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Steering Committee agrees to redact emails and phone numbers from posted applicant materials
Summary
To reduce risk of scams, Coventry staff will remove applicant email addresses and phone numbers from Statement of Interest materials attached to agendas; names and addresses will remain and residency verification will be noted on forms.
Coventry's Steering Committee agreed May 26 to remove applicants’ email addresses and phone numbers from Statement of Interest (SOI) forms attached to meeting agendas after staff described a recent phishing incident affecting a board member.
Town Manager James Drumm said scammers often harvest contact information when it is posted in one easily accessible place. Drumm and Special Projects Coordinator Alex Taylor described technical redaction tools (Adobe) that can remove contact fields from documents while retaining original records with the Town Clerk.
Committee members said names and addresses are consistent with public comment practice and should remain on posted SOIs, but that email addresses and phone numbers should be omitted to reduce risk. The committee discussed adding a checkbox or stamp on SOI forms certifying residency verification by the Town Clerk and suggested a short disclaimer on posted materials advising applicants that submitted information will be publicly available.
Next steps: staff will redact email addresses and phone numbers from SOIs included with agendas, explore a residency‑verification marker on forms, and continue to make full applicant records available in the Town Clerk’s office.
