BY PHIL CUSTODIO
Clarkston News Editor
The state Supreme Court is slated to hear a Clarkston case next week.
The Michigan Supreme Court will hear Clarkston resident Susan Bisio’s appeal in her Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the City of the Village of Clarkston on Thursday, March 5, in the morning session starting at 9:30 a.m.
Attorney Richard Bisio, representing his wife Susan, and attorneys with O’Connor, Degrazia, Tamm & O’Connor, P.C., representing the city, will have 20 minutes each to argue their side.
The Supreme Court accepted the case last Sept. 25, to address whether the Michigan Court of Appeals made a mistake in its ruling in July 2018.
In its decision, the Court of Appeals upheld an Oakland Circuit Court ruling in favor of the city. According to the rulings, the city properly denied a FOIA request by Bisio, a city resident, and she appealed to the state Supreme Court.
Issues include whether documents sought by Bisio were “public records” according to the Freedom of Information Act, and whether the city attorney was an agent of the city.
Bisio sued the city in 2015 for violating the state information law regarding a FOIA request. She had asked for correspondence referenced in some of the monthly billing invoices submitted to the City of the Village of Clarkston by its city attorney Thomas Ryan.
The city declined to provide 18 records, saying they were not public records according to state law. The contested records included emails from Jan. 30, 2015, to May 20, 2015, related to proposed redevelopment of 148 N. Main Street, and cleanup of vacant property at M-15 and Waldon.
The Supreme Court, at 925 West Ottawa Street in Lansing, broadcasts its hearings live on Courts.michigan.gov/courts/michigansupremecourt.