Mayor urges council to use city email accounts

Published 9:37 am Friday, December 12, 2014

During the Dec. 9 Port Orchard City Council meeting, Mayor Tim Matthes asked the council to use their city email accounts, rather than their business or personal email accounts.

“I want us to work together and stop using other email accounts, other than our city email account for city emails,” Matthes said. “It’s very important that the city maintains control for public records requests.”

The mayor said the city can’t maintain control if council members are using business or personal email accounts.

“It gets to be problem for our public records officer and myself, to say we really have control. I don’t think we do,” said Matthes.

He urged the council to use their city email accounts for city business only.

“We can’t afford not to — in my opinion — if we get a $500,000 judgement throw at us for doing the various things we’ve done in the past,” Matthes said, referencing to case in Bainbridge Island where a councilman was forced to resign and the city had to pay out hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The Bainbridge Review reported city officials signed a settlement agreement Dec. 9 with two activists to end their public records lawsuit against the city in exchange for a nearly $500,000 payout and the resignation of Councilman David Ward.

Althea Paulson and Bob Fortner filed suit against the city in September 2013 that claimed the city and Councilman Steve Bonkowski, Ward and then-councilwoman Debbi Lester failed to turn over public records that had been requested under the state’s Public Records Act.

Paulson and Fortner had sought emails that the council members had sent and received on their personal email accounts to fellow council members and others, which Paulson and Fortner noted was a violation of the city’s Governance Manual. The manual requires council members to use their city provided email accounts, and to forward any city related emails sent to them privately to the city for retention.

A Superior Court judge ruled in favor of Paulson and Fortner in May, and harshly criticized Ward and Bonkowski for deleting public records from their email accounts. Ward’s resignation became effective when the settlement agreement was signed.

The settlement agreement was approved by the council Dec. 2 after city officials discussed the contract in a closed-door executive session. The settlement includes a $350,000 payment to Paulson and Fortner, plus $137,790 in attorney fees and costs.

Matthes said the city may need to purchase new equipment to get the city’s website working properly for the council.

“You’re going to have to redo that website completely. It doesn’t work for anybody,” said Councilman Jerry Childs.

“The website we’ll work on. Some of you told us that they (city email addresses) didn’t work for you. We’ll figure out why they are not working for you and make sure they’re working.”

Councilman Fred Chang said more software is needed.

“Let’s bring this to the next work study because I think we share your concerns,” said Chang. “We need the resources to access our city domain email on our other (electronic) devices. That is the issue.”

Chang said the issue is not council members using other website domains.

“Actually it is,” Matthes replied. “If someone asks us for a public records request to the City of Port Orchard, it’s going to be hard for me to go to a bank’s server or another business’ server. It’s easier to go to your personal email servers because we ask you to produce all of the emails.”

“I think we should discuss this in detail at the next work study session,” Chang commented.

Councilman John Clauson said the council wants an email system that will work.

The council will conduct a work study session on Dec. 16, at 7 p.m. at City Hall.