The meeting was at Wood-n-Tap, 99 Sisson Ave., Hartford.
Present: Mike Savino, Chris Powell, Mitch Pearlman, Zach Janowski, Jeff Daniels, Steve Nevas, George Lombardi, Matt Kauffman, Mary Connolly, Liz Gemski, Gary Gold, Michele Jacklin, Colleen Murphy, Paula Pearlman.
The minutes of the Oct. 16, 2019 meeting were accepted.
Treasurer’s report: Lombardi reported a balance of $2,378.45.
Legislative report: Gemski reported on meetings with legislators. Murphy reported she met with town clerks about the hand-held scanner bill and the ability of people to simply take a photo of a document. Fees to copy documents produce revenue for the offices of town clerks.
There was discussion of the CCFOI legislative agenda for the 2020 legislative session. Gemski suggested limiting the number of items so discussions with legislators can be more focused. There was a consensus that the agenda will include ensuring public access to the work of the Dalio Partnership for Connecticut, the public-private group established to help struggling schools; the adoption of a scanner bill that gives the public easy access to public documents; limits on the practice of allowing unions and state officials to circumvent the FOI Act with contract language; the Secretary of the State’s bill on what voter information is public; and any legislation in response to last year’s state Supreme Court ruling that allowed the public release of documents related to the 2012 Newtown school shooting.
Looking ahead: The next CCFOI meeting will be Dec. 18 at noon at Wood-n-Tap.