3/26/12  EMAIL   TO  MAYOR/COUNCIL

CORRESPONDENCE WITH CITY COUNCIL (City Web site)

  WRITTEN AND EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS TO THE CITY ARE GENERALLY PUBLIC RECORD   

Written communications to the City and Council Members concerning City business are generally not confidential and may be disclosed to the public. If you desire to make a confidential communication to a Council Member, you should seek a personal interview, call the Council Member, or send your communication to the Council Member's home or business (please see contact information below). 

If you wish to send mail to a Council Member at City Hall, that mailing address is: Carlisle City Hall, P.O. Box 430, Carlisle, IA 50047. Any letter marked "personal" or "confidential" or both, will be forwarded to the council member to whom it is addressed without being opened by City staff. 

All other correspondence received by the City, including those which are addressed to the City Council or an individual Council Member, will be opened and read by the City Manager.
All City Council emails received at City Hall will be opened by designated City staff. Please be aware that any such correspondence, per state law, is a public record, and therefore, is not confidential. 

REF:

1.       My email 3/4/12, asking questions concerning the above.

2.       City attorney 3/13/12 “Iowa Code Section 22 inquiry

                I did not inquire about that section because I didn’t know.

I was ask to review Section 22.7(18), which I did. From what I read this applies to “public records”.

(a)    the communication is a public record to the extent that the person outside of government making that communication consents to its treatment as a public record.

COMMENT: I have never given my consent. As a general rule I have no problem with it being public.

(b)   information contained in the communication is a public record to the extent that it can be disclosed without directly or indirectly indicating the identity of the person outside of government making it or enabling others to ascertain identity of that person.

COMMENT: Of course the email address and signature would have to be deleted.

3.       My reply, I forgot to address myself so I have no copy.

My main concern/ problem is privacy.

1.       Where in the law does it state that the City have the right to read any mail that is not addressed to them?

2.       The notice above leads me to believe that if I drop off sealed letter at City Hall they can open it even though it was not addressed to them, unless marked “private/ confidential”.