Exorbitant fee for seeking information

On Sept. 28, I made a Freedom of Information request to the DuPage County Election Commission.

On Oct. 1, I spoke with the commission's assistant director, Doreen Nelson. I questioned her concerning the commission's written FOIA policy of charging $1 per copy, and that it was not in line with the FOIA Act's intent. Ms. Nelson informed me that the commission's FOIA policy was fully approved by its board and that it would stand as such.

Inspecting the commission's records per my FOIA request, I found that the commission's attorney, Bond, Dickson and Associates, bills the commission at the rate of 10 cents a copy.

I may be wrong, but the commission's FOIA copy charge appears to be a 1,000 percent increase over what their own attorney is routinely charging the commission for copies.

It is my belief that this exorbitant copy charge serves as a prohibiting factor for anyone seeking public records from the commission and needs to be pursued as an intentional attempt to do just that. This type of policy is an affront to all in our democracy.

In the past, the attorneys for the Citizen Advocacy Center in Elmhurst have helped me resolve a similar outrageous copy fee policy in Milton Township. The citizens of DuPage County need the press and the public to once again defend our rights that are being trampled on by government.

Paula McGowen

Glen Ellyn