Mr. Brick:

I intend to serve the City of Newton, IA, a timeline with supporting evidence, including the $79 money order for the fee you articulated during Iowa Public Information Board Case 22FC:0071 during the next city council meeting. Until then, would you like to explain why the City of Newton, IA, will not accept the $79 payment for the $79 fee you articulated for a search for record receipts you communicated are stored and preserved on the city mail server during IPIB case 22FC:0071? At the same time, you also returned the $79 money order after I sent it to your office.

Please put an explanation together that will require work on my part and research to dismantle. For instance, you could reference a portion of the Texas code. In addition, your 14 MAR 2023 memorandum stipulating you never received my 04 JAN 2022 record request for records the City of Newton, IA, released on 13 MAR 2023 that you stipulated were confidential in your 10 MAR 2022 correspondence is not acceptable. Therefore, your testimony regarding the historical timeline must be revised and adequately represent your chronological correspondence.

I am interested in how this situation will play out. You are a lawyer, so evidence indicates you most likely will not shake my hand and honorably accept defeat. What I foresee is that for the next ten years of my life, I will be metaphysically pursuing you down a path of semantics and rhetoric while you attempt to save the integrity of your career. At the same time, I patiently wait for you to be visited by the Ghost of Previous Public Record Requests, the Ghost of Present Public Record Requests, and the Ghost of Public Records that have yet to be Requested—either way, I will enjoy writing about it.

I will be at the City of Newton, IA, Police Department Business office Thursday to pay .50 per page for the requested record receipts. As I already have evidence, the City of Newton, IA, provided a record receipt from 2011 for $.50 I find your fees in your 14 MAR 2023 correspondence regarding the requested record receipts consistent with previous fees you have provided or returned to me. I have a straightforward question regarding your client’s fees for Iowa Incident Reports. You have communicated there are no records in response to my request for receipts documenting the Newton Daily News payment of fees in accordance with Iowa Code Section 22.3 for the police reports evidence indicates the Newton Daily News received from the City of Newton, IA. I have evidence indicating the Newton, IA Police Department accounts receivable database documents fee transactions back to 2011. Logic indicates your client should have record receipts for Iowa Incident Reports provided to the Newton Daily News from 2018 – 2023. The evidence in my database going back to 2018 indicates the City of Newton, IA, has provided the Newton Daily News over 1100 individual incident reports for their police blotter. Meaning the City of Newton, IA, should have accounting evidence showing they collected approximately $11,000 in fees from the Newton Daily News (This calculation is based upon the $10 fee assessed by the City of Newton, IA, for these records before the legislative update to Iowa Code Section 22.3 in 2022).

Why should I or any citizen pay for records when the evidence you have provided indicates the City of Newton, IA, does not charge the Newton Daily News for these same reports the Newton Daily News utilizes to produce business revenue while charging citizens to read about the contents of reports evidence indicates they received at no cost from the City of Newton, IA. Why should I have to pay for 10, 20, 30, or 300 reports when your client, as evidence indicates, failed to charge the Newton Daily News for over 1100 individual incident reports going back to 2018? This calculation does not count all of the mug shot records provided to the Newton Daily News because I do not have evidence of the price for this public record or whether the City of Newton, IA, produces these public records.

Mr. Brick, the City of Newton, IA, pays you for the time you spend representing them. Who will pay for the time I have spent drafting correspondence and pursuing records released to me on 13 MAR 2023 you should have provided to me on 10 MAR 2022? At the same time, the evidence indicates you accused me of harassment and threats while your client produced zero evidence or charges during IPIB case 22FC:0071 while violating my rights in accordance with Section 9 of Article 1 of the Constitution of the State of Iowa while I was denied access to public accommodations provided to other citizens during this Iowa Public Information Board case.

Mr. Brick, you have communicated there are no “official portraits” of Chief of Police Burdess or other peace officers. At the same time, if only authorized users are provided access to the City of Newton, IA web servers, it would give a solid conclusion that the City of Newton, IA website provides only authorized and official content. “Newton, IA – Official Website | Official Website” title reinforces this conclusion.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/official

I respectfully submit documentid=5817 as my personal favorite known official portrait of Chief of Police Burdess available for download by the public on the City of Newton, IA web server. I want to take this opportunity to respectfully request that if the City of Newton, IA, ever decides to arrest me for alleged harassment and threats City Attorney Brick accused me of on 08 NOV 2022 during Iowa Public Information Board case 22FC:0071 – Michael J. Merritt/City of Newton, IA (By my calculations Iowa Code Chapter 802 gives us until 08 AUG 2023 to enjoy this Kodak moment and production of a new public record and official portrait of Chief of Police Burdess) I hope that Chief of Police Burdess arrests me while he is piloting this tactical SWAT vehicle. As I do not own a car, he should be able to detain me easily. I will turn myself in without incident.

The attached document “Iowa Open Record Request – City of Newton, IA Electronic Public Record Request Log” documents electronic documents stored and preserved by the City of Newton, IA at public URL’s published on the “Newton, IA – Official Website | Official Website” that were requested via electronic means on 18 MAR 2023 in accordance with Iowa Code Section 22.4.

City of Newton, IA Public CMS Asset Inventory

City of Newton, IA Public Photo Gallery

City of Newton, IA Police Department Public Photo Gallery

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

Attachments

Memorandum – Matthew Brick – Brick Gentry PC – 14 MAR 2023
Electronic Mail – Matthew Brick – Brick Gentry PC – 27 MAY 2022
Memorandum – Matthew Brick – Brick Gentry PC – 03 MAY 2022
Memorandum – Matthew Brick – Brick Gentry PC – 10 MAR 2022
Memorandum – Matthew Brick – Brick Gentry PC – 10 FEB 2022
Iowa Open Records Request – City of Newton, IA – Electronic Public Records Request Log