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The Lansing Town Board unanimously passed Local Law #11 of 2016 Wednesday, updating the Town's Freedom Of Information Law (FOIL).  After a number of questions about the proposed law were raised at a public hearing by resident Ted Laux, the Board discussed the issues with Town Attorney Guy Krogh, then passed the law unanimously.  But Town officials say it won't change much except that the new law will explain to citizens what their rights are, and that all FOIL requests will now go through one office.

"In the past we had FOIL requests come to the Planning and Codes Office and also to the Clerk's Office," Lansing Supervisor Ed LaVigne explained.  "The impetus of getting this law consolidated is so everything goes through the Town Clerk's office so you have continuity.  This is why we're addressing this issue right now.  It doesn't change the procedure, but it changes the process.  You're still going to go through the FOIL request procedure, but the process is that it will go through one office so we have continuity."

Laux submitted a list of concerns about the length of the 10 page law seeming to imply that making a FOIL request is more complicated than it really is.  He said provisions about maintaining personal privacy could be used to deny information that should otherwise be made available.

"I am somewhat concerned in general about the unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, because it could be used as an excuse for not giving out information," he said.  "I think people who come to a meeting to present public documents don't expect much privacy.  I'm sitting here and I'm saying this in public.  I am submitting a statement, you can put it in the minutes.  I don't have any expectation of privacy."

But in a later discussion before the vote, Krogh explained that state law determines what can be disclosed by municipalities and what can not, even though the information can be pieced together from a variety of government agencies.

"The reason for putting in the privacy material is Article 6A of the Public Officers Law, the Personal Privacy Protection Law... I agree that some of it is silly," Krogh said.  "If somebody comes to a meeting and says, 'My name is Joe Smith and I live at 11 Lansing Street', do you know there are actually Committee on Open Government decisions that say you are not allowed to put their address in the minutes, even though they've publicly stated it?  Even though they can go to the Assessment Department and get both of those pieces of data connected.  The Committee on Open Government's official position on that is that, yes there are many places where you can legally connect somebody's name and address, but municipal records should not be one of them according to state law."

As to the length of the law, Krogh explained the intention was to make it a 'one stop shop' for citizens so they don't have to go to state or other offices or Web sites to figure out what their rights are under the FOIL law.

"The intention was that if somebody puts in a request they can follow it step by step and know what their rights are without having to go to a Web site, try to interpret it, try to figure it out, try to parse it," he told the Board.  "Whether that's the right way to do it is up to you."

Laux also asked why the FOIL procedure is raised to the level of a law, when a procedure would be simpler and less intimidating.  Krogh said FOIL does rise to the level of being that important, and noted that the majority of New York municipalities adopt local FOIL laws/.  He said procedures do not necessarily grant citizens rights when a FOIL request is denied.

"Many municipalities including Lansing are implementing specific appellate procedures for what to do to both avoid liability for the municipality by allowing internal appeals, and avoid burdening citizens with having to go to court as their only redress, as opposed  to saying, 'Hey guys, I think you got this wrong.  Would you look at it again?'  Your procedural aspects are codified," Krogh explained.  "A mere procedure that says you have the right of appeal doesn't necessarily give the citizens standing if they have been wronged.  So most municipalities do it as a local law."

Krogh said the new law gives citizens redress within the Town Hall when a request is denied, simplifying the process and laying it out for anyone to see.  He noted that a codified in-house procedure can result in more information being granted after an initial denial.

"I think it's silly to say to your own residents, if for some reason your FOIL request is denied, now you have to petition under article 78 in the Supreme Court," he said.  "How is that free access to government?  It's not a joke -- it actually happens.  The last time Lansing had a FOIL appeal it was granted in part.  We did more research, and out of three denials we un-redacted some stuff and reversed one of the decisions based upon additional research.  So it works, and there's a record of it actually working in this town."

Krogh noted that a minor change in the law is a reduction in the fees for photocopies.  Citizens may view documents in person, or make or request copies themselves, or sometimes receive them in email.  Munson said there is only a charge if the Town has to provide paper copies.

"The last request we received, the person actually brought in a scanner and zipped the documents through it," she said.  "He didn't have to pay anything, and he was done in about ten minutes."

LaVigne asked Munson whether she has had complaints about the Town's FOIL process.

"I don't believe I've had any complaints," she said.

Laux recommended that the Town take advantage of the Committee on Open Government's practice of sending representatives to localities to explain the 'sunshine laws', setting up a time when town and, perhaps, school officials and constituents may attend.  He also recommended sample records be made available that show people how to request records both by mail and by email.

Munson said that the Town of Lansing does not receive many FOIL requests.

"It doesn't really change what we're doing other than everything will be coming to the Town Clerk's office," she said.  "It won't change the FOIL requests.  We might look at the form on the Web to see if it needs to be updated or made simpler."

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