Saino Sues MCS For Alleged Open Records Violation
ANDY MEEK | The Daily News
FOR THE RECORD: Joe Saino, who maintains a Web site chronicling his public watchdog efforts, has filed a lawsuit in Shelby County Chancery Court against the Memphis City Schools system over an open records request. -- PHOTO BY ANDY MEEK
It started as an open records request.
The inquiry came from a private citizen who wanted numbers, demographic information and other items of interest related to the Memphis City Schools system.
Joe Saino, a self-professed watchdog who spends much of his time asking for and studying public records from local government, sent an e-mail in January to interim city schools superintendent Dan Ward. Saino is a retired electrical engineer now on a full-time hunt for what he believes is waste and mismanagement in government.
In his e-mail, Saino asked the school system for a breakdown of all expenditures, student enrollment, the acreage and number of facilities the school system is responsible for maintaining, a list of employees and a list of salaries and benefits. Saino followed that request with another in February asking about the school system’s computer and software purchases.
Saino’s first e-mail was followed up with a hand-delivered letter one week later. A follow-up fax was sent in March. Eventually, he e-mailed members of the school board when his requests went unanswered.
A-suing we will go
Meanwhile, the school system also was contending with other requests for its internal records. Those requests came from the FBI, which has been looking into matters related to the district’s construction practices and construction project bids.
“So I got a call from one of (the district’s) attorneys – after I sent a letter saying I was just going to file suit – and they said, ‘Well, go ahead,’” Saino recalled. “‘We think the chancellor will cut us some slack because the FBI is out here and investigating us, and we’re busy with that.’”
That’s why what began as an open records request from Saino, a former board member of Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division who also ran unsuccessfully for the Memphis City Council last year, has now become a legal dispute. He filed suit in Shelby County Chancery Court earlier this month, according to The Daily News Online, www.memphisdailynews.com.
Practice makes perfect
Saino’s filing is styled as a petition for access to public records and to obtain judicial review of a denial of access. It names the city school system by and through interim superintendent Ward.
“I filed this suit pro se – it’s a very clear-cut case of a refusal to answer to the open records law,” said Saino, referring to the legal term that means representing oneself in court. “(Local governments) do this, knowing 99 out of 100 citizens aren’t going to do anything about it. I, of course, have gotten some experience in doing this.”
By experience, Saino means the variety of similar legal complaints he’s filed over the past few years in response to other instances in which he’s perceived a refusal to comply with the state’s open records policies. His previous targets have included Memphis city government and the Mid-South Minority Business Council.
The school system’s associate general counsel on Friday declined to respond to The Daily News about Saino’s suit. MCS associate general counsel Van Turner did speak about the issue in general terms, saying the school system receives open records requests almost daily and that those are funneled through his office.
“It’s a very clear-cut case of a refusal to answer to the open records law. (Local governments) do this, knowing 99 out of 100 citizens aren’t going to do anything about it. I, of course, have gotten some experience in doing this.”
– Joe Saino
“We just got it, so basically we’re looking at it now and I don’t want to comment on it just yet,” Turner said. “I think we’ll be able to resolve the lawsuit – we’ve just got to look through it and process it.”
Toward appeasement
Saino’s complaint with the school system’s open records practices extends beyond denials to inspect certain documents and records. He’s also unhappy with the cost to the public of obtaining copies of those records.
“They’ve got all these files in electronic format, but they won’t give them to you,” Saino said. “And they want to charge $1 per copy rather than (the common) 25 cents or so per copy. So I started taking my own copy machine up there.”
Over the weekend, the possibility was raised that school officials and Saino may yet avoid a court encounter. Turner e-mailed Saino a partial reply to his open records request that included answers to Saino’s general enrollment questions.
Saino still is waiting for information including salaries, job titles and benefit details for employees of the school system.