Gray may have to go to court to get private emails, texts

Selecmen Chair Tom Gray with Mike Beaulieu at the Fire Station ribbon cutting during the recent Winter Carnival. (Lebanon Voice file photo)

MILTON - A letter from the Town of Milton to Selectmen Chair Tom Gray regarding his five Right to Know requests targeting fellow selectmen indicates he may have to petition Strafford County Superior Court, or his colleagues, themselves, if he wants to pursue reviewing private emails and phone calls they may or may not have had with each other.

The letter sent by Town Administrator Heather Thibodeau after a review by Town Counsel details Gray's five RTK requests and the possible remedies he may pursue given the town's lack of documentation regarding the requested material.

Since two selectmen constitute a quorum and official meeting, generally any time they communicate is subject to the generation of minutes and open to public scrutiny.

Much of Gray's requests center around the capturing of emails, text messages and phone calls between Selectmen Mike Beaulieu and Andrew Rawson, but since selectmen don't use town phones, the town is powerless to order a review of their contents.

Gray's two other requests concerned a closed-door meeting between Beaulieu and office staff for which no minutes were kept and a meeting alleged by Gray where Rawson and Beaulieu decided to put on hold the hiring of a bookkeeper till after Gray leaves office later this month.

Gray chided Beaulieu at Monday's meeting for telling town employees he would be the new boss when Gray leaves office, a charge Beaulieu did not refute.

While selectmen's emails made on personal computers and cellphones are not public domain, any sent on computers at Town Hall are, so a private firm has been hired to scour those computers for any pertinent email strings, the letter states. That forensic computer is expected to take about 15 days.

Gray's request and the town's official response on each item are as follows:

1. Your request for all emails between Selectman Rawson and Beulieau since December 1, 2016. "The town does not keep records of its employees or elected officials private emails. To the extent your request is asking for this information you will have to make the request of the individuals involved or seek and appropriate court order. To the extent your request seeks town emails where the two individuals were involved we have asked the town's IT consultant to search the Town computers for emails within that parameter. We are advised that the search will take approximately 15 business days. We will advise you when we have the results and allow you to review the emails that are found."
2. Your request for a copy of all phone records between Mike Beaulieu and Andrew Rawson from December 1 to present. The town does not maintain such records. To the extent you are looking for private phone calls you must direct your request to the individuals involved.
3. Your request for copies of the minutes of a closed door meeting that Mike held with office employees; I have been advised that minutes were not kept.
4. Your request for copies of minutes of a meeting between Mike Beaulieu and Andrew Rawson that put on hold a previous BOS decision. There is no record of such a meeting taking place. To the extent there was a meeting of the Board the minutes would be filed and kept in the Town Clerks office and they can be review there.
5. Your request for copies of text messages between Mike Beaulieau and Andrew Rawson from December 1, 2016 to present. Copies of text messages from December 1^st to the present; the town does not maintain records of private correspondence between employees and officials. You must direct your request to the individuals.

Rawson and Beaulieu had not responded to Gray's RTK requests as of Thursday, Thibodeau said.