By Sarah Opdahl

On Tuesday, December 19 many New Fairfield elected and appointed officials attended a workshop on best practices related to the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a set of laws that guarantee public access to government records and meetings. Tom Hennick, Public Education Officer for the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission, walked the participants through information on meeting rules, communication advice, and public access to records. He welcomed questions throughout the session.

Hennick was candid with the audience about the presentation, saying, “We try to give you some tools to work with, so that if you have an FOI issue, or a problem or question, you are better equipped to handle it.” He lent gravity to the rules, pointing out that when it was initiated by legendary CT politician, Ella T. Grasso, the country was in the throes of the Watergate scandal. The FOIA passed unanimously in 1975. “I tell you that to show you how important it was then, how important that remains today,” Hennick stressed, it is “a really simple, easy concept—government transparency, government openness.”

The CT FOI Commission typically receives 650 to 700 complaints per year regarding potential local government missteps. In the hour-long workshop, Hennick informed the participants how best to comply with granting access to public meetings, including definitions and examples of what constitutes a meeting, and access to public records, while also supplying them with information on exemptions for b oth. He also advised the group on appropriate specificity in agenda language. When asked by a participant, Hennick noted one meeting “loophole” is the ability for members of the same board and party to “caucus” without it being a “meeting.” Hennick also detailed the rules surrounding the Exe cutive Session.

Hennick urged caution regarding communication, especially electronic, as all Board and Commission-related communication is public record and subject to FOI requests. He stressed the importance of not communicating about board matters by replying to all when on a group thread, as that can constitute an illegal meeting. While Hennick acknowledged that board members do realistically talk about board-related matters outside of meetings, “let’s not be naive, let’s be realistic,” pressing upon them the importance of keeping talk light, say agenda items, if it happens at all.

Regarding records, Hennick said, “the bottom line, folks, to remember is, even though most of you are volunteer board members, everything you create, everything you have, everyth ing you read, everything that comes to you in that capacity is a public record. It is defined as a public record.” Communication on all personal emails and devices regarding board matters are also subject to FOI requests.

Brevity was Hennick’s advice regarding minutes, “they need not be the recreation of War and Peace.” In fact, he said, “Minutes technically only require a record of the votes from the record of who voted for what or for whom.” He went on to acknowledge that more will typically be included, as the minutes are a historical record for the town.

There were a couple of participant questions about public comment rules, which is a charged issue in New Fairfield, especially following the multi-hour public comment sessions in the budget season earlier in the year. They learned that Hennick would recommend adding a note in the disclaimer or to the agendas about not engaging in back-and-forth communication during public comment. He also answered a question about whether public commenters need to identify themselves—which is not required—but towns could require it.

Hennick, who retires in January after 23 years of working with New Fairfield, advised  that any questions can be sent to the CT Freedom of Information Commission.