By Ashley M. Casey
Staff Writer
The town of Cicero will be passing Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests to the Hancock Estabrook law firm. The town board voted on the measure 3-2 at its Sept. 26 meeting, with Councilors Judy Boyke and Jon Karp voting no.
Supervisor Mark Venesky said the measure is in response to an individual who files FOIL requests “on more than a regular basis,” asking for material including payroll records that dated back several years or were related to people who do not work for the town. The most recent request from this person, Venesky added, contained language that female town employees found threatening.
“It disrupts the workflow here. It puts a real burden on our clerk’s office,” Venesky said. “And quite frankly, the last FOIL request we received … the women who read it, and it was directed at a woman, told me that they felt it was threatening.”
Venesky said the attorneys at Hancock Estabrook are more well-versed in FOIL issues than town officials, which he said is not town attorney Robert Germain’s field of expertise.
“We are not experts at what has to go in and out of this building. Although Tracy Cosilmon is probably one of the best town clerks in this county, she was making a lot of phone calls to Albany to ask, ‘Is this allowable? Is this not allowable?’” Venesky said.
Boyke and Karp both asked what the cost would be. Venesky said if the cost exceeds the town’s retainer fee, it would be about $200 per hour. Karp told the Star-Review the cost is $240 per hour.
“If there’s a cost associated with those FOILs, I think we have a legal right to be able to bill it. So if I’m paying $200 for an hour to have an attorney review these FOILs and write the response, we have a right to bill that to the people who do that,” Venesky said. “Currently, I think we’re only allowed like 25 cents a page or something. It’s ridiculous.”
“I don’t think the law allows us to bill a FOIL requester for an attorney’s services,” said Karp, who is an attorney.
Section 87 of the Freedom of Information Law reads, “Except when a different fee is prescribed by statute (an act of the State Legislature), an agency may not charge for inspection, certification or search for records, or charge in excess of 25 cents per photocopy up to 9 by 14 inches.”
Agencies usually are not allowed to charge for records transmitted electronically, but “there are occasions when the agency can charge for employee time spent preparing the electronic data,” the law reads.
“Preparing a copy shall not include search time or administrative costs, and no fee shall be charged unless at least two hours of agency employee time is needed to prepare a copy of the record requested. A person requesting a record shall be informed of the estimated cost of preparing a copy of the record if more than two hours of an agency employee’s time is needed, or if an outside professional service would be retained to prepare a copy of the record,” the law says.
“Where is the money coming from?” Boyke asked. “We don’t have it budgeted, do we?”
Venesky said the money is included in the budget for legal services.
“I don’t find this to be necessary. I will be voting no,” Karp said.
Town to purchase new audio system
The FOIL measure was not the only action the board approved Sept. 26 that would make Town Clerk Tracy Cosilmon’s job a bit easier. The board voted to replace the town hall’s audio system. The town will pay Francis Audio-Visual of East Syracuse $12,703.42 for the new system, which will allow for easier recordings of meetings and court proceedings.
Currently, Cosilmon records town board meetings on a handheld recorder and plays them back to transcribe the audio verbatim for the board minutes. Venesky said Cosilmon spends about six hours per week on these transcripts, so she can simplify her minutes because the full meetings will be available to listen to.
The current audio system often malfunctions, with microphones and public address system in the meeting room emitting screeching feedback or cutting in and out.
“We’re looking at 1980s technology here,” Venesky said of the current audio system.
Venesky said the new system would not only help the court and the town clerk’s office, but it would allow the town to post digital recordings of its meetings on its website. He said this contributes to transparency in town government.
Venesky said the town considered video recordings, but decided against it because scout troops and students often attend meetings, and parents expressed concerns about having their children’s faces posted online.
“I’m not good to look at anyway,” he joked.
