|
|
Standish requested a copy of a report prepared by JMA Associates, which was hired by a steering committee that had been formed after the town received a $50,000 federal grant to research and fund a master plan for the historic district of Old Wethersfield.
In its decision, the commission found that JMA Associates on Sept. 19 held a Power Point presentation and that there was "no significant difference between the information contained in the Power Point presentation and the report on which the presentation was based."
The commission also found that "as the Power Point presentation proceeded, it became apparent to the public and the Steering Committee that the presentation, and the JMA report on which the presentation was based, was full of errors and omissions."
In addition, it was found that Therrien directed JMA to "fix the problems and return with a more satisfactory report."
A few days later, Standish requested a copy of the JMA report.
Therrien said in an interview on Wednesday that she believed that the document Standish requested was a "preliminary draft or note," and, therefore, was exempt from disclosure under the FOI law.
"We felt very strongly that this was a draft," Therrien said. "The town council hadn't even seen [the plan]. . . . I was under the impression that a draft does not have to be released because the information in it may not be accurate."
The commission, however, disagreed, finding that Therrien "adopted the position that the report was a preliminary draft and that the public interest favored withholding it only after a public meeting at which the [town's] consultant disclosed the report, thereby revealing its inadequacies and errors."
As a remedy, the commission ordered the town to provide a copy of the report, free of charge, to Standish.
While some towns have had issues with transparency and making information available to the public, Wethersfield is probably not one of them.
Indeed, Therrien said that in her 20 years of working with town governments, she has appeared before the FOI Commission a grand total of five times.
Still, the dispute over the disclosure of the document cost the town about $1,500 to $2,000 in legal fees, Therrien said.
Standish stood by his decision to take the matter before the entire Freedom of Information commission.
"The full commission found the decision made by the town manager to be in error," he said. "We hope it's not an example of officials circling the wagons around a less-than-stellar decision."
Standish, however, stopped short of stating that the non-disclosure of the plan was part of a larger problem.
"I can't say that there's a trend," he said. "Transparency ought to be the goal. To the degree that government is conducted above board, it is good government. To the degree that it is not, it is not good government."
