Freedom of Information Council wins fight to intervene in Davenport case

A judge has allowed the Iowa Freedom of Information Council to intervene in a case that pits the City of Davenport against a resident who is seeking access to municipal records.

The ruling marks a setback for the City of Davenport, with the judge basing his decision on arguments articulated by the city’s own lawyers. A hearing on the larger issue of whether the sought-after records should be disclosed to the public is scheduled for May 14.

The dispute has its origins in a September 2023 letter that Davenport’s then-city administrator, Corri Spiegel, sent to the city’s lawyers. In her letter, Spiegel demanded financial compensation for alleged workplace discrimination, harassment, bias, intimidation and retaliation.

The city ultimately agreed to pay Spiegel $1.6 million, but that agreement was not made public until after the city’s November 2023 elections – and the letter from Spiegel has yet to be made public.

After the settlement was made public, city resident David Ezra Sidran filed a formal Open Records Law request to gain access to Spiegel’s letter. The city then filed a civil action against Sidran, claiming his request for access had put the city in the “impossible position” of either turning over the document and facing litigation for disclosing a confidential record, or denying access and being sued for violating the Open Records Law.

Through the civil action, the city is seeking a determination from the court as to whether the document is public or confidential.

The Iowa Freedom of Information Council filed a motion to intervene in the case, arguing that it has a direct interest in access to public records, particularly in matters that affect the operation of government and the expenditure of taxpayer funds.

The city, however, resisted the council’s efforts to intervene, claiming the council had no direct interest in the case that would allow it to become a party to the proceedings. In response, the council said the city was simply attempting to have the court “bless its refusal to release the letter” and effectively immunize it from liability for keeping the document secret. The council also noted that its members, including the Quad-City Times, were also seeking access to the letter.

Lawyers for the city were dismissive of that argument, telling the court, “So, the argument goes, because its members have an interest in securing the release of the letter, presto, FOIC now has an interest and, FOIC magically becomes a ‘real party in interest in this ligation and has a clear and direct interest in the subject matter of this litigation and outcome.’ ”

“Correct,” District Court Judge Henry W. Latham II stated in his written order on Wednesday, replying directly to the city attorneys’ argument. “It is important to remember that the city’s requested relief does not apply only to Sidran. The city wants the court to determine whether the letter is confidential and whether the city has a right to release the letter. As the FOIC indicated, at least one of its members has already requested a copy of the Letter. The outcome of this case will affect the interests of the FOIC. Accordingly, the Iowa FOIC has a right to intervene.”

Latham also ruled on a motion to intervene in the case by Tiffany Thorndike and Samantha Torres, two former city employees who also collected settlements from the city around the time of Spiegel’s payout.

Thorndike and Torres had written similar letters to the city, and those letters were made public – although city officials later claimed they released them accidentally after determining it was going to keep them confidential.

Latham denied the motion by Thorndike and Torres, finding that whether the city had negligently released their letters was a separate issue from whether the city was legally obligated to turn over Spiegel’s letter.

The City of Davenport has also been fighting a subpoena from Iowa Auditor of State Rob Sand for records related to the settlements.

That subpoena calls for the city to produce closed-session minutes and recordings of five city council or committee-of-the-whole meetings, as well as copies of all emails and memos discussing the settlements.

In March, Iowa Freedom of Information Council Executive Director Randy Evans spoke to a legislative committee about the city’s action.

“I can’t recall a more egregious example of blatant disregard for the requirements of the public-meetings law as that which has occurred in the City of Davenport starting last fall and continuing to the present,” Evans said. “It should trouble every taxpaying citizen of Iowa, and the members of this General Assembly, that the city council and top administrators in Davenport worked out (an arrangement) to pay nearly $2 million in taxpayer money to three high-ranking city employees prior to the city election last November and yet never thought to bring those settlement agreements before the city council for a public vote.”