By Kerri Pepoy,Staff Writer

OTISFIELD – Residents and selectmen received an education in Maine’s Freedom of Access law at a time when town officials are drafting new policies to ensure that government business in Otisfield complies with the state law that governs public access to government information.

Judith Meyer, a managing editor of the Sun Journal and vice president of the Maine Freedom of Information Coalition, answered questions Wednesday from residents and the selectmen about Maine’s Freedom of Access Act during a regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen.

The selectmen are currently drafting policies that govern how town business is conducted.

“Our goal is to make sure everyone is adhering to the law,” Chairman Mark Cyr said.

Maine’s freedom of information law dates back to 1959, and the state was one of the first in the country to enact such a law. The law defines what constitutes a public meeting and also defines public records and how they should be stored and destroyed, as well as how long they must be kept.

“What this really says, in layman’s terms, is that everything in government is public,” Meyer said, although there are certain statutes that protect confidential information and the right to conduct executive sessions that are closed to the public and the press.

Public records are not limited to documents in the town’s possession, Meyer said. If a board member receives an e-mail from a resident, that is a public record. Voice mail messages between board members and between board members and residents also are public record.

Meyer cautioned selectmen about e-mailing each other because they have to be especially vigilant about ensuring the public has open access to discussions about town business. “These selectmen could e-mail each other, but it’s a really bad idea,” she said. “When you step into the public realm, you have to keep that door wide open.”

There are exceptions. For example, e-mailing a meeting agenda is acceptable, but if board members then discuss via e-mail any agenda items, they are violating state law, she said.

“Using e-mail to communicate, other than distribution of agenda items and such, is the same as shutting a door and locking the public out,” Meyer said.

Meyer also said a quorum determines whether a meeting is public, and that applies to all boards and committees.

Cyr asked whether a hunting trip with another selectmen would be a public meeting. “This whole town could go along,” Meyer said, gesturing toward residents with her hand. Since there are three selectmen in Otisfield, a quorum would be established by two of them hunting together.

This topic raised some temporary confusion among residents. Callie Zilinsky, a member of the Government Study Committee, said she had volunteered to gather information for the committee.

“That’s volunteerism; that’s fine,” Meyer said. But she explained that if the Government Study Committee creates a subcommittee of two people and assigns a task, and both members of the subcommittee perform the task, a quorum is established and any work would have to be conducted as a public meeting.