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Staff recommends fixing “fully
functional” e-mail system By Geoff
Davidian ShorewoodVillage.com On Monday night, trustees
will revisit the e-mail issue because although the government has provided
“VillageofShorewood.org” e-mail addresses to elected officials, trustees
frequently have been unable to access correspondence or attachments through the
official system. In addition, only Trustee
Michael Phinney has responded to e-mail sent to him at his official e-mail
address, suggesting that trustees are either not receiving correspondence or
are not accessing it. In a July 29, 2004 memorandum to the Village Board,
Leeann Butschlick, assistant to the village manager, writes that “Staff
believes that the Village is in full compliance with this agreement,” but
acknowledges that there are “issues” related to “remote access to the system,
not the integrity of the system itself.” “The system has been fully functional since June 1, 2004 as required
in the agreement.” How a system can be fully
functional while not allowing trustees to access their correspondence may be
explained Monday. Although the system
has been “fully functional since June 1,” Butschlick writes, “staff has made
numerous attempts to address the difficulties some Trustees experience when
attempting to access the Village email system; however it seems apparent at
this point that staff does not have the technical expertise to accurately
identify nor correct the access problems experienced by some users.” “Staff requests
that it be authorized to negotiate a time and materials contract with Mike
Armstrong, the Village's IT consultant, to identify the problems at each remote
access location.” Village staff apparently
considers the existence of the equipment itself, plugged in and working, as
complying with the settlement agreement, which meant to ensure that trustees
communicate openly and retain public records at a central location. If staff considers the
existence of the e-mail server as “fully functional” in the spirit of the
settlement, then the Village Board should reject the proposal to contract with
an IT consultant to identify problems, since a “fully functional” system would
already be “fully functional.” But if it is
necessary to contract with an IT specialist because trustees are not able to
use the system, staff should not report to the governing body that the system
is “fully functional,” because a “fully functional” system would require no one
“to identify the problems at each remote access location.” The
suit was brought at a time when former Village President Rodney Dow was
using e-mail to communicate with a majority of trustees regarding issues that
were to be discussed in public sessions. E-mail correspondence
among a group of public officials involving an issue that will be voted on
raises questions of legality under the state
public meetings law. Despite the requirement
that public officials retain
documents regarding their official duties, Trustee Ellen Eckman and former
Trustee Vida Langenkamp did not retain all their correspondence. In settling the lawsuit,
the village agreed to create an official system so that officials would communicate
on public matters in a way that could be monitored, and in a way that would
reassure the public that village business was not being subverted by any former
officials or lobbyists. |