ESCANABA — The dispute over a Freedom of Information Act Request filed with Delta County by Former-Airport Manager Andrea Nummilien continued Monday during a special meeting of the county board. The meeting was called specifically to address appeals to the denials of FOIA requests submitted by Nummilien related to an investigation into her work at the airport.

Nummilien has repeatedly stated that she believes the investigation into her activities at the airport was retaliation for filing a harassment complaint against Then-Board Chair Dave Moyle, prior to her resignation in June of 2023. Her FOIA requests related to the investigation, at least in part, sought emails between Moyle, Then-County-Attorney Scott Graham — who was frequently criticized for representing members of Moyle’s family prior to being hired by the county — and Robert Ranstadler, who was hired by the county as Nummilien’s replacement but resigned from the position effective Jan. 17 of this year.

Nummilien also sought the names of the people interviewed by Graham during the investigation and copies of notes, recordings, or summaries of the interviews.

According to statements made at the Jan. 21 county board meeting, Nummilien received some emails but no information related to any interviews that took place during the investigation. She said her FOIA was denied with the reason given being “this information doesn’t exist.”

During the Jan. 21 meeting, County Commissioner Ashleigh Young reiterated that the county did not have the documents.

“I don’t have any such documents, and I had requested it to Attorney Graham and he said that they were — I believe it was ‘he owns his notes,'” said Young.

Commissioner Christine Williams challenged that assertion at the Jan. 21 meeting, pointing to the Michigan Supreme Court 2020 case “Bisio v. City of the Village of Clarkson,” which established Clarkson’s city attorney was part of the public body and therefore the attorney’s files were public records under FOIA.

Monday’s meeting came after Ranstadler wrote a letter to the editor — published on Jan. 28 in the Daily Press — rebutting claims Nummilien made last month that the emails she received suggested he had breached federal security protocols by allowing Graham access to sensitive security information (SSI) before he had obtained the proper clearance.

“I can assure your readers that Ms. Nummilien’s accusation is patently false. During my time as airport manager, I fully observed and followed all federal security regulations, including coordinating closely with the TSA to provide Attorney Graham with the clearance needed to handle and review SSI. Moreover, I had absolutely no role in releasing any airport records or documents to Mr. Graham that contained SSI,” Ranstadler wrote in the letter. “Furthermore, apart from submitting to a phone interview and scheduling similar interviews for staff, I played no part in the conduct or administration of Attorney Graham’s investigation.”

After the letter was published, Nummilien shared it with the commissioners, arguing the letter proved county staff knew who was interviewed.

“In light of the statements made in the letter to the editor by Former Airport Manager Ranstadler, I wanted to make it known that once again I’m angry. I think that that unequivocally proves that in my pursuit of information surrounding this airport investigation I was lied to and information was withheld from me, and I want to know why, and I want to know what the board is going to do about it,” said Nummilien during public comment Monday.

By county policy, a FOIA appeal must be heard at the next regular meeting after being reviewed by the county’s legal counsel. The special meeting was held specifically because one of the appeals was submitted four hours before the last county board meeting, precluding a legal review. The afternoon meeting was originally scheduled to be held Friday but was moved to Monday due to the county’s failure to post the special meeting on the county website within the 18 hour limit set by the Open Meetings Act.

A second FOIA appeal also appeared on the agenda, but was removed because that appeal took place after the Jan. 21 meeting. Following a motion made by Commissioner Christine Williams, the county postponed that item to tonight’s regular meeting of the board.

After more than an hour in closed session with an attorney from the Delta County Prosecutor’s Office — which also serves as the county’s primary legal counsel — the board voted to invoke their right under the law to a ten day extension and use that time to request documents from Graham related to the investigation, which may be subject to FOIA.

Commissioner Kelli van Ginhoven did not participate in the closed session or the vote, citing a conflict of interest due to her friendship with Nummilien. Commissioner Patrick Johnson did not participate in the vote, as he left the meeting after participating in part of closed session.