Rightwing Republican think tank continues to use FOIA for intimidation

You have to wonder if it's a case of the chicken or the egg with the use of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by the rightwing Republican think tank “Mackinac Center for Public Policy to intimidate and to dig up dirt on opponents.

The partisan Republican think tank, financed by right-wingers like the rightwing billionaire Koch Brothers, submitted a FOIA request last week to the labor studies departments at Wayne State University, Michigan State University and the University of Michigan aimed to intimidate pro-labor dissenters and stifle academic freedom.

The FOIA request is seeking emails in which the terms "Scott Walker," "Wisconsin," "Madison" or "Maddow" are being used. This is very similar to the Howell Public Schools infamous E-mail case that began four years ago, and, in fact, it has some of the same players.

In May of 2007 anti-union activist Chet Zarko, who passed away last summer, filed a massive FOIA request with the help of teabagger and former Howell School Board member Wendy Day seeking union emails in a fishing expedition to embarrass the Howell Education Association that were in tough contract negotiations with the school district. It was never determined who was paying Zarko, and he denied anyone was. But it was the Mackinac Center that ended up bankrolling his long court fight.

The district released some emails, but an injunction was issued stopping Zarko from receive any more of the 5,500 emails. However, he published the ones that put the union president in a bad light.

In January of 2010 the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that the emails sent and received on Howell Public School computers between union members were not public record, and they concluded that under the FOIA statute the individual teacher’s personal emails were not rendered public records solely because they were captured in the email system’s digital memory. The three-Judge panel said it was a question that must be resolved by the Legislature.

After the death of Zarko, the Mackinac Center continued with the case, but the Michigan Supreme Court has refused to take up the case.

It begs the question if Zarko was being paid by the Mackinac Center, or if the Mackinac Center copied Zarko to use the FOIA as an intimidation tactic against teachers with their bottomless money pit. There is no reason they should get any of the emails based on this case.

It’s ironic that MSNBC host and Rhodes Scholar Rachel Maddow is a target of the rightwing think tank. The Koch Brothers bankrolled the union busting attempt in Wisconsin, and Maddow exposed the fact that they are also bankrolling the stealth union busting attempts in Michigan.

The Koch brothers are financing the Mackinac Center, and it was the Mackinac Center that basically wrote the anti-democratic and anti-union emergency financial managers (EFM) package of bills pushed and signed into law earlier this month by Gov. Rick Snyder, also a former wealthy CEO.

It’s well past the time Mackinac Center loses its non-partisan and nonprofit status so we can see who is funding them. They are not nonpartisan.

Republican's assault on teacher’s unions comes at the expense of good public policy

The Republican’s answer to a problem caused by technology brought to light by an anti-teacher’s union witch-hunt is a bill that goes after unions.

The late anti-union activist Chet Zarko launched a fishing expedition back in 2007 by filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) with the help of teabagger and former Howell School Board member Wendy Day seeking emails to embarrass the Howell teacher’s union.

Zarko, who passed away last summer, claimed the emails were sent on district computers during staff time, and they were used to lobby the public during contract negotiations. The district released some emails, but an injunction was issued stopping Zarko from receiving any more of the 5,500 emails.

The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in January of 2010 that the emails sent and received on Howell Public School computers between union members were not public record, and they concluded that under the current FOIA statute the individual teacher’s personal emails were not rendered public records solely because they were captured in the email system’s digital memory. They also said this was unexamined ground in the law, and that this is an issue for the Legislature to address.

So, on January 13, freshman state Rep. Al Pscholka, R-Stevensville, introduced House Bill 4052 that would ban the use of taxpayer-funded e-mail servers for public employee collective bargaining, and, according to the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus, which has devoted tons of column inches to this story, “appears to address concerns that teachers' unions — including the Howell Education Association — might use school computers to conduct union business.”

The bill would apply to all public employees and public employee collective-bargaining units that have access to public e-mail servers.

When the Court of Appeals ruled last January, it said that under the FOIA statute the individual plaintiffs’ personal emails were not rendered public records solely because they were captured in the email system’s digital memory. In other words, something as harmless as an invitation to a colleague’s retirement party that was once just placed in a teacher’s cubbyhole would now be a public record if was sent via email; even if it was sent on a private computer using a private email address as long as it was sent using wireless provided by the district.

Perhaps the most ridiculous thing in the story were the comments by Rep. Marty Knollenberg, R-Troy, who co-sponsored the bill and who Zarko worked for when he passed away.

"Chet certainly was all about FOIA, transparency, full disclosure of how government spends its money and the activities of government, making sure the taxpayer is aware of what's happening to their tax dollars," Knollenberg told the P & A.

No, this was at attempt to smear the teacher’s union. I said it when I first started blogging about this back in 2007, and it is still true.

It’s also telling that the only other people the paper chose to quote was the righting think tank Mackinac Center, which is footing the legal bills, and the paper failed to mention it was a rightwing think tank.

The reporter did seek a comment from Howell Education Association President Jay McDowell, but he declined to comment because he said he didn't have enough time to analyze the bill.

This is a case that will affect every single school district and teacher’s union in the state, so a better quote to balance the story may have been a quote from the director of governmental affairs for the Michigan Education Association (MEA) or even the president of the MEA.

Editorial board wants activist judges in FOIA witch-hunt case

The Republican controlled editorial board of the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus is falling over themselves to blame the non-conservative majority on the Michigan Supreme Court for something they had nothing to do with.

Late last month the Michigan Supreme Court denied an appeal to overturn an appeals court ruling that would have released thousands emails under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Anti-union activist Chet Zarko, who passed away last summer, filed the FOIA in 2007 with the help of teabagger and former Howell School Board member Wendy Day in a fishing expedition to embarrass the teacher’s union. He claimed the emails were sent on district computers during staff time, and they were used to lobby the public during contract negotiations. The district released some emails, but an injunction was issued stopping Zarko from receive any more of the 5,500 emails.

The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in January of 2010 that the emails sent and received on Howell Public School computers between union members were not public record, and they concluded that under the FOIA statute the individual teacher’s personal emails were not rendered public records solely because they were captured in the email system’s digital memory. They also said this was unexamined ground in the law, and that this is an issue for the Legislature to address.

Apparently, the newspaper does not see the fact that teachers are not a public body or public officials, and that the Supreme Court has to have a reason to overturn a solid decision; let alone take it up.

The editorial board did not see it that way, and they want the Justices to be the activist judges they claim they don’t want.

“In one of the last acts of its short-lived Democratic majority, the Michigan Supreme Court did some potential damage to the public's right to know in a ruling about the privacy of what public employees do on public time with publicly provided communications systems The court ought to reconsider this decision before somebody tries to hide behind it to thwart the Michigan Freedom of Information Act.”

Here is another false claim by the paper, “In the Howell case, the e-mails were requested in a FOIA filed by a resident ... who was concerned about ongoing contract negotiations with the teachers union. The resident has since died, but others are keeping the case alive and will request reconsideration by the Supreme Court, which now has a new justice and a 4-3 Republican majority.”

No, Zarko was an Oakland County resident, and his concern was just to find dirt to embarrass the union. There is a reason the anti-union rightwing think tank Mackinac Center is bankrolling the attorney fees.
What the paper and the Michigan Press Association should be doing is asking lawmakers to address the situation, not ask judges to make new laws.

Supreme Court puts an end to FOIA witch-hunt

The Michigan Supreme Court denied an appeal today to overturn an appeals court ruling that declined to release thousands emails under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), putting an end to the three-year witch-hunt to embarrass the teacher‘s union.

Anti-union activist Chet Zarko, who passed away last summer, filed the FOIA in 2007 with the help of teabagger and former Howell School Board member Wendy Day in a fishing expedition to embarrass the teacher’s union. He claimed the emails were sent on district computers during staff time, and they were used to lobby the public during contract negotiations. The district released some emails, but an injunction was issued stopping Zarko from receive any more of the 5,500 emails.

In January the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that the emails sent and received on Howell Public School computers between union members were not public record, and they concluded that under the FOIA statute the individual teacher’s personal emails were not rendered public records solely because they were captured in the email system’s digital memory.

The rightwing, anti-union think tank Mackinac Center for Public Policy, that bankrolled Zarko’s attorney, was not happy with the ruling.

“We can only hope the Michigan Supreme Court will reconsider this case when the justices reconvene in January,” said Patrick Wright of the center said in a press release. “Given the media interest in this case and how regularly citizens make use of the law, a state Supreme Court hearing is appropriate.”

I’m unaware of this alleged media interest, other than me and the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus. The Court of Appeals made in clear in January that the Legislature needs to address the situation.

District attacks teacher in the media

The Howell Public Schools Board of Education and Superintendent Ron Wilson are taking the low road and attacking a teacher in the media because he is bringing unwanted media attention to the school by fighting his suspension.

Last month Howell High School teacher Jay McDowell, who just happens to be the president of the Howell Education Association (HEA) that represents the teachers, was suspended for one day without pay because he sent two students to the office for disrupting his class. The incident occurred Oct. 20; the day people all over the country wore purple to support the end of anti-gay bullying that led to a rash of suicides by gay teens. Apparently, McDowell asked a student wearing a belt buckle sporting the Confederate flag to remove the symbol of racism, slavery, white supremacy and treason.

McDowell, rightly, has protested the suspension and the attack against him, and it has gained support of people all across the country. They have shown up at school board meetings to support McDowell, and that led Wilson to make the false claim that the media is to fault and that the only people supporting McDowell are outside the Howell community.

That’s simply not true, and as a Howell resident with grandchildren in the district, I’m happy to have a teacher at HHS who will not tolerate bigotry, hate and injustice. Last week Wilson and the school board took the rare action of attacking McDowell in the media by releasing selected statements by students in the class, but the statements released were the only ones that shed McDowell in an unfavorable light.

The district has gone as far as to accuse McDowell of bullying by refusing to accept bad behavior from a student.

One such student who defended McDowell was 14-year-old Graeme Taylor, an openly gay student from Ann Arbor, who came to McDowell's defense at a recent school board meeting. He talked about his traumatic experiences at a school where being gay is much more accepted than at Howell, yet Wilson and school board members want to dismiss it because he is not an HHS student. The video of his speech spread like wildfire, and he will appear on the Ellen DeGeneres Show today.

The HEA defended McDowell on Friday, and the HEA specifically singled out Wilson, school board President Debi Drick and board Trustee Wendy Day, “saying the aggressive nature with which they are attempting to malign McDowell's character is deeply troubling.”

I have to agree. The board has a pronounced anti-union bias, and Day has both a rabid anti-union and anti-gay bias.

In fact, it was Day’s anti-gay bias that brought her the attention she craves. No one had ever heard of her until her and her partner, Vicki Fyke, formed an anti-gay hate group known as LOVE (Livingston Organization for Values in Education) because the HHS diversity club dared to tolerate gays. That attention helped her win a seat on the school board where her rhetoric divided the community and gained the district even more negative national press with an unsuccessful book-banning crusade.

Her anti-union stance is well known, and she conspired with the late rightwing anti-union activist Chet Zarko to embarrass the union with a witch-hunt for emails to embarrass union leaders. On her “blog” – although it can no longer be called a blog because she no longer allows anyone to question her warped views - she calls for McDowell to be fired. Of course she would love to see the president of the hated union go down, but she reveals her real reason for her hatred of McDowell.

“Once again our community is at the center of the culture war,” wrote the person who has embarrassed this community more than anyone since KKK Grand Dragon Robert Miles. “It is time the good people of this community stand up and fight back against the social progressive agenda.”

The district wants to blame the media for doing its job, but they are making sure the local media has their side of the story. Today, the latest wrinkle is that Wilson has turned over e-mails he perceives as threatening to area police.

According to the Daily Press & Argus, “Wilson last week said the district has received more than 1,000 e-mails since Oct. 26 from people outside the Howell community. He said he feels it's ironic the people who say they oppose violence and bullying are using these same tactics to intimidate district elected officials and staffers.”

Wilson continues with the false theme that it is just people from outside the district who support McDowell. There is also no way anyone can interpret the emails as threatening. Are they threatening to blow up or shoot up the school? No, they are simply telling the school t stop discrimination.

In fact, even Wilson admits the emails are not illegal, yet he clings to the fairy tale that they “felt threatened by the tone and content of the e-mail.” One email threatened to publicize the district's discrimination.

Wow, they should feel scared.

Publicity hounds get more ink with petition fairy tale

Howell Public School Board Member and noted teabagger Wendy Day and anti-union activist and Republican House staffer Chet Zarko are together again; teaming up on something they hold very dear: getting their names in print and attacking Democrats with false information.

The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus accommodated them, again, with a front page story on Sunday on the old, false story that the Michigan Democratic Party and a signature collecting firm called “Progressive Campaigns Inc. (PCI)” has been hired to collect signatures to give ballot access to a "Tea Party" party that would drain votes away from Republican candidates.” To really scare people, he is claiming GOP boogieman George Soros is funding it.

Day is behind the petition drive to deny health care access to thousands of Michigan residents, and she say claims if she doesn’t know about the effort to make the teabaggers a third political party, it can’t be happening.

This alleged petition drive to make the teabaggers a real political party seems like just one more publicity stunt to give a fringe group even more publicity.

The teabaggers will never be a political party for so many reasons. First, political parties represent a view, but teabaggers simply do not stand for anything. Teabaggers are simply the extreme wing of the Republican Party that has already taken a huge veer to the right.It would be like the GOP starting a third party.

But most importantly, this petition drive will never happen, no matter how much money self-made billionaire George Soros spends.

Like I said earlier this month when Zarko spun this fairy tale, the hurdle for a minor political party, like the Green Party or the Libertarian Party, to get on the ballot here in Michigan is very high. They must first file as a new political party around for many years. The party must collect petition signatures equal to 1 percent of the votes cast for the governor. That comes out to 38,013 signatures. If they are paying $1 per signature, as Zarko claims, that’s a lot of cash to be paying for no effect during the start of the campaign season.

Even if by some strange twist this alleged petition drive actually occurred, where are the candidates? Recruiting good Democratic candidates to run for office here in predominantly Republican Livingston County is tough because the odds are against them. How hard would it be to recruit a teabagger candidate with even higher odds?

Even if that miracle occurred and the petition drive were successful, they will never meet the deadline to get on the November ballot. To get on the ballot, the minor party must have ballot status in Michigan. Then, any candidate must receive nomination to the office they want to run for at the party’s nominating convention that must be held no later than August 3, 2010 to be on the November ballot. Does Zarko and the right-wing think that could really happen?

The hurdles to ballot status by August are huge. The party has to obtain a facility to hold a convention, publish a call to the convention, draw up bylaws, transmit the that Information to the Secretary of State and accomplish the hundreds of details that goes along with a convention.

Do people really think an impostor can accomplish all of these things in less than three months? I’m surprised no one from the conservative mainstream media has pointed that out.

Zarko and Day first teamed up back - although Zarko denies it - in 2007 when Zarko went on a fishing expedition and submitted a Freedom of Information (FOIA) to find dirt to embarrass the Howell teacher’s union with. He falsely accused the HEA of abusing taxpayer-funded resources to promote union causes, but the district said the union had a recognized right to use the computers and email. With the help of deep-pocketed anti-union think tank, Zarko has managed too keep his name in print and he sued to get the emails. However, the Michigan Court of Appeals slapped him down in January.

With the backing of the anti--union forces he has filed an appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court.

GOP sees black helicopters dropping fake petitions

Republicans have seen another black helicopter and discovered a conspiracy theory involving the teabaggers led by anti-union activtist and Republican House staffer Chet Zarko.

He’s making the claim, and most of Michigan’s rightwing blogs have picked up on it, that “Progressive Campaigns Inc. (PCI) has been hired to collect signatures to put on the ballot a "Tea Party" party.” He further claims that this alleged petition drive is funded by the Michigan Democratic Party, and then he lets out the big GOP boogieman, George Soros. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Soros should be a poster boy for what Republicans claim are their ideals; a man who pulled himself up by his bootstraps, but that is just another GOP talking point.

How does Mr. Zarko know about this alleged petition drive? Because he checked with his co-conspirator Wendy Day - who Zarko teamed up with to attack Howell’s teachers in May of 2007 - and the Howell school board member and head teabagger claims she knows nothing about the petition. Zarko claims Day “condemned this effort and stated it was an effort to dilute the impact of the current Tea Party - she argued this was evidence that forces opposing reform were taking the Tea Party seriously - so seriously that indeed they are trying to steal its trademark and hijack it.”

It’s trademark? Not only that proof, but Zarko” verified through technical means.”

Even if everything Zarko has written about this latest fairy tale is true, so what?

The hurdle for a minor political party, like the Green Party or the Libertarian Party, to get on the ballot here in Michigan is very high. They must first file as a new political party even if they have been around for many years. The party must collect petition signatures equal to 1 percent of the votes cast for the governor. That comes out to 38,013 signatures. If they are paying $1 per signature, as Zarko claims, that’s a lot of cash to be paying for no effect during the start of the campaign season.

Even if by some strange twist this alleged petition drive actually occurred, where are the candidates? Recruiting good Democratic candidates to run for office here in predominantly Republican Livingston County is tough because the odds are against them. How hard would it be to recruit a teabagger candidate with even higher odds?

To get on the ballot, the minor party must have ballot status in Michigan. Then, any candidate must receive nomination to the office they want to run for at the party’s nominating convention that must be held no later than August 3, 2010 to be on the November ballot. Does Zarko and the rightwing think that could really happen?

The right thing to do would be to form a third party, but the simple fact is that the teabagger "movement" is just the radical wing of the Republican Party that’s all ready so far right it’s almost off the tracks.

Teabaggers will never, ever be a third party no matter who pushes it. Even if Zarko’s fairy tale were true, would it be any worse than Republicans collecting signatures to put Green Party Presidential Ralph Nader on the ballot in 2000 and help George Bush become President?

Anti-public school board member stirs up more Controversy to feed her ego

Things have been too quiet in the district for Howell School Board member and teabagger Wendy Day, so she has decided to whip up another controversy aimed at embarrassing the school and bring her more attention in an attempt to feed her huge ego.

She posted on her “blog" that board president Debi Drick violated the Open Meetings Act (OMA) by telling union leaders they could have a private audience with the superintendent candidates the board is currently interviewing, and on Thursday the local newspaper picked up on it and published yet another front page story featuring Day.

Drick denied Day’s claims and said union leaders merely asked her to introduce them to the candidates. That claim was backed up by a story in today’s paper where Interim Superintendent Lynn Parrish said the “events that led the Howell Public Schools Board of Education Trustee Wendy Day to publicly claim her fellow board members broke the law Wednesday was based on a "misinterpretation" of an e-mail she sent to board members the day prior.”

In Day’s warped mind, the real crime is that Drick dared to be respectful to teachers and especially the union members, who are as much a part of the community as parents. She claimed on radio station WHMI that Drick routinely polls fellow board members and conducts public business via email, which is a violation of the OMA. However, only something involving and potentially embarrassing to the union promoted Day speak out on this alleged violation of the law.

She is an extremist who hates the union, and she collaborated with anti-union activist Chet Zarko a few years ago to obtained union emails from union members to try and embarrass them that have ended up in court, costing the district more money in attorney fees.

She has a long history of extreme rightwing activities and brewing up controversy to embarrass the school district she hates so much but gets her name in the paper.

We first heard of Day when she helped co-founded a now dead an anti-gay hate group called the “LOVE (Livingston Organization for Values in Education) PAC” that sprang up in 2006 in response to a diversity flag they mistakenly claimed is a gay pride flag that promotes and endorses homosexuality.

That misguided witch hunt gained her the national attention she so craves, and it helped her get elected to the school board in the spring of 2006, even though she is anti-public school and home schools her children.

It wasn’t long after her election that she launched a book-burning episode in the fall of 2006 by trying to ban the book “The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them.” That led to a book-burning campaign against such classic books as Slaughterhouse Five" by Kurt Vonnegut and "Black Boy" and "The Bluest Eye” by Richard Wright.

That saga finally came to an end in the spring of 2007, but not before she subjected the community to national ridicule and reinforced the image of Howell as a racist, intolerant community, but it did give Day the attention she craves.

But Day kept her name in the paper by helping organize the racist, corporate “tea parties” we were subjected to last year; she remains an organizer in that “movement.”

Day continued to spread hate and discontent among school board members and district employees, but that came to a head last summer when the board fired Superintendent Theodore Gardella after just a year on the job by a vote of 4-2.

Because he was anti-union, Day loved him, and she made the unprecedented move of helping launch and run a recall campaign against her four fellow board members who voted to fire Gardella. The effort, of course, failed, and this appears to be another salvo in that attack. The real funny thing is what Day said in her latest “blog” rant about the board:

“The worst part is that from my seat, the school board is more dysfunctional and less effective than it was the day I was sworn in.”

Ya think? I wonder why that is? It will be much better off when her term mercifully ends this year. This woman is so hated by a community that’s very conservative that she no longer allows any comments on her “blog.”

But the good news is that she again got her name in the paper. Apparently, her ego is even bigger than her hatred of unions, teachers and public schools.

Anti-union activist files appeal in witch-hunt against Howell teachers

Anti-union activist Chet Zarko appealed last month’s ruling of the Michigan Court of Appeals ruling involving the Howell Public School E-mail case last Friday.

The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled on Jan. 27 on the case involving a Freedom of Information Request (FOIA) for some 5,500 emails sent and received on Howell Public School computers between the leaders of the Howell Education Association (HEA) and their union members were not public record and therefore subject to public disclosure. The Oakland County Republican was on a fishing expedition to embarrass teacher unions, and he claimed the emails were sent on district computers during staff time, and were used to lobby the public during contract negotiations. He hit pay dirt with Howell, with the help of teabagger and Howell School Board member Wendy Day before an injunction was issued stopping Zarko from receive any more of the 5,500 emails.

The three-judge panel ruled last month that the issue is one that must be resolved by the Legislature, and they called upon the Legislature to address it. The Court of Appeals also concluded that under the FOIA statute the individual plaintiffs’ personal emails were not rendered public records solely because they were captured in the email system’s digital memory.

Although Howell Public Schools and the School Board were the original defendants in the case filed by the HEA, they have said they will not spend any more tax money on Zarko’s personal witch-hunt and publicity seeking venture.

Zarko filed his appeal bankrolled by Washington, D.C. based National Right to Work Foundation, a union-busting “non-profit,” on Feb. 12. He is being represented by the union-busting group’s attorney and Southfield attorney Arthur Siegal.

If you need any more proof that this is nothing but an anti-union witch-hunt, you night ask why no press or media group is involved or filed a brief in support of Zarko’s position. Where is the Michigan Press Association, the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Press Club or the National Newspaper Association?

The appeal is asking the Court of Appeals to reconsider its opinion because it “was based on incorrect information and went beyond the question before the court.”

The teacher’s union contends that they are not subject to FOIA because they do not meet the scope of FOIA in that they do not affect the performance of a public body.

When the Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on Jan. 5., the school district, the original defendant, said that even emails sent from and to personal lap top computers by teachers would be subject to FOIA if they used the district Wi-Fi under current rules. Zarko is claiming that is factually and legally incorrect, and that is what the Court of Appeals based their decision on.

Most likely the Court of Appeals will reject the appeal, and the Michigan Supreme Court will have the option of hearing the appeal.

Anti-union FOIA editorial is bizarre

I didn’t think it was possible for the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus to veer even farther to the right, but their continued anti-union stance took them there.

After working there for six years, I was well aware of the corporations anti-union bent, but that was not reflected in their editorial opinions, until now. Their bizarre editorial today on the Michigan Court of Appeals decision on the case involving a Freedom of Information Request (FOIA) for some 5,500 emails sent and received on Howell Public School computers between members of the teacher’s union was what was really bizarre. The three-judge panel ruled on Jan. 27 that the emails were not public record and therefore not subject to public disclosure.

This case was launched because anti-union activitist Chet Zarko was looking for dirt to smear the union with. The paper’s position is that the judges were wrong, and that because the emails were “sent across a computer system bought and paid for by the Howell school district” they have no right to privacy. I don’t know if the Gannett corporate attorney wrote this editorial, but they should have sent a reporter to the hearing on Jan. 5 where oral arguments were taken. I went, and it would have made it so much more clear for them.

No one is saying, not even the three judges, that the employer - the HPS administration - can’t look at any and all emails sent and received, but they are not public record. They have nothing to do with the function of government, so why should they be public record? They do not affect the performance of a public body.

The editorial said, “If you want privacy while sending an e-mail, send it from your home computer.” There’s a slight problem with that position. If I send an email to my granddaughter’s teacher at Howell’s Northwest Elementary School about her grades, that’s public record under their argument.

Not only that, but under the school district’s position, even emails sent from and to a teacher’s personal lap top computer using email programs like Yahoo would be subject to FOIA if they used the district Wi-Fi. That’s new ground, but the paper thinks otherwise because the FOIA law was amended; most notably in 1996, when “lawmakers changed it to allow people to submit requests by "electronic mail."

Email use in 1996 was not even close to the widespread use it has today. In the old days, prior to 1996 at least, teachers had those old fashioned cubbyholes where written material was put in their mail boxes. Those were not public record, so why should emails be public record just because of the method of delivery?

Back in the spring of 2007, Zarko in cahoots with anti-union Howell school board member Wendy Day, filed a FOIA in a fishing expedition request for the emails of union leaders on their HPS account. Zarko alleges Howell Education (HEA) leaders have "conducted a large amount of union business on public time, including trying to retain MEA (Michigan Education Association) affiliated MESSA health-insurance, and using parent-teacher conferences to recruit parents (to) their side of a collective-bargaining debate.” Even though that was proven not to be the case, Zarko persisted in an effort just to find something embarrassing.

In October of 2008 Livingston County Circuit Court Judge Stanley Latreille determined that the e-mails written by union leaders on school computers are public record, and subject to disclosure. The HEA appealed to stop the disclosure because both the district and the union agreed that they had a “recognized right” to use the email system.

That case was appealed to the Michigan Court of Appeals, and oral briefs were taken by a three-judge panel at a hearing on Jan. 5. The court issued its ruling in favor of the union on Jan. 27, saying just because the 5,500 emails were captured by the school’s servers does not mean they are public record.

Zarko is appealing the decision to the Michigan Supreme Court bankrolled by rightwing anti-union National Right to Work Foundation. At the Jan. 5 hearing, the tax-payer financed HPS lawyers argued the case. It’s not clear if the school board and my taxes will continue to finance Zarko’s witch-hunt. But I did talk to school board member Debbi Drick on Friday, and although she said the board had not yet met to discuss it, she personally didn’t see a need to appeal.

In her opinion, the question has been answered.

Anti-union activist says he will appeal union-busting case to the Michigan Supreme Court

Anti-union activist Chet Zarko is appealing the Howell Public School E-mail case to the Michigan Supreme Court, according to radio station WHMI and his response to me.

We're all entitled to due process and the process on this issue hasn't ended, so nothing remains to be seen,” he wrote on this blog on Jan. 28. “I'm (sic) you know the answer to whether I'll appeal.”

The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled on Jan. 27 on the case involving a Freedom of Information Request (FOIA) for some 5,500 emails sent and received on Howell Public School computers between the leaders of the Howell Education Association (HEA) and their union members were not public record and therefore subject to public disclosure.

WHMI is reporting he is being represented by the National Right to Work Foundation, a union-busting “non-profit” with the mission of “providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by abuses of compulsory unionism.” The mission of the group in this case, like Zarko’s original mission, is to bust or at least embarrass the union.

Back in the spring of 2007, Zarko in cahoots with anti-union Howell school board member Wendy Day, filed a FOIA in a fishing expedition request for the emails of union leaders on their HPS account. Zarko alleges HEA leaders have "conducted a large amount of union business on public time, including trying to retain MEA (Michigan Education Association) affiliated MESSA health-insurance, and using parent-teacher conferences to recruit parents (to) their side of a collective-bargaining debate.” Even though that was proven not to be the case, Zarko persisted in an effort just to find something embarrassing.

In October of 2008 Livingston County Circuit Court Judge Stanley Latreille determined that the e-mails written by union leaders on school computers are public record, and subject to disclosure. The HEA appealed to stop the disclosure because both the district and the union agreed that they had a “recognized right” to use the email system.

That case was appealed to the Michigan Court of Appeals, and oral briefs were taken by a three-judge panel at a hearing on Jan. 5. The court issues its ruling in favor of the union on Jan. 27, saying just because the 5,500 emails were captured by the school’s servers does not mean they are public record. The ruling concluded “We believe this question is one that must be resolved by the Legislature, and we call upon the Legislature to address it, we conclude that under the FOIA statute the individual plaintiffs’ personal emails were not rendered public records solely because they were captured in the email system’s digital memory,”

This is part of Republican’s efforts to bust unions and make Michigan a “Right to Work for Less” state. Shortly after the ruling, the rightwing think tank Mackinac Center’s Legal Foundation sent out a press release saying this ruling “undermines” FOIA, but their only interest, like Zarko’s, is union busting. The rightwing think tank even filed a amicus curiae brief in the case.


During the Court of Appeals hearing on Jan. 5, HPS lawyers argued the case and Zarko sat in the back of the court room. Plus, the case is HEA Vs. “Howell Board of Education” and HPS. Zarko is listed as just a “Intervenor/Counter Plaintiff.” It’s unclear what role HPS will have in the case if it goes to the Michigan Supreme Court. I sure hope no tax dollars go to fund Zarko’s union-busting witch hunt.

Court of Appeals rules against anti-union activist in favor of teachers in e-mail case

The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled today on the case involving a Freedom of Information Request (FOIA) for some 5,500 emails sent and received on Howell Public School computers between union members were not public record and therefore subject to public disclosure.

The three-Judge panel issued their ruling after taking oral briefs on Jan. 5, saying, “We believe this question is one that must be resolved by the Legislature, and we call upon the
Legislature to address it, we conclude that under the FOIA statute the individual plaintiffs’ personal emails were not rendered public records solely because they were captured in the email system’s digital memory.”

The case came about when rightwing blogger and anti-union activist Chet Zarko went on a fishing expedition in May of 2007 when he submitted a FOIA request in cahoots with Howell school board member Wendy Day to find dirt to embarrass the union with. He accused the HEA of abusing taxpayer-funded resources to promote union causes, but the district said the union had a recognized right to use the computers and email.

In October of 2008 Livingston County Circuit Court Judge Stanley Latreille determined that the e-mails written by union leaders on school computers are public record, and subject to disclosure. The HEA filed suit in Livingston County Circuit to stop the disclosure because both the district and the union had a “recognized right” to use the email system. Circuit Court Judge Stanley Latreille determined that they should be released, prompting the HEA to appeal.

Although the suit was against HPS, Zarko was a party to the suit. It remains to be seen if he will appeal.

Howell Education Association (HEA) email case may have far reaching effects

LANSING -- The email case involving the Howell Education Association (HEA) representing the teachers and Howell Public Schools could set precedent and have far reaching effects.

The Michigan Court of Appeals took oral arguments today on the case involving a Freedom of Information Request (FOIA) for some 5,500 emails sent and received on HPS computers between union members. The district contends that because they were using an email box owned by the school, they are public record and subject to FOIA.

The teacher’s union contends that they are not subject to FOIA because they do not meet the scope of FOIA in that they do not affect the performance of a public body. The school district had said all along that the teachers have a recognized right to use the computers, but any written communications on a public computer is subject to public disclosure.

“Certainly, this does not do what the FOIA was intended to do,”said the attorney representing the HEA.”Thousands of these emails are a personal and harmless as ‘I’ll meet you at McDonalds.’”

The hearing before the three judge panel was a lively debate on the future of technology and FOIA, and it may come down to defining how electronic communications and technology fits into FOIA. The issue was broached in the text messages scandal that brought down Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

“What you are telling me is that this is a question of technology,” said Judge Douglas B. Shapiro. “Private communications are private if it’s put in a mailbox, but it’s not of it’s in an email.”

The case came about when rightwing blogger and anti-union activist Chet Zarko went on a fishing expedition in May of 2007 when he submitted a FOIA request in cahoots with Howell school board member Wendy Day to find dirt to embarrass the union with. He accused the HEA of abusing taxpayer-funded resources to promote union causes, but the district said the union had a recognized right to use the computers and email.

In October of 2008 Livingston County Circuit Court Judge Stanley Latreille determined that the e-mails written by union leaders on school computers are public record, but he appointed a special master to review the emails to be released. The HEA appealed that decision to the Court of Appeals.

The HEA said the district’s claim that just because they are on pubic computers maintained and owned by the district they are public record was faulty by comparing it to a student’s locker. Student lockers are owned and maintained by the school district, but the written record by students - including love letters - are not public record. The HEA also said union members have used the old-fashioned office mailboxes in the school office to pass personal and union messages, but those are also not public record. Emails should not be either.

“For years the union has used the school mail box to send notes, letters and newsletters that are not subject to FOIA,” said the attorney representing the HEA.

Under the school district’s position, even emails sent from and to personal lap top computers would be subject to FOIA if they used the district Wi-Fi.

The Court took testimony and written briefs, but they did not rule on the issue.

Anti-union activists continue to try and divide and attack teacher’s union

If we need any more proof that anti-union zealot and rightwing activist Chet Zarko and rightwing Howell School Board member Wendy Day are co-conspirators on the assault on the Howell Education Association (HEA) - the union representing the district’s teachers - we just need to see Day’s latest escapade.

After Day posted an email from a member of the HEA from a private, password protected union email group on her blog in October, the law firm representing the HEA sent the school district’s attorney a letter demanding Day cease and desist from her illegal monitoring activity of the union. As the union member’s employer and a person who negotiates the teacher’s contract, Day is in violation of the Public Employment Relations Act by illegally restraining public employees from their right to engage in lawful union activities. It is also unlawful to intimidate or interfere with the administration of a labor organization.

Apparently, Day is making the ridiculous claim that she is blogging as a private citizen, and not as an elected school board member and the employer of the teacher’s represented by the HEA. That’s simply not possible. If she wants to do post confidential emails obtained from her employees, then she needs to resign her seat on the school board.

She made some even more ridiculous poor persecuted me claims on her blog, claiming her right of free speech has been violated. She also demeaned that “the HEA cease and desist harassing and intimidating me” or she will sue. She is also demanding a public apology from HEA leadership, naming them specifically. She also went on to claim she “filed a complaint with the ACLU, the MI Civil Rights Commission” and her local union. Wait, did she say the liberal ACLU?

What Day is attempting now is exactly what Zarko is trying to do; the old Republican trick of trying to divide people and pit them against each other. She also claims, “the HEA does not have as unified as front as like they think they have (sic).” The answer to that is, who cares?

Again, there is nothing more democratic in the workplace than the union. They elect their leaders, and the majority has to approve any contract the leaders negotiate with people like Day. I don’t care if 49 out of 100 union members vote against the contract, it’s still a majority.

This saga began back in May 2007 after Zarko contacted Day, a founding member of the anti-gay hate group called LOVE (Livingston Organization for Values in Education) PAC. Shortly after that, Zarko filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) seeking emails sent by union leaders on district computers. After receiving some of the emails before an injunction was issued stopping the release of any more emails, Zarko claimed the union illegally conducted a large amount of union business on public time, including trying to retain MEA (Michigan Education Association) affiliated MESSA health-insurance. That claim was debunked because the union has a recognized right to use the computers.

Zarko is now using the same tactics as Day and the anti-public education GOP front group “Education Action Group,” of trying to divide the union members by finding someone who voted against the contract or disagrees with the majority. Again, who cares?

As I have said before, release the emails sent from the school computers, but any emails sent to or from the HEA private email group is a clear violation of the law. Because the union tends to be spread out, I’m sure some negotiation went on via email. As a formal journalist, I favor open government and sunshine laws. If Day wants to publish private union negotiations, then the school board should not go into closed, executive session to discuss the union contract.

Newspaper refuses to ask tough questions of anti-union zealot and rightwing activist

The Livingston County Press & Argus still refuses to ask any tough questions of anti-union zealot and rightwing activist Chet Zarko.

I hesitate to even blog about this because this guy absolutely craves seeing his name in print, no matter where it appears. I almost think his ego is the driving force behinds this witch-hunt, but I doubt he does anything for free.

The newspaper chose to take an AP story on the court case involving the Wayne-Westland Community Schools district and compare it to Zarko’s witch hunt. A Wayne County Circuit Judge has sided with the Michigan Education Association (MEA) to stop the Wayne-Westland district from releasing union-related e-mails sought under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

The case is similar to the one Zarko stated back in May 2007 when he submitted a FOIA request on a fishing expedition to get ammunition to smear the Howell teacher’s union with. That case also has been appealed.

The article says,

“He (Zarko) said he expects to find communications about a small percentage of teachers who wanted to accept an additional 1 percent pay increase on top of what was offered instead of the union-affiliated health benefits, which was a sticking point during negotiations and resulted in HEA protests at school board meetings. This is a matter facing many school districts in Michigan, he said.”

The question has to be asked, who cares? Unions are the most democratic organization in the workforce. The union leaders negotiate the contract, and the members vote on it. Each member gets one vote. Tell me, what’s more democratic than that? Why does it matter what the “small percentage of teachers” wanted? The majority of voters wanted something different.

I initially thought this was just an attack on unions, public schools and teachers. Granted, it is, but it appears to be a bigger, coordinated attack on the MEA. Zarko has steadfastly refused to say who is paying him, but clearly somebody is.

The article talked about some vague sounding group called the “Education Action Group.” The paper called it “an organization seeking school spending reform. “ But what it really is, is a Republican front group dedicated to destroying public education and pushing vouchers, something Michigan voters strongly rejected a few years ago.

Its run by former Michigan Republican Party (MRP) staffer Kyle Olson and MRP lawyer Eric Doster. I don’t know how closely Zarko is associated with this front group, but the reporter should have asked.

Anti-union crusader continues to overstay his 15 minutes of fame

Andy Warhol's famous quote about every person being famous for 15 minutes may have to be extended to 20 minutes for rightwing blogger and anti-union activist Chetly Zarko.

The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus is carrying a story about the Howell Education Association (HEA) - that represents the Howell Public School teachers - decision to appeal a Livingston County Circuit Court decision to allow an estimated 5,500 e-mails written by union leaders on school computers to be released to the public. The case came about in May 2007 after Zarko submitted a Freedom of Information Request (FOIA) to get ammunition to smear the teacher's union.

He claimed the union conducted a large amount of union business on public time on computers owned by taxpayers, including trying to retain MEA (Michigan Education Association) affiliated MESSA health-insurance and using parent-teacher conferences to recruit parents to their side of a collective-bargaining debate. He received some emails before the school district realized there may be confidential parent-teacher info in the emails and put a stop to giving him anymore.

The district and the union filed for an injunction to stop release of the emails, and Livingston County Circuit Court Judge Stanley Latreille issued an injunction that prevented Howell Public Schools from releasing more e-mails by leaders and members of the teacher’s union until they could be reviewed.

In October 2008 Latreille determined that the e-mails written by union leaders on school computers are public record, but they were not released pending an appeal. That appeal was just filed.

This has been and always will be a fishing expedition by an anti-union crusader to smear a union. With the few emails he managed to get his hands on he made the ridiculous claim that HEA leaders have "conducted a large amount of union business on public time by using public resources for union business, specifically, the email server. But when that attack failed after the district said the union has a “recognized right" to use the server he took another tack and used the emails to cherry-pick a few sentences to claim union leaders were mean to a few members.

All along he claims he has been doing this as a public service, and he has also steadfastly denied any one is paying him for this crusade. But his quote in the article is curious:
"We weren't surprised at all," said researcher Chetly Zarko, who used Michigan's Freedom of Information Act in an attempt to obtain the information.

Perhaps he can explain who "we" are. His claim that he is doing this for the public's right to know is laughable, but his quote that if "we lose this battle, it will be harder for the mainstream press to look into and report on issues" is absolutely ridiculous.

Again, this is simply an attempt to smear the union; nothing more nothing less. As a former reporter, I am a strong supporter of FOIA and sunshine laws, but I'm not sure how a teacher's union equates to the government. None the less, I say give him the emails. This is just keeping the story alive, and if anyone has managed to slog through any of his blogs, they know this ink does nothing but stroke his ample ego.

Zarko has a history with rightwing causes. He was the communications director for the California group headed by Ward Connerly that came to the state to push the racist Michigan Civil Rights Initiative on the November 2006 ballot that did away with affirmative action. His attack on the HEA came after communicating with the anti-gay hate group known as the "LOVE” PAC (Livingston Organization for Values in Education) and “LOVE” and school board member Wendy Day. In the summer and fall of 2007 he helped push for the so-called "right to work" ballot issue that failed to materialize.

Rightwing anti-union blogger may get more ammo to attack Howell teachers

Livingston County Circuit Court Judge Stanley Latreille ruled that an estimated 5,500 e-mails written by Howell Education Association (HEA), the union representing the teachers, on school computers are public record and can be released at the discretion of Howell Public Schools administrators, according to the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus.

You may recall that rightwing Republican blogger and anti-union activist Chetly Zarko filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to get copies of the emails written by union leaders on school computers. The district released the emails he was not supposed to receive without regard to student confidentially or attorney-client privilege. The HEA filed suit to stop the illegal release of the emails in May 2007.

Zarko used the information to claim the union was using school property illegally and other baseless attacks, but that was quickly debunked because the distinct has a “recognized right” to use the computers.

Zarko has come up with a new charge, and according to the P & A:

“Zarko said he expects to find communications about a small percentage of teachers who wanted to accept an additional 1 percent pay increase on top of what was offered instead of the union-affiliated health benefits, which was a sticking point during negotiations and resulted in HEA protests at school board meetings. This is a matter facing many school districts in Michigan, he said.”

Who cares? There is nothing more democratic in the workplace than a labor union. The union leaders who negotiate the contract are elected by the union membership and the actual contract must be ratified by a vote of the membership. What does it really matter what a “small percentage of teachers” said or think; other than to other HEA members?

What is even funnier is how the newspaper describes Zarko. It calls him “an Oakland County researcher.” His two main goals are to get ink and to bust unions. When he does get mainstream media coverage, they all fail to mention his anti-union ties and his ties to the racist “Michigan Civil Rights Initiative.” He runs a Facebook group pushing the union busting so-called “right to work” law.

Rightwing extremist launches anti-union Facebook group

The Republicans all out assault on unions and the middle class with the deceptive name of so-called “right to work laws” has a new front with the establishment of a Facbook group created by an Oakland County rightwing extremist connected with racist and extreme causes and well-known to liberal bloggers is pushing a petition drive to place it on the ballot.

The site was created by Chet Zarko, who was the communications director for the California group headed by Ward Connerly that came to the state to push the racist Michigan Civil Rights Initiative on the November 2006 ballot that did away with affirmative action. The group illegally lied to people and misrepresented themselves to get signatures, and because this is Zarko’s MO, coupled with the other people who are involved with the Facebook group, we can expect the same tactics this time around.

Zarko said the purpose of “this board is to be able tell investors that there are hundreds of motivated folks out there ready to work for the right to work.” Investors seems like a good choice of words because the result of this union-busting proposition is to maximize profits for management at the cost of employees. This bill will force unions to give the protections and benefits they won with hard work and determination to those workers who do not contribute to the union via union dues, enjoy the benefits won by collective bargaining by union leaders and receive the same physical protections won by the hard work and sacrifice of union members.

This petition drive seems really premature. Sen. Nancy Cassis, R-Novi, Rep. Jack Hookendyk, R-Kalamazoo, and Rep. Kevin Elsenheimer, R-Bellaire, have introduced so-called “right to work bills, and Senate Majority “Leader” Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, has included passage of the bills among his list of hostage demands before he will release the hostage, state government. No ballot question committee has been formed that will allow them to actually raise the money Zarko apparently is already illegally soliciting. It would seem logical to let the legislation run its course before a petition drive is launched.

This is not the first anti-union endeavor Zarko has been involved in, and here in Howell we felt the first salvo. In May he submitted a massive Freedom of Information (FOIA) request to get emails from the Howell Public Schools teachers union, Howell Education Association. After getting the emails, he alleged the HEA leaders have "conducted a large amount of union business on public time, including trying to “retain MEA (Michigan Education Association) affiliated MESSA health-insurance, and using parent-teacher conferences to recruit parents (to) their side of a collective-bargaining debate.” He based his ridiculous claims on union leaders' e-mails that he received through the FOIA.

After school district officials admitted union leaders have a "recognized right" to use the district e-mail server for union business, Zarko clung to the ridiculous claim that they may have used a district copier to copy union material. Zarko also has ties to the anti-gay hate group known as the LOVE” PAC (Livingston Organization for Values in Education) that embarrassed the community and tried to ban books by Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning authors from Howell High School classrooms.

Despite describing himself as a “metro-Detroit, Michigan-based, political and marketing research consultant, focusing on conservative and “moderate” candidates and other clients,” Zarko has steadfastly refused to say who is paying him and who is financing this witch-hunt against public school teachers and teacher’s unions.

Thinly veiled anti-union smear campaign runs its course

Andy Warhol was correct when he said “Everyone will be famous for 15 minutes,” and we can only hope Chet Zarko’s 15 minutes are about up.

The Oakland County rightwing extremist is connected with racist and extreme causes, and his latest rightwing cause is smearing the Howell Education Association (HEA), the union representing the district’s 475 teachers. You may recall that earlier this month Zarko submitted a Freedom Information Act (FOIA) request for emails from union leaders. After receiving emails he was not supposed to receive, he made the ridiculous claim that HEA leaders have "conducted a large amount of union business on public time by using public resources for union business, specifically, the email server. But when that attack failed after the district said the union has a “recognized right" to use the server he took another tack and used the emails to cherry-pick a few sentences to claim union leaders were mean to a few members.

Wow, what a crime.

He has now stumbled onto a bigger issue. Because the emails are private and contain subject matter that should not be disclosed under the law, and the emails constitute information or records subject to attorney-client privilege, as well as personal information about students, the HEA filed suit to stop the illegal release of the emails. On May 10 Livingston County Circuit Court Judge Stanley J. Latreille gave the HEA and Howell Public Schools officials up to two weeks to review thousands of email to identify which e-mails, written by union leaders on school computers, contain verbiage "regarding politicking" so that he can review them for relapse.

Yesterday, the rightwing Detroit News editorial page editorialized that the emails should be released. Any newspaper that has Nolan Finley as its Editorial Page Editor is suspect. It calls Zarko a “political consultant and activist,” but it failed to mention his extreme rightwing stance.

“Zarko says he was searching for information on whether there had been an abuse of taxpayer resources in Howell and several other school districts on political or other issues.”

Well, he has found nothing, and he is now using the emails to simply smear the union and HEA President Doug Norton, going so far as to falsely claims Norton “doesn't like the "United States system" of elections.” I’m not sure what the internal workings of the union by the elected union leader has to do with anything, but it proves Zarko’s true intention is simply an anti-union smear campaign. Zarko has also refused to tell us who is paying for this witch-hunt.

The editorial’s position is “Private student information or sensitive teacher personnel information should be off limits. But other than that, e-mails produced and sent on the district's computers should be open to review by the public.”

I also agree Norton when he told the News earlier this month that Zarko "has an ideological bent to attack unions,” and the facts have shown that to be the case.

As a journalist, I support transparency in government, and I think they should be released, even to a person with such low motives. Zarko has shown he will take whatever he gets and takes things out of context to attack the union anyway. There is nothing we can do to prevent that, so the larger principal of open government has to apply, even for such low and despicable intentions. Let him have his 15 minutes so he can find another district's union to attack.

Judge puts breaks on anti-teacher and anti-union smear campaign

Livingston County Circuit Court Judge Stanley J. Latreille is giving the Howell Education Association (HEA) and Howell Public Schools officials up to two weeks to review thousands of email to identify which e-mails, written by union leaders on school computers, contain verbiage "regarding politicking" so that he can review them following a hearing Thursday, according to a story in the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus.

Rightwing operative Chet Zarko of Clawson attacked the HEA, the union representing the 475 Howell Public School teachers, claiming they are abusing taxpayer-funded resources to promote union causes based on e-mails he received under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Earlier in the week Latreille signed an injunction that prevented HPS from releasing more e-mails by leaders and members of the teacher’s union after a joint circuit court petition by the school and the union until Thursday’s hearing.

Some emails were released that should not have been released before the injunction was signed. HEA President Dough Norton has said that some of the e-mails are inappropriate for disclosure under FOIA because they are private and contain subject matter that should not be disclosed under the law, and the emails constitute information or records subject to attorney-client privilege. I don’t know the scope of the FOIA request, but it makes you wonder if Zarko also has his hands on sensitive information from union leaders – who, by the way, are also teachers – to parents talking about student grades or behavior.

To be honest, I was surprised that the school district even has access to all the teacher’s emails. Perhaps the school district can be like the White House and claim they just lost the emails.

As a former journalist who supports open and transparency in government, I strongly support FOIA, but this is nothing but an attempt to smear a group of dedicated professionals and smear the union by an anti-union, rightwing zealot. I am happy that Latreille is the judge reviewing the emails for “discussion about election candidates, officials in office or ballot proposals to determine if the correspondence should be released under FOIA.” He is a former reporter, and he knows how important FOIA is.

Basically, Zarko’s smear campaign comes down to allegations that teachers are using their school email accounts for personal reasons and they allegedly passed or talked about passing out pro-HEA flyers at a parent-teacher conference in March. Zarko claims the union violated state law, and I say then file a complaint.

He has a very receptive audience in Lansing in the form of Republican Attorney General Mike Cox and Secretary of State Terry Land, and there is also a marked campaign against worker unions. Zarko’s past endeavors with the shady campaign to end affirmative action ensures him he has contacts to Cox and Land or knows other Republicans who do. The recent witch-hunt of Democratic Rep. George Cushinberry for alleged campaign violations that were thrown out of court proved that fact. I would not bet against Cox taking this case up, but the good news is there are sane judges out there.

Norton has said the union has a "recognized right" to use the district e-mail server for union business, and the district is backing that claim up. The district's attorney, Raymond Davis, said it is not against district policy for employees to use the district's server.