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STATE OF MICHIGAN IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF
SHIAWASSEE
BRANDI BITTERMAN, Petitioner, v. VILLAGE OF OAKLEY, Respondent
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Case No.: 14-6693-CZ
Honorable Matthew Stewart
MOTION
PHILIP L. ELLISON (P74117) OUTSIDE LEGAL COUNSEL PLC Attorney
for Petitioner PO Box 107 Hemlock, MI 48626 (989) 642-0055 (888)
398-7003 - fax [email protected]
RICHARD A. HAMILTON (P14574) Attorney for Respondent Village of
Oakley 702 Church St Flint, MI 48502 (810) 767-6860 (810) 767-2817
- fax [email protected]
MOTION TO LEAVE TO AMEND, IN PART, THE
PROTECTIVE ORDER OF THE DISCLOSED RECORDS OF RESERVIST ROBERT
JAMES RITCHIE (aka KID ROCK)
NOW COMES Petitioner Brandi Bitterman, by and through counsel,
and seeks
leave to lift the protective provisions, in part, of the
APPLICATION TO BECOME A RESERVE
OFFICER/CRITICAL INCIDENT RESPONSE TEAM MEMBER for Village of
Oakley reservist
ROBERT JAMES RITCHIE as previously ordered disclosed by the
Court for the
following reasons:
1. This case started a FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT case whereby
the
Petitioner sought the identities of individuals having applied
for and/or given the
designation of the police reservist in the Village of Oakley,
County of Saginaw, State of
Michigan.
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2. It was suspected and believed that certain Village of Oakley
officials were
secretly appointing these individuals in exchange for donations
to a fund operated by
the Village and/or certain key individuals, dubbed as a
pay-to-play scheme for public
police officer appointment in violation of MCL 70.13 -
70.14.
3. It was further questioned whether the individuals who
obtained these
appointments did so primarily for the added benefit of obtaining
a non-restricted
concealed weapons permit under Michigans FIRE ARMS ACT (i.e.
exempted from the
Michigan pistol-free zones like day care centers, sports
stadiums, certain taverns and
bars, churches, casinos, college classrooms, and certain
entertainment facilities).
4. The Village, despite having less than three hundred residents
in its one
mile by one mile territorial jurisdiction, has legally fought in
this Court and even harder in
the Saginaw County Circuit Court, the Michigan Court of Appeals,
and the Michigan
Supreme Court to prevent the public disclosure of this
information.
5. The Village of Oakley sought to keep the names of its police
reservists
secret and the operations of its program a secret from the
public.
6. On March 5, 2015, this Court entered an order following an
evidentiary
hearing on March 4, 2015 ordering the Village of Oakley to
conduct a thorough search
of all Village records and identify those records responsive to
Plaintiffs FOIA request
and provide all such documents to Plaintiff, through her
counsel, within 30 days from
the date of entry of this Order. Order After Evidentiary
Hearing, 2-3.
7. Typically, records released by a FOIA request are in the
public domain
without any further exemptions permitted. See Chesapeake Bay
Found, Inc v US Army
Corps of Engineers, 722 F Supp 2d 66 (DDC 2010).
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8. This Court ordered, sua sponte, that all such documents
containing
confidential information shall be subject to a protective order
pursuant to MCR 2.302
with confidential information defined by the Court to mean any
personally identifying
information about police reservists except their names. Order
After Evidentiary
Hearing, 5.
9. However, the Court further directed that the confidential
material will not,
absent leave of Court, be communicated in any way to anyone
except the attorneys and
parties. Order After Evidentiary Hearing, 7.
10. On or about April 3, 2015, the Village compiled with this
Courts order and
submitted a huge box of copied materials containing records of
the reservists of the
Village of Oakley.
11. Since that time, efforts have been made to go over the
materials with
numerous questions raised about how and why individuals who have
become a
reservists in light of the alleged pay-to-play scheme
12. One such person revealed and identified as a Village of
Oakley Police
Reservist is ROBERT JAMES RITCHIE who is permissibly named
pursuant to
Paragraph 5 of the Order After Evidentiary Hearing, dated March
5, 2015.
13. ROBERT JAMES RITCHIE is known by his stage name Kid Rock,
an
American singer-songwriter, rapper, multi-instrumentalist,
producer, and actor of
international renown.
14. Village of Oakley Police Chief Robert Reznick has been
quoted as
explaining that the roles of reservists (if to be believed) is
like volunteers, as they don't
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have the power to make arrests and tend to help with cooking hot
dogs at community
events or inspecting Halloween candy. See Exhibit A.
15. There are real questions of public importance as to why and
how the
Village of Oakley Police Chief would come into contact with such
an international rock
star and why this international rock star would have any
legitimate interest in such
volunteer activities such as cooking hot dogs at community
events or inspecting
Halloween candy, assuming the same was even undertaken as
suggested by Chief
Robert Reznick.
16. The need to reveal this information will allow the citizens
of Village of
Oakley to debate the merits of the Village of Oakley police
reserve program; what role, if
any, an international rock star like Kid Rock could or should
serve this tiny village as a
reserve officer or member of the critical incidence response
team; and allow the citizens
and residents the ability to decide whether the Village of
Oakley police reserve program
is actually a pay-to-play scheme.
17. Counsel for Petitioner will bring a copy of said public
record with him at the
hearing to allow the court to review the same in camera and has
not attached the
document hereto.
18. It is understood and accepted that the certain information
like social
security numbers, drivers license numbers, addresses, and
telephone numbers could
reasonable be redacted, but the public has the right to know the
qualifications and
credentials of how an international rock star serves in such a
public position with the tiny
Village of Oakley in rural southern Saginaw County.
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19. FOIA directs that [i]t is the public policy of this state
that all persons... are
entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs
of government and the
official acts of those who represent them as public officials
and public employees,
consistent with this act. MCL 15.231(2).
RELIEF REQUESTED
WHEREFORE, the Court is requested to grant leave, in part,
pursuant to
Paragraph 7 of the Order After Evidentiary Hearing, dated March
5, 2015, to allow for
the release of a redacted copy of application of reservist
ROBERT JAMES RITCHIE
consistent with the intent, goal, and purposes of the FREEDOM OF
INFORMATION ACT as to
know the official acts of those who represent them as public
officials.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
OUTSIDE LEGAL COUNSEL PLC BY PHILIP L. ELLISON (P74117)
Attorney for Plaintiff
Date: April 13, 2015
PROOF OF SERVICE
The undersigned certifies that a
copy of the foregoing document(s)
was served on parties or their
attorney of record in the above
cause by mailing the same to them at
their respective business address as
disclosed by the pleadings of record
herein with postage fully prepaid
thereon on the
13th day of April, 2015
PHILIP L. ELLISON
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