Tag Archives: foil

Governor Cuomo’s office responds to our 2014 FOIL request

On February 22nd, many of us sent a FOIL request to the office of Governor Cuomo to send us a list of Resolutions he has received on the SAFE act.  April 15th we got a response:

 

Dear Mr. Hempel:

This letter responds to your correspondence dated February 22, 2014 which, pursuant to FOIL, requested:

lists of the following categories:

1. all counties which have sent a copy of a resolution or other statement regarding the SAFE act or second amendment or gun rights

2. all cities which have sent a copy of a resolution or other statement regarding the SAFE act or second amendment or gun rights

3. all towns which have sent a copy of a resolution or other statement regarding the SAFE act or second amendment or gun rights

4. all villages which have sent a copy of a resolution or other statement regarding the SAFE act or second amendment or gun rights

5. all law enforcement groups which have sent a copy of a resolution or other statement regarding the SAFE act or second amendment or gun rights

6. all other governmental bodies which have sent a copy of a resolution or other statement regarding the SAFE act or second amendment or gun rights

7. all counties which have sent a copy of a resolution or other statement regarding use of their county seal, letterhead, or other identifying information

In each of these lists, provide the name of the entity and whether the resolution or statement was in favor of the SAFE act, in opposition, or neutral.

The Executive Chamber has conducted a diligent search for the records you request. Although we do not possess lists containing the information you seek, we located eight hundred seventy-one (871) pages of resolutions and official statements that respond to your request. You may access the records here: https://www.hightail.com/download/elNLRGwzQVNRR2RjR05Vag. Please note that this link will expire after thirty (30) days.

To the extent you are not satisfied with this response, pursuant to Public Officers Law § 89(4)(a), you have thirty (30) days to take a written appeal of this determination. You may make an appeal by writing: FOIL Appeals Officer, Executive Chamber, State of New York, Albany, New York, 12224.

Very truly yours,

Sherry Hwang
FOIL Counsel
Records Access Officer

Copy of response

Embedded scribd document coming soon. For now download here: https://www.hightail.com/download/elNLRGwzQVNRR2RjR05Vag.

FOIL request to Governor Cuomo

Lets have fun with the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL)! Almost every resolution directs that a copy be sent to Governor Cuomo. Those copies are FOILable information. Lets order Governor Cuomo (his office really) to send you a list of all counties, municipalities, and other bodies which have opposed the law and copied the Governor on their opposition!  (There are probably some resolutions we don’t know about yet.)

Best of all, this process is very simple and will take up little time, just a simple email. If you don’t get a response within 5 days then the governor is breaking the law. More information on FOIL here: http://www.dos.ny.gov/coog/freedomfaq.html

Ok, lets go, send an email to records.access@exec.ny.gov
Subject: FOIL Request
———————————————————————–
I am looking for information on resolutions which have been passed and sent to Governor Cuomo. Please send lists of the following categories:

1. all counties which have sent a copy of a resolution or other statement regarding the SAFE act or second amendment or gun rights
2. all cities which have sent a copy of a resolution or other statement regarding the SAFE act or second amendment or gun rights
3. all towns which have sent a copy of a resolution or other statement regarding the SAFE act or second amendment or gun rights
4. all villages which have sent a copy of a resolution or other statement regarding the SAFE act or second amendment or gun rights
5. all law enforcement groups which have sent a copy of a resolution or other statement regarding the SAFE act or second amendment or gun rights
6. all other governmental bodies which have sent a copy of a resolution or other statement regarding the SAFE act or second amendment or gun rights
7. all counties which have sent a copy of a resolution or other statement regarding use of their county seal, letterhead, or other identifying information
8. all records, correspondence, and reports in any form containing information related to actions under the Mental Hygine Law section 9.46.

In each of these lists, provide the name of the entity and whether the resolution or statement was in favor of the SAFE act, in opposition, or neutral.

Please return the results electronically and without charge per FOIL law.

Thank you
———————————————————————–

Send that email, then wait. If you do not receive a reply after 5 complete business days, send a follow up email saying that they are now not in compliance with the Freedom of Information Law.

We did this last year with great results:

I urge you to get familiar with FOIL and use it as a tool when needed to get information from government at every level in New York State.

More information on our FOIL request

A dedicated supporter crunched through the 558 pages of resolutions we got in response to our FOIL request to the governor’s office. Overall, the request produced documentation identifying 200 municipal resolutions in opposition to the SAFE Act, most of the 52 county resolutions in opposition, and a handful of resolutions in support. Of the municipal resolutions in opposition, there were 48 (spread across 28 counties) which were not already identified on the http://NYSafeResolutions.com/ webpage. At the time of receipt of the FOIL request, we were already aware of 253 resolutions in opposition to the SAFE Act, and many of those 253 were not included in the FOIL request. The combination of the 253 previously known resolutions with the 48 new resolutions in the FOIL request, now result in an overall total of 301 municipal resolutions in opposition to date. The many dozens of missing resolutions from the FOIL request could have been missing for any of several reasons, including: some municipalities that did not mail their resolutions to the Executive Chamber; mail mis-filings by Executive Chamber staff; recently passed resolutions which have not yet been mailed, or not yet processed by the Executive Chamber staff at the time the FOIL request was compiled and provided. But, regardless of these reasons, what we have on the http://NYSafeResolutions.com/ webpage is the most complete, accurate, up-to-date record of documented resolutions in opposition to the NYS SAFE Act. With the help of our many supporters, we will continue to provide these important information updates.

Please continue to visit your town and village boards, and use Privilege of the Floor to express your desire that they pass resolutions in support of Civil Rights and 2A, and also, to review the municipal list, and let us know if we are missing any!

Additionally if you are part of any civic organization, particularly one impacted by the law, please consider pursuing passage of a resolution or writing a letter of opposition. Many police, veteran, medical, and hunting organizations have already done this.

Governor Cuomo’s response to our FOIL request

On May 15, many of us sent a FOIL request to the office of Governor Cuomo to send us a list of Resolutions he has received on the SAFE act.  July 12th we got a response:

July 12, 2013

Dear Mr. Hempel:

This letter responds to your correspondence dated May 15, 2013 which, pursuant to FOIL, requested:

lists of the following categories:

1. all counties which have sent a copy of a resolution or other statement regarding the SAFE act or second amendment or gun rights
2. all cities which have sent a copy of a resolution or other statement regarding the SAFE act or second amendment or gun rights
3. all towns which have sent a copy of a resolution or other statement regarding the SAFE act or second amendment or gun rights
4. all towns which have sent a copy of a resolution or other statement regarding the SAFE act or second amendment or gun rights
5. all villages which have sent a copy of a resolution or other statement regarding the SAFE act or second amendment or gun rights
6. all law enforcement groups which have sent a copy of a resolution or other statement regarding the SAFE act or second amendment or gun rights
7. all other governmental bodies which have sent a copy of a resolution or other statement regarding the SAFE act or second amendment or gun rights

In each of these lists, provide the name of the entity and whether the resolution or statement was in favor of the SAFE act, in opposition, or neutral.

Please be advised that we performed a diligent search for the records you request. Although the Executive Chamber does not possess any list containing the information that you seek, we located five hundred fifty-eight (558) pages of resolutions and official statements from counties, towns, villages, and other governmental bodies. You may access the records here: https://www.yousendit.com/download/bWJvUGhRMm1wcFdybHNUQw

To the extent you are not satisfied with this response, pursuant to Public Officers Law § 89(4)(a), you have thirty (30) days to take a written appeal of this determination. You may make an appeal by writing: FOIL Appeals Officer, Executive Chamber, State of New York, Albany, New York, 12224.

Very truly yours,

George Stiefel III
FOIL Counsel
Records Access Officer


Index:

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FOIL SAFE act resolutions from Gov Cuomo by Evan Hempel