[Vision2020] Content of Deleted E-mail Revealed

[bear at moscow.com]

Now, talk about an ordinance that we could all get behind and agree on
(except the Council perhaps), an OPEN GOVERNMENT ordinance that requires
City Council and City Employees to use a city provided e-mail address to
conduct city business and puts in a provision that requires them to make
their personal e-mails available IF the conduct city business on their
personal e-mail accounts. Perhaps Eagle Idaho has an ordinance about that
so the city attorney can trot it before council BEFORE somebody brings it
up?


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> "Hey Bert.  I'm gonna send you this email then delete it so I can
> start a major hissyfit with the usual group up here.
>
> Walt"
>
>
>
> On Wed, Jul 1, 2009 at 8:15 AM, Tom Hansen<thansen at moscow.com> wrote:
>> Courtesy of today's (July 1, 2009) Moscow-Pullman Daily News.
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Deleted e-mails cause public records issue
>> Daily News plans to petition court to recover electronic correspondence
>> between Steed, legislator
>> By Mark Williams, Daily News staff writer
>>
>> Idaho law does not restrict government officials from deleting e-mails
>> they received concerning public business, even though those e-mails can
>> be
>> considered public record.
>>
>> The issue came to light when the Daily News made a public records
>> request
>> to state Rep. John "Bert" Stevenson, R-Rupert, concerning e-mail
>> correspondence between himself and Moscow City Councilman Walter Steed.
>>
>> The request sought e-mails regarding two proposed bills that would
>> affect
>> Moscow's ability to sell water across the state line to the Hawkins
>> Companies' planned retail development in Whitman County.
>>
>> Both bills, sponsored by Rep. Gary Schroeder, R-Moscow, died in the
>> House
>> Resources and Conservation Committee after passing overwhelmingly in the
>> Senate, and never reached the House floor.
>>
>> Stevenson serves as chairman of the House Resources and Conservation
>> Committee. His written reply to the public records request stated he had
>> deleted the messages sent by Steed.
>>
>> He later said he had not read the majority of Steed's e-mails.
>>
>> Stevenson's written response was reviewed by the state attorney
>> general's
>> office, which indicated the Daily News would need to petition a court to
>> recover them. Idaho law states a petition must be filed in the district
>> court of the county where the records or some part of them are located.
>>
>> Though deleted e-mails can be recovered, the process is time-consuming
>> and
>> potentially costly, meaning hordes of potential public records in
>> electronic form may be disappearing before the public can access them.
>>
>> Daily News Editor and Publisher Nathan Alford said the company plans to
>> take the necessary steps to recover the records.
>>
>> "Defending the public's right to know is part of our mission and
>> responsibility, and we're willing to do what it takes to protect a
>> well-established right," he said. "Transparency in government is
>> essential."
>>
>> E-mails and other records must be retained after a public records
>> request
>> has been made, but Idaho Deputy Attorney General Bill von Tagen said no
>> mechanism exists to compel government officials, including legislators,
>> to
>> keep their e-mails before a request is made.
>>
>> "We don't really have a records retention policy," he said. "There may
>> be
>> other reasons that require them to be saved, but when you're in a purely
>> political realm I don't believe that is the case."
>>
>> Senate Minority Leader Kate Kelly, D-Boise, sees the loophole as a
>> problem, but said there has been no pressure from the public or within
>> the
>> Legislature to remedy the law.
>>
>> "The Legislature certainly doesn't have (a retention policy) for hard
>> copy
>> or e-mail," she said.
>>
>> Kelly is well-versed in public records issues. She and Senate Majority
>> Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, co-sponsored a bill last session that
>> would have required elected officials and candidates to disclose their
>> personal finances, but the proposal was killed before it reached
>> committee.
>>
>> Kelly previously worked in the attorney general's office and advised
>> agencies on open records laws.
>>
>> She said she is not surprised that Idaho hasn't addressed the law.
>>
>> "I like to describe Idaho as an analog bubble in the middle of a digital
>> world," she said. "In terms of what we're doing from a statutory
>> standpoint, my guess is that we're probably behind" other states.
>>
>> House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star, said he doesn't think the
>> situation is a problem.
>>
>> He said if legislators or interest groups were to discuss something
>> potentially damaging, they wouldn't do it via e-mail, where they know it
>> can eventually be retrieved.
>>
>> "Common sense says you wouldn't think somebody would send something
>> along
>> those lines knowing that it would be a public record," he said.
>> "Everything we do is out there to be found. I mean, you can say it's
>> gone,
>> but it's not really gone."
>>
>> Moyle said most legislators delete their e-mails just like everyone
>> else.
>>
>> "Most guys delete them right away," he said. "We caution our legislators
>> to be careful with what they do or say. We do our best to keep things
>> above board. We want to keep things in the light."
>>
>> Mark Williams can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 301, or by e-mail
>> at:
>>
>> mwilliams at dnews.com
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Stay tuned, Moscow.
>>
>> Tom Hansen
>> Moscow, Idaho
>>
>> "The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to
>> change
>> and the Realist adjusts his sails."
>>
>> - Unknown
>>
>>
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>>  serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
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>>          mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
>> =======================================================
>>
>
> =======================================================
>  List services made available by First Step Internet,
>  serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>                http://www.fsr.net
>           mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> =======================================================
>