State FOI official sides with governor's office in dispute over records
By The Associated Press
09.09.02
HARTFORD, Conn. — The Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority does not have to disclose details about contacts with Gov. John G. Rowland's office, a state Freedom of Information Commission hearing officer has said.
The Journal Inquirer of Manchester filed a Freedom of Information Act request in March seeking records of all communications between the trash authority and Rowland's office since January 1998, more than two years before the agency agreed to a $220 million deal with the now-bankrupt Enron Corp.
In particular, the newspaper wanted any communication with former Rowland chief of staff and CRRA Chairman Peter Ellef.
FOIC hearing officer Eric Turner on Sept. 4 recommended that the FOI commission side with the CRRA, the newspaper reported.
Turner said he had inspected eight memoranda provided by the CRRA and that seven of the documents would be exempt from disclosure because of attorney-client privilege, while the eighth was exempt because it involved pending court cases. State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has filed lawsuits against two law firms that advised CRRA in an attempt to recover the money lost in the deal.
Turner noted that former CRRA President Robert Wright is a lawyer who was once "outside legal counsel" to the agency. The hearing officer added that Wright wrote the memos in his capacity as an attorney advising Ellef.
The newspaper appealed the CRRA's denial to the FOIC, and Blumenthal later weighed in with comments supporting the newspaper.
"I have no idea how they could claim a privilege over stuff exchanged between the CRRA and the governor's office," Blumenthal said.
Journal Inquirer State Editor Paul A. Green called the agency's claim to exemption "absurd." He said that such application of attorney-client privilege would allow any public agency to prevent the release of any communications if they involved at least one official who happened to be a lawyer, the newspaper reported.
Green said he was concerned that the CRRA's legal position was designed to hide documents that could embarrass the agency and the governor's office.
The FOIC is scheduled to consider Turner's recommendation at its Sept. 25 meeting.