Elmhurst Public Records Dispute Resolved

ELMHURST, IL — Over the summer, a former resident says he noticed Elmhurst aldermen were distracted using their cellphones and city-issued laptops during meetings. He wanted to know what they were doing. So he sent a public records request for their communications and browser histories during council sessions in June and July. The city did not give the browser logs, a decision with which the state attorney general later disagreed.

Edgar Pal, who has since moved away from Elmhurst, said he thought it was disrespectful for aldermen to work on other things while residents spoke during public input. In response to Pal's request, the city asked aldermen for their communications during meetings. The only alderman to provide information was Michael Bram, who released screenshots of text messages he sent to the assistant city manager dealing with a constituent issue.

In an email to Patch, Pal said he had no issue with Bram, saying the alderman is widely known in Elmhurst for caring about residents and paying attention during public input.

"The other aldermen, however, did not provide any messages that were responsive to my request, despite the fact that I had photographic evidence that some of them were using their cellphones," Pal said. "I did not receive any web history logs, even though I had explicitly requested them."

In its response to Pal, the city never addressed the issue of the web browser logs. So he filed an appeal with the attorney general. In response, the city's attorney, Peter Pacione, of the Rosemont-based Storino, Ramello & Durkin law firm, said the city did not address the browser histories request because such documents were not contemplated as "public records" under the Freedom of Information Act. The city also did not see the logs as a public record needing to be preserved under the Local Records Act, he said.

On Nov. 6, the attorney general sided with Pal. Joshua Jones, deputy chief of the attorney general's public access bureau, said the city should have addressed Pal's request for the browser logs.

"The city, however, did not explain how or why the portions of internet history logs used by public employees and officials to conduct public business would not qualify as 'public records,'" Jones said.

Jones said browsing histories pertaining to public business, regardless of whether on public or personal devices, meet the Freedom of Information Act's definition of public records. The attorney general requested the city provide the browser logs to Pal. The city did just that a few days later, and Pal is in possession of the logs and released them to Patch.

After reviewing the logs, Pal said, "there weren't a lot of red flags. For the most part, it appears that the aldermen and the mayor were viewing web pages that were relevant to city business, especially the documents posted on BoardDocs," a website that includes the online documents for council meetings.

Pal said the city has informed him that council laptops aren't assigned to specific aldermen. Rather, users of computers can change each meeting, he said.

According to the web browser histories on the council's laptops, members viewed during meetings:

• A Chicago Tribune news story titled, "This is the agenda of white nationalists."
• A story about Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg.
• An email from the Elmhurst Centre for Performing Arts.
• An email from Dave Oberg, executive director of the Elmhurst History Museum.
• An email from Friends of Falun Gong, a Chinese group facing persecution.
• An airline ticket or reservation for American Airlines Flight 2211 from Chicago to Fort Myers, Fla.

The city's attorney, Pacione, did not return a call for comment. City Manager Jim Grabrowski said the city followed all necessary procedures in responding to Pal's records request, including the information requested by the attorney general.

"The city consistently complies with FOIA laws and takes proper measures to ensure that transparency mandated by law is available for any interested party," Grabrowski said in an email.