MEMORANDUM
From: Michael J. Merritt, USN Retired/Writer
PO BOX 187
Newton, IA 50208
cipher.hunter@cipherphoenix.com
To: City of Newton, IA
101 W. 4th Street S.
Newton, IA 50208
(641) 792-2787
Subj: IOWA OPEN RECORDS REQUEST – CITY OF NEWTON, IA – #034 – ELIMINATION OF THE FOG OF WAR – #07
Ref: 1. Iowa Code Title I State Sovereignty and Management, Chapter 22 Examination of Public Records (Open Records)
2. Iowa Code Title I State Sovereignty and Management, Chapter 23 Public Access to Government Information (Iowa Public Information Board Act)
Enc: 1. Iowa Open Records Request – City of Newton, IA – #007 – 24 JUN 2022
2. Electronic Mail – Matthew Brick – Brick Gentry P.C. – 15 JUL 2022
3. Iowa Public Information Board – 22FC:0071 – Acceptance Order – 15 SEP 2022
4. Iowa Public Information Board – 22FC:0071 – Informal Resolution Order – 20 OCT 2022
5. Electronic Mail – Matthew Brick – Brick Gentry P.C. – 19 DEC 2022
6. Electronic Mail – Matthew Brick – Brick Gentry P.C. – 21 DEC 2022
7. Iowa Public Information Board – 22FC:0071 – Final Ordered Fee of $79 – 17 JAN 2023
8. Iowa Public Information Board – 22FC:0071 – Final Order – 19 JAN 2023
9. Memorandum – Matthew Brick – Brick Gentry P.C. – 31 JAN 2023
10. Iowa Open Records Request – City of Newton, IA – #028 – 03 FEB 2023
11. Memorandum – Matthew Brick – Brick Gentry P.C. – 17 FEB 2023
12. Enclosure (7.) USPS Registered Mail Receipt – 21 FEB 2023
13. Electronic Mail – Michael J. Merritt – 28 FEB 2023
14. Receipt – City of Newton, IA – #16,364 – 19 APR 2011
15. Receipt – City of Newton, IA – #21,718 – 28 FEB 2023
16. Newton, IA Police Department Business Office Front Desk Computer (image)
1. Introduction
24 JUN 2022 – A request for records was sent to the City of Newton, IA, shown in Enclosure (1.) including, “(c.) All Newton, IA Police Department generated record receipts including the words “incident”, “report”, or a case, incident, or call for service number.”
15 JUL 2022 – Enclosure (2.) shows the City of Newton, IA’s response under legal representation provided by City Attorney Matthew Brick of Brick Gentry P.C.
15 SEP 2022 – Enclosure (3.) is the Acceptance Order released by the Iowa Public Information Board for case: 22FC:0071.
20 OCT 2022 – Enclosure (4.) is the Informal Resolution Order released by the Iowa Public Information Board for case: 22FC:0071.
18 NOV 2022 – Enclosure (5.) provides evidence of Michael J. Merritt communicating, “(c.) All Newton, IA Police Department generated record receipts including the words incident, case, or call for service number. (Per guidance from the IPIB I have minimized search terms and minimized this to only 1 Iowa Incident Report receipt and 1 Call for Service Report Receipt for each month issued to the public during JAN 22 – AUG 22 to minimize costs – not including any previously released public records to Monica L. Speaks).”
19 DEC 2022 – Enclosure (5.) provides evidence of City Attorney Matthew Brick communicating in response to paragraph (c.) in Michael J. Merritt’s 18 NOV 2022 electronic mail, “As Mr. Merritt has repeatedly been informed, the City’s email network only retains emails for thirty (30) days so, since his request seeks emails more than thirty (30) days old, there are no records responsive to his request on the City’s email network. Some employees retain emails longer than thirty days on their Outlook profile so, if Mr. Merritt would pay for it, the City’s IT staff could check each relevant employee’s computer to search the Outlook profile for the keywords specified. Based on his revised request, the search would likely involve only emails from the twenty- seven (27) sworn police officers, so the cost is estimated to be less than seven hundred dollars (27 employees x 30 minutes to 1 hour to access each computer x $26.32 per hour = between $341 to $684).”
21 DEC 2022 – Enclosure (6.) provides evidence of City Attorney Matthew Brick communicating, “If the request is modified to only include the three named employees, then I would agree with you that the estimate of cost would be reduced to approximately $79 dollars.”
17 JAN 2023 – Enclosure (7.) represents the hot potato in the form of a $79 money order documented in Enclosure (8.) that has floated back in forth between the Complainant and Respondent on at least two occasions since 17 JAN 2023. These interactions are recorded on video in time/GPS-stamped chest cam footage.
19 JAN 2023 – Enclosure (8.) is the Final Order released by the Iowa Public Information Board for case: 22FC:0071.
31 JAN 2023 – Paragraph (3.) of Enclosure (9.) provides evidence of City Attorney Matthew Brick’s response that includes evidence of nothing more than a misrepresentation of facts, a waste of my time, and a cause for concern regarding the quality of academic curriculum offered by the University of Iowa and the University of Iowa College of Law.
03 FEB 2023 – Enclosure (10.) is a request for a “Physical copy of the oldest records receipt stored and preserved on the Newton, IA Police Department business office front desk computer shown in Enclosure (a.). Existing in the accounts receivable database that produced the receipt shown in Enclosure (b.).”
17 FEB 2023 – Enclosure (11.) is a response to Enclosure (11.) from City Attorney Matthew Brick of Brick Gentry P.C. requesting clarification to Enclosure (11.)
21 FEB 2023 – Enclosure (12.) is the USPS Registered Mail receipt for the parcel that was sent to the office of City Attorney Matthew Brick of Brick Gentry P.C., including Enclosure (7.)
28 FEB 2023 – Enclosure (13.) is the requested clarification to Enclosure (10.) requested by City Attorney Matthew Brick in Enclosure (11.). Enclosure (14.) shows the public record the City of Newton, IA, provided in response to Enclosure (10.). This public record provides evidence the City of Newton, IA, stores and preserves the receipts requested in Enclosure (1.) and mediated during Iowa Public Information Board case: 22FC:0071 back to 19 APR 2011. Enclosure (15.) provides evidence that the cost in accordance with Iowa Code Section 22.3 for the City of Newton, IA, to produce Enclosure (14.) was $.50. Enclosures (10.) – (15.) provide evidence supporting the following:
1. Enclosure (15.) provides evidence the Newton, IA Police Department record receipts are one page in length, including a reproduction fee of $.50 in accordance with Iowa Code Section 22.3 and local municipal procedure. The modified request submitted by the Complainant in IPIB case: 22FC:0071 shown in Enclosure (5.) Paragraph (c.) indicates a total of 16 pages of public records were requested at what should have been a fee of $8 (2 transaction receipts for each month January 2022 – August 2022). Enclosure (5.) provides evidence City Attorney Matthew Brick attempted to establish these records are stored and preserved on the City of Newton, IA mail server for thirty days. At the same time, City Attorney Matthew Brick communicated to the Iowa Public Information Board that records older than 30 days are possibly stored on individual Outlook profiles that could be searched for a fee between $341 and $684. Enclosure (6.) provides evidence City Attorney Matthew Brick finalized this fee at $79 upon the Complainant providing three electronic mail addresses in response to City Attorney Brick’s testimony provided in Enclosure (5.).
Enclosure (5.) paragraph (3.) was particular regarding what was requested. The requested receipts documenting financial transactions that evidence indicates were produced on an accounts receivable database had nothing to do with the City of Newton, IA’s mail server until City Attorney Matthew Brick articulated in Enclosure (5.) the City of Newton, IA stores and preserves only 30 days worth of its financial records documenting transactions in accordance with Iowa Code Section 22.3 and other municipal activities on its mail server. City Attorney Matthew Brick also communicates additional fees in Enclosure (9.) that should have been discussed during IPIB case 22FC:0071. City Attorney Matthew Brick expressed in Enclosure (6.) this records request could be completed at $79. The Iowa Public Information Board is requested to note in case 22FC:0020 Dismissal Order published on 21 APR 2022, the $168.21 fee provided by City Attorney Lambert to the Iowa Public Information Board included his legal fee regarding sanitizing the requested records. This amount was communicated during case 22FC:0020 and addressed before its dismissal.
2. Requested Information
(a.) 1 Iowa Incident Report receipt and 1 Call for Service Report Receipt for each month issued to the public during JAN 2022 – AUG 2022 stored and preserved on the computer shown in Enclosure (16.). (Not including any previously released public records to Monica L. Speaks).
(b.) Physical copy of 1 Iowa Incident Report Receipt and 1 Call For Service Report Receipt less than 30 days old stored and preserved on the Newton, IA Police Department business office front desk computer shown in Enclosure (16.). Existing in the accounts receivable database that produced the receipt shown in Enclosures (14.) and (15.).
3. Conclusion
City Attorney Matthew Brick of Brick Gentry P.C. and the City of Newton, IA, has publicly questioned the merit of the originator of this record request and his complaints filed with the Iowa Public Information Board in 2022. At the same time, they were producing evidence of accusing the Complainant in Iowa Public Information Board case 22FC:0071 of civil (defamation) and criminal (harassment) violations of the Iowa Code after the Department of Defense released a DD-214 form in July 2017 documenting the originator of this record requests twenty years of honorable service in the United States Navy.
The originator of this records request has included a frame for City Attorney Matthew Brick of Brick Gentry P.C. and the leadership of the City of Newton, IA, to memorialize the money order articulating the $79 fee City Attorney Brick and the City of Newton, IA, communicated to the Iowa Public Information Board during case 22FC:0071 in Enclosure (6.) for records Enclosure (15.) indicates should have cost $8. At the same time, it is the originator of this record request’s belief that records provided in response to this request will provide evidence the City of Newton, IA’s mail server and associated city employee outlook profiles were never related to the storage and preservation of the City of Newton, IA, database of historical receipts documenting transactions with the citizens of Newton, IA.
Respectfully,
Michael J. Merritt, USN Retired/Writer
Founder: cipherphoenix.com
Creative Writer/Musician
Information Warfare Specialist
Information Systems Manager
PO BOX 187
Newton, IA 50208
cipher.hunter@cipherphoenix.com
“Bricks made with testimony lacking evidence are equivalent to bricks made with straw without clay.”
Cipher Hunter
