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02/21/2023 10:09 AMThe whats, wheres, hows, and whys of the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) were discussed at a workshop hosted by Hagaman Memorial Library on Feb. 1.
Thomas Hennick, a public education officer at the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission, led the workshop and guided around 20 attendees through a broad overview of the numerous topics and questions related to the FOIA to help members of the public “as to what not only their rights are,” as they pertain to the FOIA, “but what their obligations are,” said Hennick.
“A lot of folks think the FOIA act gives them the right to do things like ask questions of a public agency or speak at a public meeting, neither of which are guaranteed under the law,” Hennick said. “It’s [trying to] give them a focus so that they know what the law can do for them, but also encourage them to know that their right to gain information, to go to meetings, is in the law.”
The idea for the workshop sprung from one of the members of the Hagaman Memorial Library Board, according to Community Services librarian Cynthia Gwiazda, who saw it as an informative civics-oriented session for members of the East Haven community to under the complicated nature of the FOIA.
“[Hennick] gave a lot of information that was very helpful,” Gwiazda said. “It’s little bit of a complex law. There’s things that apply when it comes to public meetings and how things have to be recorded, and what is freedom?”
Gwiazda said the opportunity to learn about the legality surrounding FOIA as an East Haven resident is particularly helpful, as “Connecticut’s one of the strictest states in terms of its law pertaining to freedom of information,” and what is and what is not permissible under the FOIA.
“You have to make a reasonable request to an organization for documents...you have a certain window of time in which to make a complaint,” she said. “You can’t just be like, ‘Well, I have a right to all this information.”
That was one of the several topics and misconceptions explored at the workshop, specifically whether members of the public are granted the right to all information from state and local agencies they desire or if those agencies are supposed to act as “your answer-man,” said Hennick. Because governmental bodies are not always obligated to share all information and perform research by a person’s request, the optimal response is to be compelled and “do some of the research yourself,” said Hennick.
This establishes the key distinction between “information” and “access,” according to Hennick, as the existence of information does not always translate to granted access. Hennick says it is important for citizens to feel empowered to attend municipal meetings to “access” that “information” with the hope “that they can be active participants in the democratic process,” said Hennick.
Gwiazda shared a similar point of view.
“To me, it’s about the democratic process, and people being informed about what’s happening in their communities, and being able to some political agency, in terms of having the information they need to try to push officials on uncertain things that are important to them,” she said.
Town meeting schedules are one of the tools that everyday citizens can use to know when they can have access to information, Hennick said.
“You hear rumors there’s going to be a big Walmart Supercenter built in your town. And you say, ‘Gee, I wonder where it’s going to be.’ So then you would go to the Planning and Zoning meeting and find out when they discuss the issue,” he said. “Look at the site plan and hear the discussion among the commissioners. You find out what the traffic patterns are going to be, and you find where the runoff from the parking lot is going to go. You have to engage.”
Aside from what the laws permits, another common misconception of the FOIA, according to Hennick, is that the FOIA is a law specifically for concerned members of the press. In practice, what the Freedom of Information Commission has seen consistently contradicts that belief.
“When you look at the numbers of complaints that we get on a regular basis, the media is a small fraction -less than quarter of the complaints,” said Hennick, who estimates the number of complaints received by the Commission regarding access to information as “between 700 to 800” in a given year.
Not many alterations to the statutes of FOIA have been made since its implementation in 1975, or at least “as many changes as many people would like,” in the 21st century with highly capable mobile technology, according to Hennick. Often, there is a workaround. He refers to Section 1-212(g) of the law as an example of how technology has allowed for the circumvention of laws.
“There’s a provision in the act that allows someone to use a handheld scanner to make his or her own copies. The agency can charge $20, and then you can scan to your heart’s content,” he said, “The problem is about the time they put that piece of law into effect, people started using their phones. The legislation does not say, specifically, ‘phones.’ Technically, they don’t have to let you use your phone.”
Hennick opined that while the legal language of the FOIA and its intent is meant to be broad, the “delivery format” of that language, or how it is spelled out, is an issue on which lawmakers and the Commission “get hung up.”
As he believes that the significance of the FOIA has sustained for 48 years since the state implemented the act, Hennick sees that it is more crucial than ever in the digital age of remarkably easier access to records and other forms of information.
“One of the things that makes it more [important] than ever is the way we communicate today. There’s so many different ways - we have to remember that when we create a record with conduct of the public’s business, [it] doesn’t matter what the platform is, we have to keep reminding ourselves that they’re public records and that they’re all fair game.”