The City of Belleville (the city) received three requests under the Act related to the appellant’s property. The city issued decision letters granting the appellant partial access, withholding information under the discretionary legal privilege exemption under section 38(a) in read with section 12. The city also takes the position that disclosure of some of the withheld information would constitute an unjustified invasion of personal privacy under the discretionary exemption at section 38(b). The appellant appealed the city’s decision regarding the application of the exemptions to the IPC. The appellant also claims that additional records should exist. The city, in turn, claims that the requests before me are frivolous and vexatious.
In this order, the adjudicator determines that one of the appellant’s requests is frivolous and vexatious and dismisses the appeal filed in relation to that request. The adjudicator then considers the application of the discretionary exemptions to the information withheld pertaining to the two other requests. She finds that the discretionary exemptions apply to all but two emails, which she orders the city to disclose to the appellant. The adjudicator finds that the city exercised its discretion properly in relying on the exemptions to withhold these emails.
With respect to the appellant’s claim that the city did not conduct a reasonable search, the adjudicator finds that the city failed to conduct a reasonable search for records responsive to one of the three requests and orders it to conduct a further search.