The Berkley Brief

09/12/2026

Royal Oak, MI Provides full Fiscal Year Revenue and Expenditure Data in Excel – City of Berkley Refuses to Provide the Same Records

It is still unclear why the City of Berkley is suddenly hiding these Excel files from the public. Councilmember Dennis Hennen claimed the City's Excel files contain cybersecurity plans and infrastructure but provided no evidence of what cybersecurity plans are contained within the City's budget Excel export files under FOIA. He was asked to help get a description of the withheld information, as required under FOIA, but he has not responded.

The City also has refused in writing to provide the policy directive of the City Manager's Cybersecurity FOIA exemption.

Royal Oak provided this record in less than 5 business days. You can find this and other records in the Berkley Brief Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZMUgwkgv0Ua25u8i_2ne0QHz70Pn8_Hy

09/10/2026

City of Berkley records show *1200 minutes* (*20 hours*) of staff time spent to deny a single FOIA request for the 2026 annual revenue and expenditure Excel export file. It is unknown what these 20 hours entail as no other data was provided.

08/30/2026

Other cities follow FOIA readily. Berkley, unfortunately, spends substantial staff time and resources to obstruct the public's access to records, including the most basic charter-mandated financial records.

The same Q4 Revenue and Expenditure data request was made from Clawson and Berkley. Clawson responded in less than 24 hours with the Excel file and all responsive records.

Berkley imposed an arbitrary 10 business day extension with no explanation. Then, in their final response, they provided a newly created PDF printout that only contained the original budget data requested. The response also says the Excel file requested is exempt due to "cybersecurity."

Invoking cybersecurity to block access to a spreadsheet is not normal and is not supported by the statute. Clawson proves this and so does a similar response from Michigan Treasury. A FOIA request is pending for the City's directive and procedure for invoking this cybersecurity exemption.

When the Clerk was asked to confirm that the native Excel file was being withheld, the FOIA Coordinator did not answer the question. Instead, she copied the City Manager and acting City Attorney saying that only the hardcopy printed pages are available for inspection. She did not mention the cybersecurity exemption from the formal response letter.

The City's response has been appealed. You will find the files provided, email exchange and the response letters in the Berkley Brief Google drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ejOJVnipcnuoBajIhHG3M0GXHgOlqrnC?usp=drive_link

08/25/2026

Introducing the Berkley Brief Google Drive. Going forward, files will be uploaded and shared here for ease of access.

Link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZMUgwkgv0Ua25u8i_2ne0QHz70Pn8_Hy?usp=sharing

Here is what is currently uploaded:

- The City's printed FOIA tracking sheet and appeal denial for the requested Excel record.
- The billing statements from the City's lawfirm, RSJA. In January the City provided two different sets of redactions. These statements have a number of improper redactions which were appealed and denied.
- The Q2 Revenue and Expenditure report *in Excel* [Granted]
- The Q3 Revenue and Expenditure Report *not in Excel* [Appeal Denied]
- The Berkley Schools Superintendent Contract

If you want any other information uploaded, comment below!

08/24/2026

I received several messages about this Lady Budgetdown: chart circulating concerning superintendent salaries. This image is grossly incorrect though for Berkley and most of the other districts listed.

The maximum Berkley Superintendent salary under the contract is $189,108, which was extended again in December. The superintendent's base salary is not $273,376 and this isn't even what the school district published for salary. You'll find a link to the contract in the comments.

If you look at the actual compensation numbers from the transparency pages of the school districts, you will see that most districts are reporting "Gross Medicare" and "Gross Pay"–not salary/reported wage.

When I pointed this out to Budgetdown, I was banned from the page. If you want an accurate view of superintendent salaries, visit the Mackinac Center: https://www.mackinac.org/depts/epi/salary.aspx

That said, the school districts are required to publish base salary (MCL 388.1618(2)(d)). Instead, many are just posting various gross compensation numbers. Why they're doing this I'm not sure, but it's likely a system convenience. But it should be corrected.

08/22/2026

Below is the entire "dataset" of FOIA staff hours the City Manager referenced for 2025 in January—52 hours for staff and 12 hours for City Manager appeal time. As you can see, it is simply a figure of "52" hours entered into a printed spreadsheet and "12.5" hours for appeals. Appeal for the Excel file, as requested, was denied.

A FOIA request is pending for the file containing the 2026 FOIA requests and staff time figures referenced during the August 17 meeting.

A link to the records the City partially provided, the appeal, and the appeal denial are in the comments.

08/20/2026

During the 8-17-26 Berkley City Council meeting, the City Manager presented 480.75 hours as FOIA workload through June, but did not explain how this was related to FOIA. In the 2025 report, the "staff hours" figure was simply a number entered into a spreadsheet with no underlying data.

FOIA only allows charging for searching, reviewing, redacting, and copying—not meetings, strategy, communications, attorney time, or City Manager time. The City's legal bills show the City Manager frequently consulting with the acting City Attorney regarding FOIA requests, even though FOIA explicitly requires only the FOIA Coordinator (City Clerk) to issue FOIA determinations. The City Manager did not explain what information was being requested or the factual nature of the appeals.

So while the City Manager framed the hours as FOIA burden, the number is almost certainly inflated with non‑FOIA labor. A FOIA request is pending for this information.

It is also documented that the City is inflating time and workload to actively withhold public records.

Recently, the City has begun withholding all Excel file public records. A request was made for the Q3 Revenue and Expenditure report, which the City retains in Excel.

But instead of providing the Excel file as they've done in the past, the Clerk printed out 67 pages and scanned them to manufacture a new non-responsive PDF record. The Clerk's office did not respond when asked to confirm that they are withholding the Excel file from public inspection.

This change is significant because FOIA requires the City to provide records in the format it already maintains them, and Excel files contain metadata that PDFs do not. The City previously provided Excel files, so the sudden refusal raises even more transparency concerns.

03/18/2026

It's ! FOIA is not just for journalists--it's for YOU. And it's easy. Do not let public bodies bully you into filling out complicated forms, charging arbitrary fees, providing unlawful responses, or say they are burdened by Freedom of Information. This page is here to help you out.

Under Michigan FOIA law this is all you need to make a FOIA request via email:
- State "FOIA" Freedom of Information Act, within the first 250 words (subject line works)
- Describe the record or information (the more specific the better for you)
- Include your name, address, and contact information
- Send it to the Public Body. Preferably, the FOIA coordinator (e.g. City Clerk), but it's the responsibility of the public body to process the FOIA request regardless of where the request was addressed.

Source: MCL 15.233(1), MCL 15.235(1), MCL 15.235(3)(b)

That's it. You do not need to fill out any forms. You do not need to sign anything. You do not have to agree to anything. Under Michigan FOIA, the public body's forms and procedures are for YOUR convenience and protection--not the public body. There is also no limit to the number of FOIA requests you can send. FOIA law has built in controls to protect public bodies from "frivolous" or broad requests.

Is there something you don't understand about how things are working in Berkley or you think is not being followed properly? Discuss below--because it can probably be easily requested to obtain the truth.

03/06/2026

The City's Manager's opinion that the City Attorney is not an officer and not subject to the ethics code completely contradicts the City Charter:

Sec. 8.1. - The administrative officer—General.
"(a)The administrative officers of the city shall be the city manager, clerk, treasurer, assessor and the city attorney. "

We’re sharing a recap of the most recent City Council meeting on March 2. The full video is available to watch on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/cityofberkley, and the next meeting is March 16 at 7 PM.

💲 Financial Reports and Budget Amendment
Finance Director and Treasurer Carl Johnson presented two reports as well as a budget amendment. These focused on City revenues and expenditures and investment information. Amendment 2026-3 focused on how funds are allocated for emergency repairs and proposed a one-time, non-recurring surplus for the expenditure of funding a wall repair for DPW.

🚧 Security and Access Control Upgrades to City Facilities and DPW Wall Repairs
Facilities Manager Alex Brown shared how he and Lieutenant Jordan Kobernick hope to implement new security measures to help improve employee access while keeping buildings secure. Brown also shared how the wall surrounding the DPW yard is becoming a safety hazard. Proposed repairs include replacing the wall and installing a gate that faces Phillips Ave. These repairs are expected to cause minimal disturbance to surrounding homes, and residents in the area will be notified of the project prior to its start.

✅ Accepting the City Manager's Advisory Opinion Responding to Alleged Ethics Violation Under Section 2-40 of the City of Berkley City Code
In response to a recent ethics complaint, City Manager Crystal VanVleck explained that the City Attorney is not subject to the filing, due to City Code 2-40g only applying to City employees and City officers, of which the Attorney is neither.

Click here for the full recap: https://berkleymi.gov/news/city-council-meeting-recap:-march-2--2026

03/01/2026

The City Manager is issuing an official Ethics Code Advisory Opinion to Council stating that the City Attorney was not required to file the Ethics Code Acknowledgement. The fact that no acknowledgement exists is not disputed. The City Manager also affirms that no legal review of her interpretation was conducted. The Opinion is on the Monday March 2, 2026 Berkley Council meeting agenda.

The Ethics Code begins in Sec. 2‑40(a) by stating that the Code applies to all city officers and employees, elected or appointed, paid or unpaid:
"This Code sets minimum standards of ethical conduct for all city officers and employees, elected or appointed, paid or unpaid."

Nowhere in the Ethics Code is any city officer excluded from coverage.

Sec. 2‑40(g) requires an acknowledgement of the Code from a city officer or employee upon election or appointment (underlined in red) and includes a list of volunteer-board officers. In her summary, the City Manager highlights only the volunteer‑board list to suggest the Code does not apply to the City Attorney, while omitting the controlling clause that applies the requirement to a city officer or employee.

The practical implication of City Manager's Opinion is that the Berkley ethics ordinance does not apply to any administrative Charter officer, including City Attorney, City Manager, City Clerk, City Treasurer, and City Assessor.

You can contact City Council at [email protected] and ask whether they agree with the City Manager’s Opinion that the City Attorney does not need to acknowledge the Code of Ethics.