Not Much Interest In Cuomo's Meeting On Email Purging Policy
ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo was planning a meeting for Friday to discuss public records and his administration's policy of purging emails, but there might not be too many people there to discuss it.
As of Thursday evening, no lawmakers were expected to attend the so-called summit, which Cuomo proposed after his administration's policy of deleting most emails after 90 days was roundly criticized for violating the spirit of open records laws.
Cuomo's office invited the Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and legislative leaders to send representatives. DiNapoli plans to send a staff member.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, a Democrat, and Senate Leader John Flanagan, a Republican, aren't sending anyone. Neither is the Senate's Democratic minority.
``It is disappointing that the administration cannot fix their flawed email policy without some hastily arranged public relations stunt,'' said Mike Murphy, spokesman for the Senate Democrats.
A Republican Assemblyman from western New York had hoped to attend the meeting, which will be in New York City, but canceled after the meeting was rescheduled from Friday afternoon to the morning.
Cuomo's office had intended for the meeting to focus on the creation of a uniform open records policy that would apply to state leaders and the Legislature, which is currently treated differently under the state's open records law. Alphonso David, Cuomo's counsel, will represent the administration at the meeting.
``We are disappointed,'' Cuomo spokesman Richard Azzopardi said of the decision by Senate and Assembly leaders to sit out the meeting. ``We are hopeful that they reconsider.''
The governor's email policy dates back to former Gov. Eliot Spitzer's administration, but Cuomo recently expanded it to cover most other state agencies, which previously operated under different policies. He instituted a similar purge policy in 2007 when he was attorney general. Current Attorney General Eric Schneiderman suspended the practice earlier this year.
The comptroller's office has a separate system with no automatic deletions where individuals can retain emails indefinitely.
Legislation that would require Cuomo's administration to keep emails for a certain period of time has been introduced in both the Senate and the Assembly.
Good-government groups have called on Cuomo to adopt the federal government's new policy of preserving emails for at least seven years.
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