A complaint filed with the state Freedom of Information Commission alleges the town’s Board of Ethics is violating FOIA laws.
Raymond Martin’s complaint, filed on Jan. 15, asks the state agency to investigate why the Board of Ethics has not provided him with the documents he requested in May 2023 under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Martin resubmitted the same request on Jan. 8.
Among the documents Martin is seeking are emails and correspondence between members of the Board of Ethics, and copies of the complaints filed against him with the complainants’ names regarding his ethics investigation.
Last year, the Ethics Board found Martin violated town ethics for pleading guilty to falsely reporting a stolen car. He later resigned as chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission.
According to the minutes from its Jan. 17 meeting, the Board of Ethics denied Martin’s FOIA request for copies of the emails and complaints, stating the board “has grounds to withhold personal identities of complainants.” The minutes also state, “To do otherwise, puts complainants in harm’s way.”
Russell Blair, director of education and communications at the state Freedom of Information Commission, said the commission will review Martin’s complaint, and if it meets the requirements, it will docket the complaint.
Blair could not go into detail on Martin’s complaint but said that documents relating to ethics investigations do fall under the category of public documents according to FOIA law.
According to state law, emails and unredacted ethics complaints filed with a town ethics board are public documents if the board determines there is “probable cause” and reasonable grounds to believe an ethics violation has occurred, Blair said.
In Martin’s case, the town’s Board of Ethics did find probable cause and investigated the complaints filed against him.
“After a finding of probable cause, the entire records of the investigation shall become public without redaction unless there is an exemption within the ethics statutes,” said Blair.
FOIA law does include a security exemption, but a public agency cannot automatically deny an FOIA request based on its perception of a safety risk, according to Blair.
“If an agency is citing the security exemption in (state statutes) they are supposed to get a determination first from the State Police,” said Blair.
The Board of Ethics is required by law to go to the state’s Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection, who would then determine if a safety risk warrants a denial of Martin’s FOIA request, he said.
Members of the Board of Ethics did not respond to requests by the Easton Courier for information concerning Martin’s FOIA request.
Blair said the FOI commission will try to resolve Martin’s complaint through an ombudsman.
“If it can’t be resolved it goes to a contested case hearing, and the respondents will have to show under the law why they believe the documents can’t be released,” he said.
