City of Plano Sued by Watchdog Group Over FOIA Failure

The Coalition Opposing Government Secrecy (COGS) and Metric Media have sued the City of Plano, alleging the city failed to provide the legal response required by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The lawsuit claims the city failed to act despite COGS sending multiple emails and having its attorney’s office follow up on the request.

On January 31, 2025, Owen Wang, a reporter for the Kendall County Times, sent a FOIA request to the City of Plano seeking information about board appointments. Plano did not respond with documents or a request for more time. On April 15, Wang sent a follow-up email to which the city did not respond.

According to COGS, the city later sent an email on April 15 from City Administrator Marty Shanahan. The letter did not address the FOIA request; instead, it stated that Shanahan had determined Wang’s email address might be “fake” and that the city would only proceed if Wang provided an email address that the City of Plano deemed legitimate.

On April 22, Wang sent another follow-up email, which the city ignored. On July 15, 2025, the Kendall County Times attorneys called Plano to demand a response, but none was provided. In August, COGS filed the FOIA lawsuit in Kendall County Court.

Last week, the City of Plano filed a response to the lawsuit. In the filing, the city admitted it failed to follow basic FOIA components, such as formally denying the request or releasing the relevant documents. While the city maintains it was concerned the request was fraudulent, City Administrator Marty Shanahan determined the entire inquiry was “fake”—despite multiple follow-ups from both the reporter and the reporter’s legal counsel.

The Illinois FOIA law provides that if a government body denies a FOIA request in violation of the law, resulting in a lawsuit, the plaintiff may also sue to recover all reasonable attorney fees from the government if they prevail in the lawsuit.