Council questions who will serve as records access officer under proposed FOIL compliance policy

Mount Vernon councilors sought clarification Sept. 8 about a proposed Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) compliance policy after referral language appeared to conflict on who would be the records access officer.

During the agenda review, the item was described as “an ordinance establishing a freedom of information law compliance policy for the city of Mount Vernon.” A council member said the referral letter was confusing: “It says that the record access officer is in the clerk's office, but then it said that, all 4 requests should be made to the law department.”

Staff acknowledged the language was unclear and noted a related conversation with the mayor last year about moving a full position to the clerk's office. The referral summary read that the city clerk’s office would be a primary point of contact: “formalizing the role of dedicated records access officer with city clerk's office to act as a primary point of contact for 4 hour request.” Council members asked staff to fix the referral language so the formal responsibility and the operational point of contact are consistent.

Why it matters: FOIL implementation determines where public-record requests are directed and which office carries primary responsibility for compliance and timely responses.

Next steps: The council requested edits to the referral so it clearly states whether the records access officer will be positioned in the city clerk’s office and whether law-department intake or clerk’s-office intake will be the formal routing for requests. No formal vote was taken on Sept. 8.