Mayor Adrian Fenty’s proposal to delete government e-mails after just six months flies in the face of open government and will make it easier for corruption to fester, District Council Member Phil Mendelson, D-at large, told The Examiner Tuesday.
“It’s incompatible with open and honest government,” Mendelson said. “It has a very negative effect on the District’s ability to fight public corruption.”
Mendelson is chair of the Council’s Judiciary Committee and his comments represent the first challenge from an elected official to Fenty’s proposal since it was quietly offered up earlier this year. If Fenty is successful, government officials will have e-mails wiped out every six months beginning next year. Fenty said the move was necessary to save storage space on the city
servers.
But a growing number of critics say the policy is an effort to keep the public out of the public’s business.
“There’s a culture of secrecy in D.C. that doesn’t exist in most places,” said Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. “It’s not unusual for government agencies to at least clear out some old files. But six months seems ridiculously short.”
Fenty spokeswoman Carrie Brooks didn’t respond to requests to comment.
But the mayor has already been blasted repeatedly for his secrecy. Some city leaders still haven’t forgiven the mayor for springing the nomination of schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee on the Council at the 11th hour.
Fenty and his aides rely heavily on electronic communications, and can be seen using their publicly subsidized BlackBerries at all hours.
“The government handles its business by e-mail,” Dalglish said.
Mendelson hinted Tuesday that he may ask Fenty about the e-mail policy more formally, which could spell public hearings for the mayor.
Got a tip on the Fenty administration? Call Bill Myers at 202-459-4956 or send e-mail to [email protected].
