Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information
Minutes, May 21, 2025
The regular monthly meeting was via Zoom.
Present: Mike Savino, Michele Jacklin, Tom Scheffey, Jacqueline Smith, Mary Connolly, Jeff Daniels, Mitch Pearlman, Chris Powell, Karen Florin, Colleen Murphy, Paula Pearlman, Russell Blair, Liz Gemski.
The minutes for the April 16, 2025 regular monthly meeting and the May 20, 2025 Awards Committee meeting were accepted.
Legislative report: With two weeks left in the legislative session, Gemski says much is left to be decided. The bill on FOI exemptions for public university records has not yet been called. A proposal that was of great concern is dead. It would have allowed school superintendents to be present for an entire board executive session, rather than just when the superintendent’s participation is needed on a specific issue.
There was discussion of the legislature’s approval of a bill that ends the independence of Connecticut’s elections watchdog, the state Elections Enforcement Commission. Legislators have complained for years about the commission’s regulatory process. The changes will put legislators in charge of their regulators, since the appointment of the commission’s executive director will now be subject to legislators’ approval.
June 18 CCFOI annual awards at The Hartford Club: The Awards Committee nominated two journalists for the Collins award. They are Joe Wojtas, night editor of The Day, and Andrew Brown, an investigative reporter at the Connecticut Mirror. The board unanimously voted to make Wojtas and Brown this year’s recipients of the Collins award. There was discussion of several legislators as winners of this year’s Champion of Open Government award. It was decided to postpone a decision on legislators until early June after the end of the legislative session. We are still seeking nominations for the Bice Clemow award, given to a nonjournalist.
Treasurer’s report: Smith reported a balance of $11,701.34.
Looking ahead: The legislative session ends June 4. We will meet via Zoom shortly after that to finalize our award decisions. Stay tuned for the date. Our annual awards event is June 18 at The Hartford Club, 46 Prospect St., Hartford, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Our annual board retreat will be June 27 at noon in the backyard of Mitch Pearlman, 35 Bunker Hill Road, Glastonbury.