The Warren Sun

The city of Warren is being sued for failing to comply with public records laws, which require it to disclose salary information for individual city employees.

The suit is being filed by the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation, which is accusing the city of not complying with Michigan's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). A public records request was made to the city of Warren to acquire the names and salaries of city employees and, according to the Foundation, was illegally and improperly denied. City salaries and employees' names have been public knowledge for decades. 

This is not the first such case that the Mackinac Center for Public Policy has filed on behalf of Michigan's citizens. The Center files dozens of similar cases each year in an effort to gain transparency for the taxpayers. The conflict began on Jan. 7 when the Center filed a FOIA request to the city of Warren, asking for the salary amounts and names of every employee in 2019 and 2020. 

The city responded by providing salary information but not the names of the employees, claiming that this information was exempt from disclosure. 

According to the Center's website, Steve Delie, the lead expert on transparency and open government for the Mackinac Center, said, “The city’s failure to provide this information demonstrates a disregard for public transparency. The names and salaries of public employees have been clearly established as nonexempt information. It is essential that the public be able to track how its tax dollars are being spent.”

This case represents the fifth lawsuit that the Center has filed in recent months with regards to public records laws in Michigan. These cases are still ongoing, but the Center has a track record of achieving results and transparency in similar situations.