Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information
Minutes, March 19, 2025
The regular monthly board meeting was via Zoom.
Present: Michele Jacklin, Mike Savino, Tom Scheffey, Jacqueline Smith, Mary Connolly, Mitch Pearlman, Karen Florin, Chris Powell, Katherine Revello, Clare Dignan, Russell Blair, Paula Pearlman, Liz Gemski.
The minutes of the Feb. 19, 2025 meeting were accepted.
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the FOI Act: The committee continues to plan events marking the signing of this historic legislation on Oct. 1, 1975. There will be a celebration at the Old State House on Oct. 1, with details still to be decided. The Connecticut Mirror offered an in-kind donation to design and produce posters for town halls around Connecticut on FOI. The committee hopes libraries also will be involved in this FOI celebration year.
Legislative update: Gemski said many bills related to FOI issues have been introduced, many of them long-standing proposals that have not been successful in the past and many of them aimed at restricting transparency. There are a number of bills to exempt the home addresses of various categories of public employees from disclosure under the FOI Act. Another bill would establish an FOI exemption for the location of sexual assault and domestic violence facilities. A bill has popped up again to create an FOI exemption for many records at public universities.
In response to a 2024 FOIC decision that the Hampton Board of Education violated the FOI Act during an executive session, a proposed bill would create a loophole that would allow a school superintendent to be present for the entire executive session, rather than just a specific part of the meeting when the board states it requires a superintendent’s opinion. This would change the character of executive sessions for elected officials.
Treasurer’s report: Smith reported a balance of $10,058.89.
Looking ahead: For the rest of the legislative session, we will have two meetings each month, a legislative update meeting the first Wednesday of each month and our regular monthly meeting the third Wednesday of each month.
The next meeting will be a legislative update on April 2 at 10 a.m. via Zoom. The regular monthly meeting will be April 16 at 9 a.m. via Zoom.