Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information
Minutes, Sept. 18, 2024
The regular monthly meeting was via Zoom.
Present: Mike Savino, Michele Jacklin, Tom Scheffey, Mary Connolly, Jacqueline Smith, Jeff Daniels, Steve Nevas, Mitch Pearlman, Chris Powell, Karen Florin, Jodie Gil, Clare Dignan, Colleen Murphy, Russell Blair, Paula Pearlman, Liz Gemski.
The minutes of the June 19, 2024 annual meeting and the Sept. 3, 2024 emergency meeting were accepted.
We welcomed Dignan, who was invited to attend a meeting as a potential board member. A former Hearst reporter, she is director of philanthropy at Connecticut Mirror.
Treasurer’s report: Smith said our finances are “almost in a crisis mode.” In June, our balance was $7,184.23. Now it is $4,684.23. What happened? Smith says we paid our quarterly invoice for legislative lobbying services and several expected contributions have not yet been received.
Co-Presidents report: Jacklin discussed the fundraising letter that will be distributed in the next few weeks. In preparation for this fundraising effort, our website (ccfoi.com) has been upgraded and a Pay Pal account donate button has been added.
Legislative report: Gemski said all legislative seats are up for election on Nov. 5. As planning for the new session begins, Gemski will be reaching out to committee chairs and preparing to be on offense for any proposals that undermine government transparency.
Corporate status: As discovered by Mitch Pearlman, the Secretary of the State’s office dissolved our corporation on May 8, 2023 because we didn’t file a required report and pay a $50 fee. CCFOI was never notified. Pearlman said there may have been no current address on file due to changes in officers. Pearlman said the quickest fix was to simply file as a new application rather than trying to undo the dissolution decision. This has been done and the problem should be resolved shortly. Once our corporate status is established, the board will schedule an organizational meeting via Zoom for directors to accept their appointments, re-adopt our bylaws and re-elect our officers.
Looking ahead: The date of our next monthly meeting has not been set. Usually, our monthly October meeting would be Oct. 16 at 9 a.m. via Zoom. This date may have to be changed. Stay tuned.