The meeting was via Zoom.
Present: Mike Savino, Michele Jacklin, Kim Phillips, Matt Kauffman, Liz Gemski, Tom Scheffey, Mitch Pearlman, Gary Gold, Paula Pearlman, Jeff Daniels, Mary Connolly, Colleen Murphy, Steve Nevas.
The minutes of the April 21, 2021 meeting were accepted.
Treasurer’s report: Phillips reported a balance of $15,728.70.
Legislative report: Gemski reported the House passed legislation to allow public documents to be copied at no charge by camera, cell phone or portable scanner. Now the bill goes to the Senate. Concerns remain about the Secretary of the State’s interest in limiting public access to voter information while maintaining the authority to share voter information with those chosen by her office.
Annual meeting: We canceled plans to have the traditional annual awards luncheon in June at the Pond House, due to the pandemic. Instead, the CCFOI board accepted an invitation from Mitch Pearlman to have a pandemic-friendly meeting in his backyard on June 16 to have the required annual meeting and elect officers. We plan to have our traditional awards luncheon on Sept. 14 at the Pond House.
Officer nominations: Mike Savino, president; Matthew Kauffman, vice president; Kimberly Phillips, treasurer; Mary Connolly, secretary; Michele Jacklin and Jeffrey Daniels, legislative committee co-chairs; and directors Mitch Pearlman, Chris Powell, Thomas Scheffey, Gary Gold and Steve Nevas.
Award nominations: We’re looking for suggestions for the awards to be made in September. We honor journalists, public officials and FOI activists. Send your suggestions to Mike Savino.
Looking ahead: The next CCFOI meeting will be June 16 at 5 p.m. at Mitch Pearlman’s home, 35 Bunker Hill Road, Glastonbury.