The ‘Impossible Request’ Could Be Taken on to Hartford

Yesterday afternoon Peter Sachs received a snail mail letter to his home address, informing him that was looking into his FOIA a laundry list of documents. The catch, however, is in order for the town to be in compliance with Connecticut General Statute 1-217, they must redact the physical home addresses of every protected person before fulfilling Sachs’ request.

“It’s virtually impossible,” said Anthony "Unk" DaRos yesterday afternoon, “to abide by this law.” He continued, “If you really want to go by the letter of the law, we’d have to shut Town Hall down.”

When asked if he was prepared to do just that, DaRos said, “No,” adding that he and the town Attorney William Clendenen will be looking into the request and the feasibility of filling it.

CGS 1-217 requires all towns, since 1995, redact protected people’s addresses from all town records. People protected by this law include law enforcement officers, firefighters, state attorneys, healthcare workers and more (for a full list of the protected and the first story, click ).

Basically, reported DaRos, land records would have to be sealed. “You couldn’t even have an election,” he added.

“Probably at some point,” said DaRos, “we’ll have to go before the legislature and tell them to put some law out there that makes sense.”

To fill Sachs’ request, even if Branford wanted to, would be impossible without additional funding, explained DaRos.

Town Clerk Marianne Kelly said to redact even one list could take "thousands and thousands of hours."  As an unfunded mandate, Kelly said the task is not feasible.

Kelly who has been Branford's Town Clerk for six years, is also a member of the Connecticut Town Clerks Association. The Association, she said, is not in support of the CGS 1-217.

"If you think about it," she said, "it's the most ridiculous thing you can do."

In addition to the time and cost associated with name redaction, Kelly said that it's illegal to alter town documents. "Really," she added, "it's a matter of which law do you want to break?"

DaRos agrees with Kelly and finds the request conflicting with other laws, he said. "They ought to be paying attention to these laws when they write them.”

Getting the letter in hand yesterday from the Town, Sachs said, "I am pleased to see the First Selectman promptly replied to my impossible request."

He added, “I am pleased to hear the First Selectman sees that this law is unworkable and he is willing to consult with the legislature to remedy the obvious problems it presents."