Since 1967, the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) has provided the public the right to request access to records from any federal agency. It is often described as the law that keeps citizens in the know about their government. Federal agencies are required to disclose any information requested under FOIA unless it falls under one of nine exemptions which protect interests such as personal privacy, national security, and law enforcement. 

I copied that from the Department of Justice Website. 

With frustrations mounting, after lively discussion and with no success simply asking for receipts associated with water main repairs and maintenance on the 8200 block of Main Street,  we resorted to our rights under the Freedom of Information Act.

We demanded that Howard County provide all records associated with the repair and upkeep of the water main on our block for a 5-year span (2011 through 2016). While they produced reams of paper, there was nothing in the stack to explain the sinking repairs shown below.

Was it magic? Did magic cut a hole in the road and patch itself?

Why we had to exercise the Freedom of Information Act to obtain repair records to support our insurance claim says more about Howard County DPZ than words can.

Why hide information, unless maybe there truly is something to hide? 

I’ve been a Howard County property owner and taxpayer for more than 20 years.

I paid real taxes — not the somewhat entertaining ‘tax arrangements’ paid by some of the other property owners up and down Main Street in Howard County.

The image above by the Washington Post further supports our case of the broken water main. It is shameful that this information was NEVER disclosed by Howard County DPZ or by any other county official.

How many other water mains broke that very same evening? How much extra water and destruction did a series of broken water mains contribute to this historic town the night of July 30, 2016?

Interesting to note in contrast is the exact same street condition taken from a video-still that I captured from a Facebook Live by WBAL-TV 11 Baltimore from the next flood that ravaged this historic city just this past May 2018.

The May 2018 flood was noted as being far more severe than the first flood, yet the 8200 block of Main Street was left perfectly intact.

We experienced about 1/4 inch of water in our properties from the flood of May 2018 on the 8200 Block of Main Street.

The county has a web page devoted specifically to water-main breaks.

It has not been updated since 2013.

This is a tragedy of unacknowledged responsibility, willful ignorance, and arrogant disrespect.