But that “erosion” hasn’t halted the school from spending freely when it comes to attempting to prevent taxpayers from seeing public records.
The Lansing State Journal wondered earlier this year just how much the university was
getting for those luxury suites at Spartan Stadium. The newspaper reported in 2005 that a $64 million stadium upgrade included 24 suites that were to go for $80,000 a crack.
The paper wanted to see just what the return on that investment was, so it filed an open records request to find out who was paying what for the suites.
getting for those luxury suites at Spartan Stadium. The newspaper reported in 2005 that a $64 million stadium upgrade included 24 suites that were to go for $80,000 a crack.
The paper wanted to see just what the return on that investment was, so it filed an open records request to find out who was paying what for the suites.
But rather than deliver the records in accordance with the law, the school took six months to deliver the information, said attorney Herschel Fink, who represented the State Journal in a series of communications with the university over the matter.
Fink, considered widely as one of the state's premier First Amendment lawyers, told me
that “It seems I am always dealing with Michigan State over something.”
that “It seems I am always dealing with Michigan State over something.”
For the university, such a needless ordeal carries a price tag, money that could be passed
along in the name of education rather than obfuscation.
along in the name of education rather than obfuscation.
Michigan State, like so many other governmental units in the state, spends tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money attempting to hold onto information it is legally obligated to provide to the public.
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