By Natasha Lee
Staff Writer
December 24, 2006
STAMFORD -- Nearly nine months after the city agreed to train fire commissioners about open-records laws, it has yet to uphold its end of the bargain.
The deal was reached in April, after The Advocate filed a complaint with the state over the Fire Commission's failure to file meeting agendas, meeting minutes and members' votes as required under the state's Freedom of Information Act. The act protects citizens' rights to access information from public agencies.
The city's legal department, which agreed to make sure the commission adhered to open-records laws, said miscommunication between the department and commission has stalled the training.
"We probably assumed the fire department was going to arrange that (the training) because they are the ones who were supposed to go," said the city's director of legal affairs, Thomas Cassone.
There is no deadline for the training, but without it, the city and Fire Commission are not in compliance with the settlement. The Fire Commission also continues to violate the Freedom of Information Act by failing to file proper, detailed agendas.
City attorney Mike Toma said he contacted the state's Freedom of Information Commission and the Fire Department's clerk Wednesday to arrange a training date within the next couple of months.
The settlement came after The Advocate filed complaints with the state commission over a lack of meeting minutes and agendas supposed to be filed by the Fire Commission.
The Freedom of Information Act requires that minutes of public meetings be made available to the public within seven days.
During an investigation into the fire department's hiring practices beginning last year, The Advocate attempted to review agendas and minutes, after learning that friends and relatives of commissioners and firefighters were named next in line for job openings over other candidates who scored higher on the firefighters exam. Mayor Dannel Malloy's nephew, fire chief Robert McGrath's son and the son of Fire Commissioner E. Gaynor Brennan were among the candidates in line for jobs.
Top scorers not hired told The Advocate they thought the process was fixed because they were asked few questions during brief interviews by the fire commissioners.
When The Advocate tried to obtain records of the meeting minutes and how commissioners voted for applicants, none of the documents was available at the city clerk's office or fire department offices. The Freedom of Information Act requires that records of how each commissioner votes on an issue be made public within 48 hours.
The commission has since changed its hiring policy to require members to score applicants' oral interviews on a scale of 1 to 10, with each commissioner's assessment kept on file and available to the public should applicants question why they were not hired.
Under the settlement, the city's legal department acknowledged the commission failed to keep and file proper records as required by law. As part of the settlement, the legal department also agreed to review the agendas and meetings of the city's 23 boards and commissions twice a year. In turn, The Advocate agreed to drop two pending complaints regarding the Fire Commission before the Freedom of Information Commission.
Cassone said his staff has started reviewing agendas and minutes, checking to make sure they are detailed, and for any "glaring mistakes." The review will be filed with the mayor's office by the Jan. 1 deadline. The second review deadline is July 1.
The city's Board of Representatives and Board of Finance members are given guidebooks that reference Freedom of Information laws, as well as procedures and guidelines for running meetings, preparing agendas and filing minutes. Commissioners, whose positions are either approved or appointed, typically rely on more experienced members to share commission guidelines, Cassone said.
"People who are volunteers are prone to make mistakes, and it's our responsibility to guide them when we see them. And certainly if The Advocate, or anybody, points out noncompliance of the Freedom of Information laws, we'll advise them," he said.
The law department routinely offers Freedom of Information workshops for newly elected or appointed officials, Cassone said.
Copyright © 2006, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.