JUNE 14, 2024
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Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo announced in his weekly Community Connections Newsletter his intentions to publicly reveal the names of people who file Freedom of Information ("FOI") Requests in Greenwich, a longstanding right of the people to obtain copies of documents which are, after all, owned by the People.
Camillo, a Republican, started off his announcement by assuring residents that FOI requests "are a tool to ensure there is transparency in government."
He even said, "I am supportive of this tool and believe it to be important to living in a free society where citizen oversight is both welcome and crucial."
Then he quickly pivoted.
"However, we have seen this mechanism for discovery be weaponized for political purposes as well as to harass government officials. Moreover, the costs to the Town, and therefore to the taxpayers, in time and labor are staggering and this is disruptive to Town employees as well because they need to put aside whatever they are working on to comply with these requests."
That's an especially interesting quote coming from a man who personally cost Greenwich $650,000 to settle the "Signgate" lawsuit filed by former Greenwich Police Officer Mark Kordick.
But here's where it gets interesting.
Camillo goes onto to announce, "I will soon start publishing the names and the requests as they come into our office" so that the community can "better understand" how tax dollars are spent.
So there you have it.
If you make FOI requests in Greenwich, you should expect that the First Selectman will dox you and expose your request. Especially the "repeat offenders" who seem to especially irk Camillo.
A number of citizens reached out to the Centinal to express concern over what they described as a "bully tactic" used by Camillo to stop people from looking for potential corruption, from uncovering preferential treatment, and from further exposing how the "swamp" is expanding in Town Hall under his leadership.
"We thought it was a bad sign for Free Speech in Greenwich when Fred started a Thought Police committee to go after "wrongthink" in town," said Greenwich Patriots. "But doxxing people who make FOI requests? It sure seems like he's trying to scare people from looking more closely at what he's doing. Especially us!"
“This could have a chilling effect on free speech and residents may start fearing a heavy-handed local government. Instead of threatening people, why not just make everything public, like Florida’s Sunshine Law?” wondered another Greenwich resident.
Camillo promises to start doxxing people "soon" by exposing the most recent FOI requests he has received.
At this point it's unclear if Camillo will be doxxing those who make requests just of his office, or if he plans on doxxing people who make requests of any town department, including Police and Greenwich Public Schools.
Greenwich is not the only town trying to weaponize PIA requests. Oxford, Maryland does also with a different approach:
Town Of Oxford Weaponizes PIA Request Fees - Easton Gazette
