Town attorney reviews Freedom of Access Act: email threads, Google Docs and public records

Mary Costigan, the town attorney, opened the session with a primer on open-meetings and public-records law, saying the key trigger is when a quorum conducts substantive town business outside a noticed meeting. "If a quorum of the council is having an email conversation about a topic that is the business of the town, an actual substantive topic, that is a meeting," she said.

Costigan walked the council through the most commonly used executive-session exemptions — personnel, attorney consultation and real estate — and emphasized the limited circumstances under which a proceeding must be open. She warned that real-time collaborative editing that allows members to see each other’s comments can be treated as a substantive conversation: "Once you have a document that this whole group is seeing and you're seeing each other's edits and you're kinda working through edits of a document, that would be a violation." The presentation also covered notice expectations for emergency and special meetings, reasonable notice for executive sessions, and recordkeeping practices.

On public records, Costigan advised the council that documents in the town’s possession related to public business are broadly subject to FOA requests and that staff need only provide existing records, not create new compilations. She noted that emails sent to officials about town business are public records and must be retained, while some collections (for example, newsletter sign-up lists) may be treated differently. Costigan said the town’s FOA officer should acknowledge requests within five working days and that the town may decline unduly burdensome requests under the revised law.

Why it matters: the guidance clarifies everyday pitfalls — email threads, shared documents and social platforms — that can inadvertently put deliberations outside public view and exposes the town to FOA complaints. Costigan encouraged transparent disclosure of individual contacts in meetings so the public understands how members reached their positions.

What’s next: staff will keep FOA guidance material available to new members, and Costigan offered to return for a tailored session for the planning board or board of appeals on adjudicatory procedures and written findings.