My town will not post this year’s Town Board meeting minutes to its website. I called and requested them this spring, but they were never sent or posted. This summer I requested in writing that they be made public and mailed the request to the town clerk. I know the clerk’s office received it, because other paperwork in the same envelope was processed and mailed back to me. At this point I don’t know what to do.
I want to make sure I follow proper procedure. Residents who go to board meetings and ask questions, or who remind the board of duties like making the minutes public, have been hearing from the town’s attorney afterward.
You should not have to chase your town for minutes, and you should not have to worry about its attorney for asking.
The law is on your side. Public Officers Law §106(3) requires minutes to be available within two weeks of a meeting and, since 2021, posted on the town website within two weeks. Draft minutes count; approval is not required. We checked the town’s minutes page. Only the first quarter of this year is posted, and those minutes went up months late. Everything since then is missing.
Here is what we would do. Send a written FOIL request by email and certified mail to the town clerk asking for all Town Board minutes, draft or final, from the first missing month to the present. The town has five business days to respond. If it does not, appeal in writing to the Town Supervisor within 30 days. If that fails, ask the state Committee on Open Government (518-474-2518) for an advisory opinion. Those opinions carry weight with town attorneys.
Keep everything in writing and dated. If the attorney contacts you, ask that it be in writing. The steps above resolve most cases like this.
