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Councilor Dwyer raises FOIL privacy concern; Supervisor cites $18/month .gov cost
Summary
Councilor Olivia Dwyer asked whether using personal email for town business could expose private information to public-records requests; Supervisor Stanley said a .gov address costs $18 per month and urged the council to seek the town attorney's guidance at a regular meeting.
At a July 10 public hearing, Councilor Olivia Dwyer asked whether town board members using personal email for official business could make private information subject to Freedom of Information Law requests. Her question framed the session's central privacy concern about the proposed local law.
Councilman Knut Saur responded that personal accounts "could" be subject to production but that only relevant information would be required, and he asked how much a ".gov" email would cost for town board members. Supervisor Stanley answered that "the cost was $18 a month per email address" and advised Dwyer to raise the issue at the board's regular meeting when the local law is scheduled for adoption so Town Attorney Dan Manning could provide legal advice.
The exchange centered on two options: (1) continue allowing board members to use personal email and rely on relevance limits under FOIL, or (2) consider moving to government-hosted .gov addresses to separate personal and official correspondence. Neither option was decided at the hearing; Stanley directed the council to take the question up in the regular meeting for formal discussion and legal guidance.
The record does not specify the town name or whether the board took immediate steps to budget for .gov accounts. The hearing concluded with routine public comments and an adjournment later in the meeting.
