1508 Avondale Avenue
Richmond, Virginia 23227
May 27, 1999

BY FACSIMILE: 780-6948

Claude Cooper
Building Commissioner
City of Richmond
900 East Broad Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219

RE: 1320 Avondale Avenue

Dear Mr. Cooper:

I am a Citizen of the Commonwealth and a resident of the City of Richmond. Under the authority of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, I request an opportunity to inspect and copy the following official records, as that term is defined at Va. Code § 2.1-341, that are prepared, owned, or held by the City through you or any of your subordinates:

All official records prepared or received within the last 365 days that relate to the condition of the property at 1320 Avondale Avenue including, without limitation, all official records that relate to complaints about or inspections of the property.

In the event the City elects to withhold any official record responsive to this request, for each such record please:

Identify the record withheld by date, author, title, and summary or purpose of the record;

Identify all persons outside your office to whom the record has been shown or to whom copies have been furnished; and

State specifically the statutory exemption under which the City elects to withhold the record.

I note that Item II.A of the Organizational Development section of Richmond’s Strategic Plan, as updated on November 25, 1996, commits the City to "[e]ducate residents, businesses, employees, and local media about the City of Richmond, its accomplishments, and initiatives," and Section II.C commits the City to "[e]ncourage positive involvement of all stakeholders . . . in City affairs and issues." In light of that I request that you waive the search and copying charges in connection with this request for public information.

I further note that the Freedom of Information Act Policy you issued on September 23, 1992 applies by its own terms to requests that involve more than one person hour and/or five copies. Under that policy, your staff are required to recover copy and search costs. They have been zealous in doing so. For example, when I requested on June 1, 1998 a copy of the (four page) citation on 1410 Avondale, your staff demanded a written request and upfront payment of the copy charge, even though the request fell outside the Policy. Similarly, when Mr. Robert Gunst requested the (three page) Certificate of Occupancy on April 29, 1997, your staff demanded a written request and the $0.75 copy charge up front.

Thus we see that, while ordinary taxpayers Gunst and Butcher must request in writing and pay up front, even where the Policy does not require it, the attorney for the lawbreaker gets free faxed copies, with no written request. Similarly we see the real estate agent for the "buyer" (almost certainly the seller’s agent) gets seven free, faxed copies, in direct violation of the Policy. The Policy, it seems, applies at all times to ordinary taxpayers, even when it does not apply by its own terms, but it does not apply ever to lawbreakers or their agents.

In light of this, I now demand treatment equal to that you have extended to Mr. Majette and the real estate agent. That is, I demand that you forego any copy or search charges, and that you immediately mail me the documents that respond to this request.

If you nonetheless elect to unlawfully charge me part or all of the actual costs of copying and search time and computer time expended in providing these records, please estimate the total charges beforehand. If those total charges exceed $100, please notify me before you copy any records.

Please call me at 786-4073 (office) or 264-5942 (home) if I can answer any question regarding this request. You also can reach me by email at

%20JohnRButcher@attbi.com%20.

I look forward to hearing from you as promptly as possible and, in any event, within the five work days provided by the Act.

With kindest regards, I am

Sincerely,

John Butcher

 cc: Chuck Epes (by email)
Libby Clarke (by email)
Mauri Shaw (by email)
Holly Anna Jones (by email)
Winnie Cobb (by hand)
Diana Presson (by hand)
Bill Johnson (780-7736)
John Rupp (780-6653)