On January 3, 2008, the City of Collinsville, Illinois received my Declaration, as evidenced by the return receipt for certified mail. Below is the FOIA request I submitted to Collinsville.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REQUEST MADE TO CITY OF COLLINSVILLE

REQUEST FOR RECORDS PURSUANT TO THE ILLINOIS FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 5 ILCS 140/1 ET. SEQ.
Date: March 8, 2009
Requestor’s Name: Mark McCoy
Requestor’s Address: Collinsville, Illinois
Requestor’s Phone Number: ***-***-****
Request Made to: City of Collinsville, Illinois
Request made for: Certified paper copies and CD Rom/Electronic format, if available.
Records to be: Picked up at City Hall upon fulfillment

Specific Public Records Requested:
Pursuant to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act , 5 ILCS 140/1 to 140/11, I write to request access to and a copy of the following. Any public record, as defined in 5 ILCS 140 et.seq. including but not limited to the following:

Any information, email, records, memos, letters, communications, created, received, or possessed by the City of Collinsville, its employees, officers, or agents relating to Mark McCoy.

Any information, email, records, memos, letters, communications created, received, or possessed by the City of Collinsville, its employees, officers, or agents concerning the website markmccoy.com

Any information, email, records, memos, letters, communications created, received, or possessed by the City of Collinsville, its employees, officers, or agents concerning a Public Declaration of Sovereignty, Expatriation, and Dissolution of all Previous National and Political Allegiance, signed by Mark McCoy, and which was filed with the St. Clair County Recorder of Deeds on Jan. 4, 2008, and which bears the Letter Number A02084317, and received by the City of Collinsville on 1/3/08.

I agree to pay any reasonable copying and postage fees. Please provide a receipt indicating the charges for each document.

As provided by The Freedom of Information Act, I will expect your response within seven (7) working days.

If you choose to deny this request, please provide a written explanation for the denial including a reference to the specific statutory exemption(s) upon which you rely. Also, please provide all portions of otherwise exempt material.

Please be advised that I am prepared to pursue whatever legal remedy necessary to obtain access to the requested records. I would note that willful violation of the open records law can result in the award of reasonable attorney’ fees.

Thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely,
Mark McCoy
Collinsville, Illinois

Today, March 24, 2009, I received my FOIA response from the City of Collinsville. The response consists of only one page. That page is a memo from then Mayor, Stan Schaeffer who refers to my Declaration at Paragraph 4 of Page 2, to wit:

“I reserve MY natural right to exercise any and all means of self-defense with any and all weapons or devices at my disposal against any and all aggressors that may result in harm or death to Myself or others who may assail me.”

In the eyes of Stan Schaeffer, that constitutes a “threat of violence”.  Mr. Schaeffer also refers to the “Kirkwood incident” where a disgruntled citizen killed several people at City Hall; associating me with a violent killer.

Here is the FOIA reply I received. In my opinion, the response is incomplete. There were three other people copied on this memo in conjunction with the City Council. I cannot believe that out of all those people this was the only document generated as a result of my Declaration and the inference of a “threat of violence”. I will need to file an appeal for an incomplete response, and quite possibly a lawsuit for violations of the Freedom of Information Act. More to come…….