- Home /
- Forum /
- Brockton Public Forum /
- General Issues /
- Furniture repair
Carpenter's Emails
m.enterprisenews.com/news/20160510/brock...blic-records-request
"The city of Brockton is asking for $10,000 to fulfill a public records request seeking all emails sent and received by the mayor on his personal account since taking office in January 2014. Former Brockton mayoral candidate Ron Matta requested all the emails contained in Mayor Bill Carpenter’s Gmail account, claiming the content of the account – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. – is public.
While the city hasn’t denied Matta’s request, Carpenter and city attorney Philip Nessralla said it would force lawyers to pore over thousands of emails to weed out privileged information and private communications. Carpenter also described the broadly stated public records request for all emails – about 25,000 in all – as an invasive “fishing expedition.” M“It’s like letting someone rummage through your closet,” Carpenter said. “Would you let me rummage through your drawers looking for something? Electronically, that’s what they are asking to do.”
"But several experts in public records law said that the $10,000 price tag may be unlawfully inflated because public records were intermingled with private business on a non-governmental email account." Matta said "the mayor’s use of the private Gmail account in itself is an attempt to evade the reach of the state’s public record laws."
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
dadof2 wrote: OS, Because as I said above, you can't have public information on a private account, no matter who requests the info.
i suppose, but if anyone digs deep enough who loathes someone who holds public office you'll find this happening all over the place.... this is going to be the 'go to' thing in politics, now
"you spoke with someone in private about a public issue! That's against the law!"
and for the record, i could care less about what's in hillary's emails.
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
I don't think any public official should be using a private email account to do public business. I think it should be made a law.
I think Ron doesn't Matta should enjoy his retirement. His request however is a valid one and using a private email account to do public business makes a request like this difficult. In my opinion the person using a private email account to do public business does so to avoid requests like these and to hide behind the I have private emails I do not want made public.
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
"A spokesperson for the Secretary of State’s Office said that whether documents were emailed on a personal or city-issued account makes no difference as to whether they are private or public. Instead, it’s the content of the records and whether they pertain to public business. The state does not forbid the use of private email accounts for public business."
So here is where he may have an issue:
Carpenter: "He uses the Gmail account, he said, as a matter of technological convenience, and for mostly private purposes, along with some other mayoral business as well".
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
your own, but where does stop?
Put that 10K to better use!!! And get rid of the diapers.
If we all sang the same note in the choir, We'd never have harmony
2/1/1938-5/4/2019
Rest in peace
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- BrocktonDave
- Offline
- Administrator
This is a valid FIOA request, regardless of how you feel about him.
David R. Heidke
Steward of InBrockton.com
"A mile of road will take you a mile, but a mile of runway will take you anywhere..."
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- BrocktonDave
- Offline
- Administrator
David R. Heidke
Steward of InBrockton.com
"A mile of road will take you a mile, but a mile of runway will take you anywhere..."
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
The amount of money Carpenter via his lawyer is requesting to obtain records is OTT and the Secretary of State will ultimately reduce if it gets that far.
You can't use private accounts to discuss public business. Maybe he didn't but if he did anyone has the right under FOIA to request the public records. I imagine (my opinion) a search will be made for trigger words, such as Power Plant, Casino, Brewster, ambulance contract. All the hot topics over his administration.
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
If we all sang the same note in the choir, We'd never have harmony
2/1/1938-5/4/2019
Rest in peace
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
Again, it's against the law to discuss any public business on private email accounts. If he didn't, nothing to worry about.
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- boxerfamily
- Offline
- Junior Member
- Posts: 198
- Karma: -2
- Thank you received: 39
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- BrocktonDave
- Offline
- Administrator
dadof2 wrote:
Again, it's against the law to discuss any public business on private email accounts.
That's not what Hillary says...
David R. Heidke
Steward of InBrockton.com
"A mile of road will take you a mile, but a mile of runway will take you anywhere..."
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
If we all sang the same note in the choir, We'd never have harmony
2/1/1938-5/4/2019
Rest in peace
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
oldskool wrote: "you spoke with someone in private about a public issue! That's against the law!"
and for the record, i could care less about what's in hillary's emails.
Agree 100%. It's a matter of the law not keeping up with current times. What's the difference between talking state matters over lunch, or over email?
Either could be intercepted...so????
As always, it matters more about what letter is on your voter registration card than the actual mater at hand.
You can't fix stupid.
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- BrocktonDave
- Offline
- Administrator
The laws are very comprehensive as are the state department regulations governing the dissemination of classified information.
Using a personal email account doesn't change any of that. Just that personal email doesn't have any of the security needed to safeguard classified information.
David R. Heidke
Steward of InBrockton.com
"A mile of road will take you a mile, but a mile of runway will take you anywhere..."
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- BrocktonDave
- Offline
- Administrator
David R. Heidke
Steward of InBrockton.com
"A mile of road will take you a mile, but a mile of runway will take you anywhere..."
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.