ANSONIA – City government broke the law by taking 123 days to release documents connected to a straightforward public records request, according to a hearing officer’s report for the state’s Freedom of Information Commission
Theresa Conroy, a former state representative and current member of Seymour’s Board of Selectpersons, filed a public records request in Ansonia in September 2023. She asked to see the employment contract for Kurt Miller.
Miller works part-time as Ansonia’s budget director. He also holds a full-time position as Seymour’s chief administrative officer.
The city did not fulfill Conroy’s request until January 2024 – after she filed a complaint to the commission.
“Based on (Conroy’s) very limited, straightforward request for records in this case, and on the fact that it took the respondents over four months to provide the complainant with eleven pages of responsive records, it is found that the respondents violated the promptness requirements of §§1 – 210(a) and 1 – 212(a), G.S.,” states a report by FOI hearing officer Valicia D. Harmon.
Harmon’s report is scheduled to be adopted by the Freedom of Information Commission at a meeting scheduled in Hartford for Wednesday (Oct. 23). Conroy and the City of Ansonia have the opportunity to speak to the commission for up to 10 minutes before the vote.
Conroy said she is satisfied with the ruling and does not plan to attend the meeting. The Valley Indy left a message Oct. 22 with John Marini, Ansonia’s corporation counsel.
State law requires public agencies to provide public records “promptly” upon request – that is, without unnecessary delay.
There is no concrete definition in the state’s Freedom of Information Act that defines “promptly.” Nevertheless, the hearing officer said Ansonia took far too long.
“It shouldn’t take three months to see an employment contract,” Harmon said during a June 3 FOI hearing. “It should just be put down on the counter, you know what I mean?”
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The Timeline
Conroy filed her initial request for Miller’s employment information in September 2023. The city acknowledged her request three days later, in accordance with the FOI Act.
However, by December 2023, the city had still not provided any documents to Conroy. She sent a follow-up letter on Dec. 8 asking that the contract be given to her by Dec. 22, or that the city give her a reason why the request couldn’t be fulfilled by that date. The follow-up message was ignored, Conroy said.
On Dec. 27, Conroy filed her complaint with the FOI Commission. Seven days later, on Jan. 3, the city provided her with the documents she requested.
The Valley Indy asked Ansonia’s government for Miller’s employment information – the same information Conroy had requested – on May 31, 2024. The administration released those documents the next day. The Valley Indy was not aware of Conroy’s previous request at the time.
A contested case hearing was on June 3, where Conroy and city officials testified before Harmon. The report by Harmon, dated Oct. 10, largely agrees with Conroy’s arguments in the hearing.
FOI Commission Disagrees With City’s Testimony
In the June hearing, both Marini and city economic development director Sheila O’Malley testified that the city’s delay was for two reasons. First, they said, the city processes public records requests on a “first in, first out” basis, meaning Conroy’s request couldn’t be processed until all requests placed before hers were processed.
In addition, they said, they were facing a backlog of public records requests filed by former mayoral candidate, and current Independent Party state representative candidate, Thomas Egan.
The commission’s ruling disagrees with both arguments.
It points out that the city wasn’t actually adhering to a “first in, first out” policy, as it had fulfilled at least one other request filed after Conroy’s before fulfilling hers. In addition, the ruling says, a local policy wouldn’t exempt the city from the legal requirement to fulfill records requests promptly.
“It is found that, while the respondents contended that they had a strict policy of satisfying FOI requests on a ‘first-in-first-out’ basis and that, at the time they received the request… they were processing multiple, previously received requests, the evidence they submitted to substantiate such contentions fell short,” the ruling states.
O’Malley estimated in the hearing that the city was processing about 50 requests from Egan at the time Conroy’s request came in. However, the ruling states that the city did not provide sufficient evidence that they were too backlogged to process Conroy’s request.
Judgment
The ruling orders Ansonia’s government to comply with the promptness provisions of the FOI Act going forward. It does not impose any fines.
It requires the city to arrange for an FOI training session to be conducted by staff of the FOI Commission. It’s the third time Ansonia has been ordered to hold an FOI training session since 2023.
Conroy said she is satisfied with the decision of the commission. She said she hopes the FOI training will be fruitful.
“I’m just hoping that, in the future, that it’s not just a slap on the hand if something happens with this,” she said.
Previous FOI Ruling Helps Define “Promptness”
Earlier this year, the FOI Commission ruled that “promptly” does not necessarily mean “immediately.”
In response to a complaint raised by Egan, the commission said in May that the city was in line with FOI Act when it asked him to make an appointment to review public documents.
Egan had argued that the city had a legal obligation to provide him immediate access to documents upon request, an argument the commission disagreed with.
“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 ruling in that complaint states.
However, in Conroy’s case, the ruling notes that her request was both narrow and straightforward. Taking four months to provide Miller’s employment contract was a violation of the promptness provisions, it said.
In response to Egan’s complaint, the FOI Commission ruled that another Ansonia policy – requiring all FOI requests to be made in writing – violated state law, and ordered the city to end that policy.
