Robert Freeman, terminated as Director of the New York Committee On Open Government.
NEW YORK, NY — June 25, 2019 — New York State Inspector General Letizia Tagliafierro issued the following statement regarding the termination of Robert Freeman:
“Based on the preliminary findings of our office’s ongoing investigation into a recent complaint filed against Mr. Freeman, I appreciate the swift action taken by the Department of State. The abuse of a public position to engage in illicit conduct will not be tolerated by anyone at any level in New York State government. We are continuing to work closely with our law enforcement partners on this investigation and encourage anyone who may have additional information regarding this matter to contact our offices.”
Jun 29, 2019 – We were disheartened to hear this week of the alleged foul behavior of longtime open-government champion Robert Freeman. Freeman, who headed the…..
Jun 28, 2019 – But as the USA Today Network’s Albany Bureau reported, Freeman faces allegations of sexual harassment from a number of journalists, and was the subject of….
Jun 28, 2019 – New York journalists and good-government advocates woke up Tuesday to some shocking news — that Robert Freeman, the longtime head of the state …
Jun 27, 2019 – But just this week, another case arose for state government as Robert Freeman, a longtime open government and records expert, was fired for sexually…
Jun 27, 2019 So she did what any New York reporter would have done: Call Robert Freeman, a nationally recognized public-records expert who had led the state Committee….
The Daily Gazette-Jun 25, 2019Robert Freeman, an outspoken advocate for freedom of information in New York state, was fired from his job Monday as the executive director of the state …
Jun 25, 2019 – ALBANY – For more than 40 years, Robert Freeman served as state government’s guide for news reporters seeking access to public records maintained by….
Jun 25, 2019 – Robert Freeman, the longtime leader of the state’s Committee on Open Government, was fired Monday after an investigation of allegations he behaved in a…..
Jun 25, 2019 – When news broke early Tuesday that Robert Freeman, the long-tenured Freedom of Information Law expert who New York reporters revered as the ultimate…..
Jun 25, 2019 – ALBANY — For more than four decades, Robert J. Freeman was a champion of government transparency in New York. As the executive director of the….
Jun 25, 2019 – The dismissal of Robert Freeman — who led the government watchdog committee for more than 40 years and was quoted regularly by news media across the….
Jun 25, 2019 – Robert Freeman, the longtime head of the state Committee on Open Government, has been fired for behaving in a “sexually inappropriate manner” toward a….
Camille DiSalvo failed to provide a requested photo for the FOIL Westchester Public Information Project, Which Seeks To Measure How Well Village Clerks Follow New York State’s Freedom Of Information Laws.
1. Freedom Of Information Compliance And Knowledge Ratings:
Camille DiSalvo failed to provide a requested biographical paragraph for the FOIL Westchester Public Information Project, Which Seeks To Measure How Well Village Clerks Follow New York State’s Freedom Of Information Laws.
The Village Clerk is appointed by the Village Board and serves a term of two (2) years.The Village Clerk is custodian of all public records maintained by the Village. The primary responsibilities of the Village Clerk are records management, coordination and supervision of Village Elections, recording official minutes of the Village Board of Trustees meetings and maintaining death records that pertain only to persons who died in the Village.Other responsibilities include filing local laws with the State of New York, maintaining the official Village Code and Master Fee Schedule; preparing and publishing legal notices; administering insurance claims, Freedom of Information Act requests, resident, commuter, merchant parking permits and numerous permits issued by the Village.Sales Tax in Village of Tuckahoe is 7.375%Staff Contacts
DAILY VOICE: Several Appointments To Be Made In Tuckahoe
Several Tuckahoe officials will be sworn into office on Monday at the first Board of Trustees meeting of the month.
Incumbent Mayor Steve Ecklond and Trustees Thomas Giordano and Greg Luisi will take an oath of office, being sworn in for two-year terms by Judge David Fuller, Jr.
In addition to the board members, there will be a series of appointments made for village positions. Susan Ciamarra will be appointed as the village clerk, with Camille DiSalvo serving as her deputy village clerk.
Todd Huttunen will be named the village assessor, and John Cavallaro will continue as the village attorney, each serving one-year terms. Anne Marie Ciaramella will serve as the chairperson for the planning board, with Ron Gallo assuming the same position on the zoning board of appeals…..
Tuckahoe’s annual reorganizational meeting was held April 5, beginning with the swearing-in of the three men voted into office last month.
Steven Ecklond and Stephen J. Quigley were sworn in a village trustees for two-year terms; David O. Fuller Jr. was sworn in a village justice for four years.
Michael O’Toole was appointed acting village justice for a year;
Ecklond was appointed deputy mayor.
Susan Ciamarra was appointed both receiver of taxes and registrar of vital statistics for the next year; Camille Di Salvo was appointed deputy clerk and registrar of vital statistics for the next year; Richard O’Donnell was appointed village assessor for a year; John Cavallaro was appointed village attorney and Gary Gjertsen deputy village attorney for a year. Dr. Salimbene was appointed village physician for a year…..
TRANSPARANCY PROBLEM: It Has Often Ben Difficult For Tuckahoe Taxpayers To Hold The Privillaged Political Class Accountable And Get Budget Iinformation
Hon. Susan Ciamarra
Village Clerk
Village of Tuckahoe
65 Main Street
Tuckahoe, NY 10707
The staff of the Committee on Open Government is authorized to issue advisory opinions. The ensuing staff advisory opinion is based solely upon the information presented in your correspondence.
Dear Ms. Ciamarra:
I have received your letter of March 29 in which you sought an advisory opinion relating to the Freedom of Information Law.
As I understand the matter, a State audit report and the Village’s tentative budget were made public at open, televised meetings of the Board of Trustees, and it has been contended that a request for those records need not be made pursuant to the Freedom of Information Law. In addition, you wrote that the individual “also complained that 25 [cents] per copy is too costly and that copies of the information should be made available at no charge to the taxpayer.
In this regard, I offer the following comments.
First, the Freedom of Information Law includes all agency records within its coverage, including those that were made public at the meeting, and §89(3) of the Law states in part that an agency may require that a request be made in writing. Therefore, while an agency may accept an oral request, I believe that it may in most instances require a written request.
I note that §5-508 of the Village Law pertains specifically to the process of adopting a budget. As you are aware, a hearing must be held on the tentative budget, and subdivision (3) of §5-508 states in part that: “The notice of hearing shall state the time when and place where such public hearing will be held, the purpose thereof and that a copy of the tentative budget is available at the office of the village clerk where it may be inspected by any interested person during office hours” (emphasis added). Based on that provision, I do not believe that a written request should be needed to inspect the tentative budget, because the right to inspect is clearly conferred by the Village Law; however, a village could in my opinion require that a written request be made if a photocopy of the tentative budget is requested, for §5-508 makes no specific reference to copies. Similarly, §35 of the General Municipal Law states that an audit report prepared by the Office of the State Comptroller “shall be a public record open to inspection by any interested person.” It would seem that the procedures ordinarily used regarding the Freedom of Information Law need not be employed when a request is made to inspect an audit; again, however, a written request may be required if a copy is sought.
The foregoing is not intended to suggest that written requests must be demanded, for it is clear that the records in question must be made available. On the contrary, an agency may accept and respond to oral requests, particularly when records are readily retrievable and unquestionably public.
Second, with respect to fees for copies, §87(1)(b)(iii) of the Freedom of Information Law states that an agency’s rules and regulations must include reference to:
“the fees for copies of records which shall not exceed twenty-five cents per photocopy not in excess of nine inches by fourteen inches, or the actual cost of reproducing any other record, except when a different fee is otherwise prescribed by statute.”
Based upon the foregoing, unless a different statute authorizes other fees, the first clause of the provision quoted above provides that an agency may charge up to twenty-five cents per photocopy for records up to nine by fourteen inches. Whether the actual cost of photocopying is more or less than twenty-five cents, an agency is clearly authorized to establish and charge a fee of up to twenty-five cents per photocopy. I point out, however, that no fee may be charged for the inspection of records accessible under the Law.
Guardian Fights Back, Going After Municipalities That Violate First Amendment
Several weeks ago The Westchester Guardian, through its parent corporation, The Guardian News, Inc., began to file civil actions against numerous villages, towns, and cities throughout Westchester County, charging each with various acts, including, but not limited to, their adoption, interpretation, and enforcement of local code provisions governing “Newsracks” on public property in violation of The Guardian’s rights as guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, 42 U.S.C. Section 1983. At this point ten such federal complaints have been filed, the first of which was commenced on April 7, against the Village of Tuckahoe, and several individuals involved in the administration of that village government….
This Ratings Page Has Been Updated With Additional Information
About Tuckahoe, New York
Tuckahoe is a village in the town of Eastchester in Westchester County, New York, United States. One-and-a-half miles long and three-fourths of a mile wide, with the Bronx River serving as its western boundary, the Village of Tuckahoe is approximately sixteen miles north of midtown Manhattan in Southern Westchester County. As of the 2010 census, the village’s population was 6,486.
The name “Tuckahoe”, meaning “it is globular”, was a general term used by the Native Americans of the region when describing various bulbous roots which were used as food. Throughout the 1700s and 1800s, Tuckahoe was a rural, minor community which was part of the larger town of East Chester. It wasn’t until the early nineteenth century that Tuckahoe first became a semi-prominent part of the New York Metropolitan Area upon the discovery of vast, high-quality, white marble deposits near the Bronx River by Scottish businessman Alexander Masterson. Through the use of his financial wealth and influence, Masterson jump-started Tuckahoe’s marble industry, opening the first marble quarry in 1812. The extremely high quality of “Tuckahoe Marble” was in great demand, quickly transforming the once quiet village into the “marble capital of the world”. In the 1840s, to serve quarry owners who transported marble to the city, the New York and Harlem Railroad opened two train depots in Tuckahoe. The booming industry drew succeeding waves of German, Irish and Italian immigrant workers, and, after the Civil War, African-Americans who migrated from the South. The Tuckahoe quarries produced heavily for almost a century before supplies dwindled and the industry shut down.
In the 1920s Burroughs Wellcome (now part of GlaxoSmithKline) established research and manufacturing facilities on Scarsdale Road on land acquired from the Hodgman Rubber Company, and for many years was a leading industry in Tuckahoe until the company moved to Research Triangle Park in North Carolina in 1971. The Nobel Prize winning scientists Gertrude B. Elion and George H. Hitchings worked there and invented drugs still used many years later, such as mercaptopurine……
