Freedom
Of Information Act Appeal – Fee Waiver Request
Wednesday, August 7, 2024
VIA
U.S. MAIL and E-MAIL:
foiapa@sec.gov
ogis@nara.gov
Carrie Hyde-Michaels, FOIA Branch Chief
Office of FOIA Services
United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Station Place, 100 F Street, NE – Mail Stop 2465 (Room 1120)
Washington, DC 20549-2465 USA
VIA
U.S. MAIL and E-MAIL:
morrowa@sec.gov
Alysia Morrow, Research Specialist
Office of FOIA Services
United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Station Place, 100 F Street, NE
Washington, DC 20549-2465 USA
Dear
Ms. Hyde-Michaels and Ms. Morrow:
In
reply to your July 30, 2024 letter regarding my fee waiver request, I am hereby
timely appealing your July 30, 2024 decision in error to deny my July 24, 2024
fee waiver request to the SEC’s General Counsel under 5 U.S.C. §552(a)(6), 17
CFR §200.80(f)(1).
1.
I assure you and the SEC that disclosure is not at all in the interest of me, the requester. 5 U.S.C. Section 552(a)(4)(iii). The disclosure will not further any commercial interest of mine. While I am an attorney in New York, I am not pursuing this matter for any client. Rather, I volunteered to assist the community of Piermont, New York out of my own initiative without being asked, pro bono and solely out of my own pocket, as an environmental and community advocate, watchdog, and private citizen - once I realized in April 2024 that Piermont was being threated by a crooked village government, over-development, and environmental harm. To date I have spent thousands of dollars out of my own hard-earned money for expenses to pursue the matter at hand, and I will not see any of it back. See, e.g., Coalition for Safe Power v. U.S. Dep't of Energy, Civ. No. 87-1380PA, slip op. at 7 (D.Or. July 22, 1988) (citing Better Gov't Ass'n v. Department of State, 780 F.2d 86, 94 (D.C. Cir. 1986)).
Therefore,
the public interest in disclosure is far greater than my non-existent
commercial interest as requester under 17 CFR § 200.80(g)(12). I have no
commercial interest whatsoever in this matter.
2.
I also assure you and the SEC that disclosure of the requested information is absolutely in the public interest, and disclosure will contribute significantly to operations and activities of the government, both federal and state. I am in the process of exposing a corrupted local village government in the State of New York. Whenever I obtain results relating to the Piermont matter, I blog them to my own Google Blogger blog, to between 10 and 300 local Facebook pages, and to Twitter/X, at minimum. Examples of such blog entries are below, and many thousands of readers have viewed these entries:
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2024/07/erratum-notice-sec-and-federal.html
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2024/07/sure-plays-mean-pinball.html
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2024/08/analyze-this.html
See, e.g., Friends of the Coast Fork v. U.S. Dept. of Interior, 110 F 3d. 53, 55 (9th Cir. 1997).
Moreover:
3.
The subject matter of the records that I requested of SEC (see attached and the link immediately below) most certainly concern the operations and activities of the Federal government – namely, the manner in which your SEC interacted with and oversaw, or did not interact with and oversee, the Village of Piermont, New York government on bond and securities matters:
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2024/07/sure-plays-mean-pinball.html
I do have reason to believe that the Village of Piermont government may have misstated its financial position to others, in the context of the subject bond and securities matters:
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2024/08/analyze-this.html
4.
Of course the requested records will be meaningfully informative on those operations or activities so that their disclosure will contribute to increased understanding of specific operations or activities of the government. Right now, there are 2,500 residents of Piermont, New York, many of whom are waiting to see what SEC will reply to the July 24, 2024 FOIA request. They read my blog and my other social media posts on a regular basis, as indicated by my Google Blogger statistics and the numerous comments that they make on my social media posts. Many of them want to know what oversight the Federal government, in the form of your SEC, may or may not have exercised over the now notoriously corrupted Village of Piermont government in Rockland County New York, regarding the subject bond issues. See, e.g., Better Gov't Ass'n v. Department of State, 780 F.2d 86, 88-89 (D.C. Cir. 1986); McClellan Ecological Seepage Situation v. Carlucci, 835 F.2d 1282, 1284-1286 (9th. Cir. 1987).
5.
Of course disclosure will contribute to the understanding of the public at large, rather than the understanding of the requester or a narrow segment of interested persons alone. My blog, for example, is worldwide, and not just limited to Piermont, New York residents:
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com
How the Piermont bond matter resolves will be precedential with respect to every other local village government in New York State, and indeed every other local village government within the United States of America. My cause to bring out the truth about Piermont village government malfeasance, has already been picked up by media, and these news outlets also transmit world-wide:
https://rocklandnews.com/unhand-piermont-mayor-bruce-tucker/
https://patch.com/new-york/nyack/discussion-continue-controversial-piermont-apartments-proposal
6.
Again, of course disclosure will contribute significantly to public understanding of government operations and activities - namely, the manner in which your SEC interacted with an oversaw, or did not interact with and oversee, the Village of Piermont, New York government on bond and securities matters. The residents of Piermont, and members of the public generally, want to know and have a right to know what oversight the Federal government in the form of your SEC may or may not have exercised over the now notoriously corrupted Rockland County Village of Piermont government, regarding the subject bond issues.
In
closing, I have borne the burden under FOIA of showing that the fee waiver
requirements have been met. I have provided you substantive information
relating to all of the six (6) factors that you cited.
I am
not a “Commercial Use” requester.
I have
again identified the requested records by attaching another copy of my July 24,
2024 FOIA request to this e-mail and letter. This appeal includes the facts and
authorities that I consider appropriate.
Respectfully
submitted,
John J.
Tormey III, Esq.
From:
morrowa@sec.gov <morrowa@sec.gov>
Sent: Tuesday, July 30, 2024 4:13 PM
To: jtormey@optonline.net
Subject: Regarding Request No. 24-03614-FOIA
Dear
Mr. Tormey,
Please see the attached response to the fee waiver that you submitted as part of your FOIA request on July 24, 2024.
If you have any questions, please contact me at (202) 551-8376.
Regards,
Alysia Morrow
Research Specialist
Office of FOIA Services
OFFICE +1(202) 551-8376
morrowa@sec.gov
Wednesday, August 7, 2024
foiapa@sec.gov
ogis@nara.gov
Carrie Hyde-Michaels, FOIA Branch Chief
Office of FOIA Services
United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Station Place, 100 F Street, NE – Mail Stop 2465 (Room 1120)
Washington, DC 20549-2465 USA
morrowa@sec.gov
Alysia Morrow, Research Specialist
Office of FOIA Services
United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Station Place, 100 F Street, NE
Washington, DC 20549-2465 USA
I assure you and the SEC that disclosure is not at all in the interest of me, the requester. 5 U.S.C. Section 552(a)(4)(iii). The disclosure will not further any commercial interest of mine. While I am an attorney in New York, I am not pursuing this matter for any client. Rather, I volunteered to assist the community of Piermont, New York out of my own initiative without being asked, pro bono and solely out of my own pocket, as an environmental and community advocate, watchdog, and private citizen - once I realized in April 2024 that Piermont was being threated by a crooked village government, over-development, and environmental harm. To date I have spent thousands of dollars out of my own hard-earned money for expenses to pursue the matter at hand, and I will not see any of it back. See, e.g., Coalition for Safe Power v. U.S. Dep't of Energy, Civ. No. 87-1380PA, slip op. at 7 (D.Or. July 22, 1988) (citing Better Gov't Ass'n v. Department of State, 780 F.2d 86, 94 (D.C. Cir. 1986)).
I also assure you and the SEC that disclosure of the requested information is absolutely in the public interest, and disclosure will contribute significantly to operations and activities of the government, both federal and state. I am in the process of exposing a corrupted local village government in the State of New York. Whenever I obtain results relating to the Piermont matter, I blog them to my own Google Blogger blog, to between 10 and 300 local Facebook pages, and to Twitter/X, at minimum. Examples of such blog entries are below, and many thousands of readers have viewed these entries:
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2024/07/erratum-notice-sec-and-federal.html
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2024/07/sure-plays-mean-pinball.html
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2024/08/analyze-this.html
See, e.g., Friends of the Coast Fork v. U.S. Dept. of Interior, 110 F 3d. 53, 55 (9th Cir. 1997).
The subject matter of the records that I requested of SEC (see attached and the link immediately below) most certainly concern the operations and activities of the Federal government – namely, the manner in which your SEC interacted with and oversaw, or did not interact with and oversee, the Village of Piermont, New York government on bond and securities matters:
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2024/07/sure-plays-mean-pinball.html
I do have reason to believe that the Village of Piermont government may have misstated its financial position to others, in the context of the subject bond and securities matters:
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com/2024/08/analyze-this.html
Of course the requested records will be meaningfully informative on those operations or activities so that their disclosure will contribute to increased understanding of specific operations or activities of the government. Right now, there are 2,500 residents of Piermont, New York, many of whom are waiting to see what SEC will reply to the July 24, 2024 FOIA request. They read my blog and my other social media posts on a regular basis, as indicated by my Google Blogger statistics and the numerous comments that they make on my social media posts. Many of them want to know what oversight the Federal government, in the form of your SEC, may or may not have exercised over the now notoriously corrupted Village of Piermont government in Rockland County New York, regarding the subject bond issues. See, e.g., Better Gov't Ass'n v. Department of State, 780 F.2d 86, 88-89 (D.C. Cir. 1986); McClellan Ecological Seepage Situation v. Carlucci, 835 F.2d 1282, 1284-1286 (9th. Cir. 1987).
Of course disclosure will contribute to the understanding of the public at large, rather than the understanding of the requester or a narrow segment of interested persons alone. My blog, for example, is worldwide, and not just limited to Piermont, New York residents:
https://unhandpiermont.blogspot.com
How the Piermont bond matter resolves will be precedential with respect to every other local village government in New York State, and indeed every other local village government within the United States of America. My cause to bring out the truth about Piermont village government malfeasance, has already been picked up by media, and these news outlets also transmit world-wide:
https://rocklandnews.com/unhand-piermont-mayor-bruce-tucker/
https://patch.com/new-york/nyack/discussion-continue-controversial-piermont-apartments-proposal
Again, of course disclosure will contribute significantly to public understanding of government operations and activities - namely, the manner in which your SEC interacted with an oversaw, or did not interact with and oversee, the Village of Piermont, New York government on bond and securities matters. The residents of Piermont, and members of the public generally, want to know and have a right to know what oversight the Federal government in the form of your SEC may or may not have exercised over the now notoriously corrupted Rockland County Village of Piermont government, regarding the subject bond issues.
Sent: Tuesday, July 30, 2024 4:13 PM
To: jtormey@optonline.net
Subject: Regarding Request No. 24-03614-FOIA
Please see the attached response to the fee waiver that you submitted as part of your FOIA request on July 24, 2024.
If you have any questions, please contact me at (202) 551-8376.
Regards,
Alysia Morrow
Research Specialist
Office of FOIA Services
OFFICE +1(202) 551-8376
morrowa@sec.gov
