13, 2006
Trust But Verify: ESDC Foils FOIL Request
Brooklyn Downtown Star
Norman Oder recounts his tale of trying to get the Empire State Development Corporation to release a study cited in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement.
First his Freedom of Information request was conveniently misplaced, then the request turned up somewhere after Norman Oder used his 3-mins of fame at the ESDC's "Community Forum" to publicly complain. Finally his request was "DE-NIED!"
What next?
Is there a remedy? State law provides for an appeal to the head of the agency, who must within ten business days "fully explain in writing to the person requesting the record the reasons for further denial, or provide access to the record sought." Also, the Committee on Open Government can be asked for an advisory opinion, which usually takes six to eight weeks to render. However, that opinion is not binding, and the only way to get such records is to go to court.
Will a politician fare better?
"I'm hoping that because I'm a state official, they'll cooperate," [Jim Brennan] said, noting that he would ask colleagues in the Assembly from Brooklyn to support his request.
Why is the "independent economic impact analysis" so important?
[The Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods'] experts noted that several subsidies were ignored, including: a property tax exemption, a sales tax exemption, tax-exempt financing, a non-competitive bid for the railyard rights, unspecified "extraordinary infrastructure costs," public utility relocation, affordable housing subsidies, and a mortgage recording tax exemption.
Posted by lumi at October 13, 2006 10:27 AM