ANSONIA – Ansonia city officials improperly prevented a city resident from reviewing public documents, according to a report pending in front of the state’s Freedom of Information (FOI) Commission.
Last year, Ansonia resident and former mayoral candidate Thomas Egan lodged two complaints with the FOI Commission after requesting to look at documents relating to Ansonia’s budget.
According to his complaints, he met budget director Kurt Miller at city hall and asked to review a spreadsheet used to craft the city’s budget, along with several other documents.
Miller told Egan he had to make a written request to look at those documents – which is where the city went wrong, according to a hearing officer’s report prepared for the FOI Commission.
The Connecticut Freedom of Information Act, which the commission is charged with enforcing, requires government officials to make public documents available for residents to review. Requiring a written request to see those documents ran afoul of the FOI Act, the Commission found.
“The courts have recognized, and this commission has long held, that a public agency may not require requests to inspect public records to be made in writing,” the decision from the hearing officer reads.
However, the hearing officer disagreed with a separate argument Egan made in his complaint.
Egan said that he should be able to review public documents immediately upon request. The hearing officer ruled that some delay is permissible under the FOI Act.
“The respondents did not violate the promptness provisions of the FOI Act by refusing to provide immediate inspection of the requested records on May 3, 2023, and requiring the complainant to make an appointment to inspect such records,” the decision says.
Egan was represented by Naugatuck lawyer Leonard Caine in a hearing on Feb. 22. The City of Ansonia was represented by corporation counsel John Marini.
Requiring written requests to review documents, though not in-line with the FOI Act, has been policy at city hall, according to testimony delivered in Harford during an FOI ‘contested case’ hearing.
At that hearing, a hearing officer listens to testimony from both sides and prepares a decision, which is later shared and voted upon by members of the FOI Commission.
Assistant Comptroller Kim DeStefano testified in the hearing that the policy helped the city comply with the FOI requests it received.
“From our conversation, it seemed like what he was looking for was a lot of documents,” DeStefano testified when asked about a phone call she had had with Egan. “That was not going to be readily available. So I said, ‘these types of things are handled through a written request. You need to let us know exactly what you need.’”
The hearing officer did not agree with the policy.
Its decision, which is expected to be voted upon by the commission Wednesday (May 22), requires the Ansonia city government to end its policy of requiring written requests to review documents. It also requires them to receive training in FOI requirements from the commission.
Ansonia previously had an FOI training workshop in September 2023, mandated by the commission as part of a separate settlement between Egan and the city. DeStefano testified that, prior to that workshop, she had not received FOI training in about fifteen years.
Egan and Marini each offered up reactions to the hearing officer’s report.
“As expected, Mr. Egan was incorrect to demand immediate access to the documents he requested to review,” Marini said in a written message to The Valley Indy.
He added that the city would respect the commission’s decision.
“The proposed decisions do distinguish between a request for copies as opposed to a request to merely inspect, insofar that a request to inspect does not need to be in writing,” Marini said. “The City ultimately agrees with this distinction and will educate its departments accordingly with the Commission’s guidance.”
Egan said that the city had done a better job of complying with the FOI Act since he made his complaint, and that he was thankful for the commission’s decision.
“I agree in large part with the FOI decision,” Egan said in a phone call. “I get why they’re considering ruling in one way or the other. And since this time, the city has largely allowed me access, usually within a week, to go ahead and inspect records.”
The decision is not final until adopted by the full commission on May 22.
