Leelanau County Commissioner Melinda Lautner is continuing to invoke the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in her efforts to uncover correspondence between a fellow commissioner and other government staff. The board of commissioners will discuss waiving the county prosecutor’s fee for completing the request at their meetings this month.
In her initial Nov. 13 request, Lautner asked for “any correspondence sent and received between Commissioner Kama Ross and any employee, department head, or elected official, including our Administrator (Deb Allen) outside of the entire BOC” going back 10 weeks to September.
Lautner said she believed these emails were influencing a then-ongoing organizational culture study being conducted by the Michigan Leadership Institute. The survey results — which singled out Lautner as “toxic, mean-spirited, (and) anti-employee” — were presented on Jan. 3, marking the end of the contract.
