Letter: In Response to: Dalton Finance Committee — Thank you
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To the Editor:
I debated if I should submit a response to this letter or if I should just let it go. I felt a response was needed as the author of the letter published June 30, 2025, Ms. Schmidt, is an elected official of the Dalton Finance Committee. Her comment that a Request for Information is a form of harassment is outlandish and an insult to open government.
I assume I am one of the requestors who is "harassing" the Finance Committee by using the state law of public records to receive information from a committee which is not transparent. As the public reads this letter, know that the Finance Committee members use their personal email accounts for committee and town business. According to the secretary of state, as published in a guide for members of public boards in 2022, private email use is a public record if used in the course of committee business: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/guide-for-members-of-public-boards-and-commissions-chapter-9
Examples of the requests I made include:
1. Public records request for email contacts for all Finance Committee members. Once elected, officials should be reachable to hear from residents. Chair [William] Drosehn did not want to provide the information so the request was made. In addition, the request made was not delivered timely per the state law (within 10 days).
2. Public records request made related to the police budget and related email communication from the Finance Committee chair and Vice Chairman Tom Irwin. In this case, the emails sent/received by Vice Chairman Irwin were not delivered. Since he uses a private email address, I assume he believes that he does not need to respond to the request by the Dalton Records Access Officer. Therefore, an appeal has been submitted to the state supervisor of records and this is pending a decision which will be reached within 10 days.
So if Ms. Schmidt believes that this is harassment, all I can do is disagree. I call it forcing open government which is the right of the citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and required under the General Laws of the Commonwealth.
If our elected officials believe that the public should not make these types of requests, we should be cautious as to who we elect to office.
However, I do agree with Ms. Schmidt to a point. Members of our Finance Committee do deserve a thank you but only a few. Others should be more transparent and lead in their role as chair and vice chair or the committee should relieve them of that responsibility.
Joe Diver
Dalton, Mass.
