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Town memo directs employees to stop using private email for town business; asks for credentials to archive messages
Summary
A memo read at the meeting orders immediate suspension of private email use for town business, directs staff to provide private-account credentials by June 30 for archiving under state public-records laws, and says official town accounts will be provisioned.
A memo presented to the board directed that use of private email accounts for town business be halted immediately and asked employees who used personal accounts to provide usernames and passwords to the supervisor by 4 p.m. on June 30, 2026 so the town can archive those records in compliance with New York State public-records law.
The memo, read during the meeting, said in part: "Mandatory termination of private email for town business effective immediately" and described the steps the town would take to provision official accounts and to preserve historical records. It cited the New York State Freedom of Information Law and state archives requirements as the basis for the directive.
Speakers at the meeting said the instruction came after IT advice and framed it as a records-preservation and security measure. The memo warns that failure to comply "may result in administrative penalties or official disciplinary review" and orders staff to stop sending or replying to town matters from private accounts immediately.
Several attendees raised concerns about privacy and legal privilege. One participant asked how the town could require passwords for private accounts that may contain attorney-client or other privileged communications; another said some employees never received official town mailboxes and would need accounts provisioned before the deadline. Meeting participants discussed alternatives, including providing separate town-only mailboxes and ensuring that personal or privileged communications are not swept into town archives.
The board did not provide a step-by-step process for handling privileged communications during the meeting; it did say new official town mailboxes would be created for employees who lack them. The memo also directs staff to bring credentials in person to the supervisor’s office to allow the town to secure and archive the messages.
The directive raises legal and privacy questions that staff and the board will need to clarify before the deadline, particularly how the town will handle attorney or personal communications and how it will notify employees about account provisioning and data handling.
