Ms. Lawrence,
Attached you will find Heather Mowat's
resume and some email correspondence.
As for the resumes of other candidates for
the position, your FOIL request is once again denied.
Christine G. Krupa,
Councilwoman
Town of New Hartford
Ms. Krupa,
As an attorney you should know better than to leave
out the pertinent part of the law you cite in order to suit your own needs
because it sheds doubt on everything else you say from here
forward.
The entire section of the Public Officers Law that
you cite merely says that the name and home address of an employee does not have
to be disclosed. It does not say that the application does not need to
be disclosed nor does it say anything about the application of others who may
have applied for the position.
Here is the section of the Public Officer's Law in
its entirety:
Nothing in this article shall require
the disclosure of the home address of an officer or employee, former officer or
employee, or of a retiree of a public employees' retirement system; nor shall
anything in this article require the disclosure of the name or home address of a
beneficiary of a public employees' retirement system or of an applicant for
appointment to public employment; provided however, that nothing in this
subdivision shall limit or abridge the right of an employee organization,
certified or recognized for any collective negotiating unit of an employer
pursuant to article fourteen of the civil service law, to obtain the name or
home address of any officer, employee or retiree of such employer, if such name
or home address is otherwise available under this article.
On the other hand, Public Officers Law §87(2) does address personal privacy.
However, Robert Freeman, Executive Director of the Committee on
Open Government, does have Opinion Letters online that discuss personal privacy
and the releasing of job applications. A quote from one of his
opinions:
"However, in a manner similar to §87(2), that provision specifies that
disclosure "shall not be construed to constitute an unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy....when identifying details are deleted" [§89(2)(c)(i)].
Therefore, in my view, the records in question should be disclosed following the
deletion of personally identifying details. I note that in some instances, the
deletion of a name and address alone may not be sufficient to ensure that a
person's identity will not become known. In those situations, I believe that an
agency may delete any details which, if disclosed, would permit the identity of
the subject of the record to become known. I note that in a somewhat analogous
request by a faculty member of a branch of the City University of New York for
resumes of those promoted to full professor during a given period in order that
he could compare his credentials to those of others, the court determined that
the records must be disclosed following the deletion of personally identifying
details [Harris v. City University of New York, Baruch College, 114 AD2d 805
(1985)].
We don't need Heather Mowat's home address and
everyone already knows she was hired so blocking out identifying information
doesn't apply to her. Likewise, we don't need the names and addresses or any
other information that will reveal the identify of others who applied for the
job...our FOIL request is not to ascertain names and addresses; all that
information can be blocked out. However, other than a home address on Ms.
Mowat's resume and the names, addresses and identifying information on the
resumes of the other applicants, the information in our FOIL request is
available under the NYS FOI Law.
As far as Ms. Mowat's position with the town, you
and I both know that the town has to hire under the NYS Civil Service Law
unless she has been hired as Comptroller as provided for in NYS Town Law. I do
also believe that under NYS Town Law, if you hire a Comptroller, it is a two
year term. Therefore, the likelihood that Ms. Mowat will be the Comptroller is
not so good. I will eagerly await the June 9th town board meeting to get a copy
of her job description under the NYS Civil Service Law.
If I don't receive the resumes, letters of
interest, emails, applications, etc. of ALL applicants
with names, addresses and other identifying information blocked out sent to
me electronically by June 8, as per the timeframe set by the Town Clerk, I will
prepare a FOIL appeal for the next town board meeting on June 9,
2009.
Thank you.
Cathy Lawrence
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2009 11:28
AM
Subject: RE: FOIL - Resumes
Ms. Lawrence,
Please be advised that your FOIL request
for "copies of ALL resumes, letters of interest, emails,
applications, etc. received in response to the position now being filled
by the hiring of Heather Mowat" is hereby denied. The reason for the denial of
your request is pursuant to Public Officers Law, Article 6, Section 89(7) which
states in part:
"Nothing in this article shall
require the disclosure......of an applicant for appointment to public
employment...".
Your FOIL request for "a copy of the RFP and the job
description for this position" is also being denied. RFPs are requested in
instances when professional services are sought on a contractual basis. Since
Ms. Mowat is an employee of the town, no RFP was requested and thereby does not
exist.
As to the "job description for this position", no description
currently exists. Our Human Resources Dept. is in the process of formulating a
complete description of duties based on Ms. Mowat being hired to provide
financial analysis and accounting support to the Town. It is expected the
process will be completed in time to discuss at the June 9, 2009 town board
meeting, at which time a detailed description will be presented to the Town
Board and the public.
Christine G. Krupa,
Councilwoman
Town of New
Hartford
From: Young, Gail
Sent: Tue 6/2/2009
9:12 AM
To: 'Cathy Lawrence'
Cc: Krupa,
Christine
Subject: RE: FOIL - Resumes
Cathy,
Your
FOIL request is hereby acknowledged and is being emailed to Councilwoman Krupa
for her reply to you, with a copy to me. You should be receiving her response
not later than Monday, June 8, 2009, the initial 5-business day response
time.
Gail
Wolanin Young
Gail,
I would like to FOIL copies of
ALL resumes, letters of interest, emails, applications,
etc. received in response to the position now being filled by the hiring
of Heather Mowat. I would also like to FOIL a copy of the RFP and the job
description for this position.
Please send all requested documents to me
electronically.
Thank you.
Cathy
Lawrence
