Activist wants public records made public despite pandemic (Updated)

                                                                             

Hempstead Town Hall (from Google street view)

The coronavirus pandemic has shut down lots of public and private activities.

But public records are still supposed to be public.

Civic activist* Felix Procacci, who has been a constant thorn in the side of the Republican-controlled Hempstead Town Board, has gone to Nassau Supreme Court to force the town to respond to his Freedom of Information Law requests.

Procacci, who ran unsuccessfully on the Democratic ticket for Hempstead supervisor in 2013,  earlier this month filed a lawsuit asking that the court compel the town to comply with state law and to answer nine requests for information he filed between Sept. 9 of last year and Jan. 11 of this year.

From 2013 Democratic campaign flyer

He says the town has yet to respond either fully or at all to his requests for information on how the town spent millions of dollars in federal Cares Act money, for details on the settlement of a legal dispute with Dover Gourmet, operator of the town's Malibu beach club, and for a copy of emergency policies and procedures at the town's animal shelter.

Procacci, of Franklin Square, is representing himself in the lawsuit which has been assigned to Justice Randy Sue Marber.

He has asked for a judgment by July 19. As of this morning, however, his papers had yet to reach the judge's chambers to confirm a return date, a court spokesman said. (Later, he confirmed July 19.)

In his petition to the court, Procacci says the town has claimed that it may be slow in answering his requests because of the pandemic. (The Freedom of Information law requires a request to be acknowledged after five business days and then, generally, to be filled within 20 business days.)

Since April 2020, Procacci said the town has answered FOILs with such statements as: "Be advised that, due to the public health crisis, a determination to either grant or deny this request may not be provided to you within 20 business days of the date of this acknowledgment, however all efforts will be made to provide you with a response as soon as feasibly possible."

But Procacci includes an email from the state's Committee on Open Government office which says that Gov. Andrew Cuomo did not allow for any delays to FOIL requests in any of his numerous emergency pandemic orders.

Procacci says in his papers that the town has essentially given him the runaround by saying some information will be provided by certain dates and then ignoring their own deadlines.

He said in an email Sunday that the town on June 11th told him he should begin receiving records by July 11 on a rolling basis in response to four FOIL requests filed on Jan. 11.

"They haven't responded to the remaining 5 FOIL requests," he said.

He wrote in his lawsuit that he "respectfully requests a court order compelling Respondent TOWN OF HEMPSTEAD to provide the records requested...The irrefutable evidence presented in this legal action shows the respondent has failed to properly process petitioner's FOIL requests and appeals within the statutory time limit. Respondent even failed to process the FOIL requests within time periods set forth by the Respondent."

UPDATE: But the town shrugged off Procacci's complaint.

 "This is a baseless partisan attack by a failed political candidate," Town of Hempstead spokesman Greg Blower said in an email.

                                                                                      

From Procacci petition to the court

*Correction: Changed "Democratic activist" to "civic activist." Although Procacci ran on the Democratic slate in 2013, he said he was a registered Republican then and is still a registered Republican. 

Also, Procacci, who attends most town board meetings and videotapes them, runs the website Justthefactsmedia.com