HomeMy WebLinkAbout20172890.tiffBruce Barker
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Mr. Barker,
Sean Conway <conway.commissioner@gmail.com>
Monday, August 21, 2017 4:04 PM
Bruce Barker
DLane@kln-law.co
Email Designation by an elected official
In your statement to me regarding my designation of where correspondence should be sent, you claim that
emails may not be forwarded by county employees to employees personal email accounts pursuant to Sec 9-
3-100 and, thus, you will not allow county employees to correspond with me except at the address you
designate.
You continue to maintain that I am a county employee which I disagree with particularly in this case. Note
in the ordinances you cite there is a specific reference to elected officials and what is applicable to elected
officials. It states as follows at Sec. 9-3-1110 "B. Elected officials ... may also request an e-mail address
that is Internet -accessible". When that provision is read in conjunction with the provision which states as
follows: Sec. 2-1-70. - E-mail messages received by Board."On April 5, 1999, the Board determined that
e-mail messages received by individual Board members will be treated as personal correspondence". I am
asserting that as an elected official I "may" request an email address or I "may" not but there is nothing that
is mandatory that I do so as an elected official or that I keep all correspondence that by ordinance is personal
correspondence on the County server. Given that, I believe that 1 have a right to receive correspondence in
any manner that I deem fit including a private email address. Sending emails directly to me is not
"forwarding" emails as prohibited by the ordinances either. The email address I provided is the one where I
wish to be corresponded with and it is not your decision to make regarding the issue.
I also note that you sent me the provision regarding the monitoring of email set out at Sec. 9-3-130. -
Monitoring e-mail. It appears that this provision of the ordinance has not been reviewed in light of the
provisions that email by a Board member is private correspondence except in a limited situation and as subject
to CORA requests. How does private correspondence become County property? When there is a designation of
private property as set out by this ordinance, a presumption of privacy arises and monitoring or otherwise
engaging in a search of such email deemed private for an elected official by anyone on behalf of Weld County
as a governmental agency is subject to all the constitutional requirements of the search and seizure laws and
should not be undertaken of a Board member without a proper warrant issued by a court. I question whether the
monitoring as described in this ordinance is even applicable to any of our employees without some safeguards
that observes the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures by a governmental entity, i.e., Weld
County.
Lastly, I am aware that continued surveillance has occurred with regard to my emails and phone records as
retaliation for my exposure of an attempt to have a private meeting by the Board with Xcel. This issue appears
a..0 ico, ons
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to be dictated by the desire to continue that surveillance rather than any other appropriate need. Thus I deem this
as part of the notice previously given regarding my intent to sue.
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Bruce Barker
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Sean:
Bruce Barker
Monday, August 21, 2017 11:05 AM
Sean Conway
Commissioners; Karla Ford; Esther Gesick; Ryan Rose
FW: BK: Out (8/21/17)
Karla forwarded to Ryan and me your email with the automatic reply that you will be reviewing emails at
conwaycommissioner@gmail.com, only. This appears to be direction by you to staff and others that they are to send
emails concerning County business to your personal email account.
Below are some relevant provisions from the Weld County Code:
Sec. 2-1-70. - E-mail messages received by Board.
On April 5, 1999, the Board determined that e-mail messages received by individual Board members will be
treated as personal correspondence and will not be listed on the Consent Agenda. e-mail messages regarding
pending quasi-judicial proceedings are not, however, considered personal and should be directed to the Clerk to
the Board to be placed in the appropriate record. Any official correspondence should be directed to the Clerk to
the Board at egesick(�r7co.weld.co.us.
Sec. 9-3-100. - Use of electronic mail.
Electronic mail (e-mail) is defined as any message that is transmitted electronically between two (2) or more
computers or terminals, whether stored digitally or converted to hard (paper) copy. Under Part 2, Article 72, Title
24, C.R.S., e-mail messages may be considered public records and may be subject to public inspection, pursuant
to Section 24-72-203, C.R.S. All computer -related information, including e-mail messages and/or digitally stored
documents, are the property of the County and are considered the County's records even if the information
resides on privately owned devices. County e-mail may not be forwarded to employees' personal e-mail accounts.
Sec. 9-3-110. - Employee access to e-mail.
A. All County employees with a need are assigned an e-mail address for County business.
B. Elected officials and department heads may also request an e-mail address that is Internet -accessible. At
the request of the department head or elected official, employees will be provided Internet -accessible e-mail
addresses for conducting County business. Employees will be provided such e-mail addresses pending County
technology capabilities and availability. Continued access to Internet -accessible e-mail will be contingent upon
the employee's conduct, as outlined previously in this Article and reviewed below. Costs associated with e-mail
access will be evaluated annually and determined through the County's budget process.
Sec. 9-3-130. - Monitoring e-mail.
Because e-mail is County property, the County has the right to inspect and review any e-mail or other data
stored on County computers and equipment or on privately owned devices if used in the course of County
business. Information Services' staff is responsible for monitoring electronic mail through regular computer
network maintenance. Additionally, County officials may inspect and copy e-mail and computer records when
there are indications of impropriety by an employee, when substantive information must be located and no other
means are readily available, or when necessary for conducting County business. Supervisors may review the
contents of an employee's electronic mail without the employee's consent.
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Section 9-3-100 says that County emails may not be forwarded to your personal email account. As a result, it is incorrect
for you to direct staff and others to send emails concerning County business to your personal email account. Therefore,
the automatic reply will be removed from your County email account. All County business will continue to go to your
County email account.
Bruce T. Barker, Esq.
Weld County Attorney
P.O. Box 758
1150 "O" Street
Greeley, CO 80632
(970) 356-4000, Ext. 4390
Fax: (970) 352-0242
Confidentiality Notice: This electronic transmission and any attached documents or other writings are intended only for
the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information that is attorney privileged and confidential, or
otherwise protected from disclosure. If you have received this communication in error, please immediately notify
sender by return e-mail and destroy the communication. Any disclosure, copying, distribution or the taking of any action
concerning the contents of this communication or any attachments by anyone other than the named recipient is strictly
prohibited.
From: Karla Ford
Sent: Monday, August 21, 2017 9:47 AM
To: Bruce Barker <bbarker@weldgov.com>; Ryan Rose <rrose@weldgov.com>
Subject: FW: BK: Out (8/21/17)
Karla Ford
Office Manager, Board of Weld County Commissioners
1150 O Street, P.O. Box 758, Greeley, Colorado 80632
:: 970.336-7204 :: kford anweldgov.com :: www.weldgov.com ::
Please Note: My working hours are Monday -Friday 7:30a.m.-4:00 p.m.
Confidentiality Notice: This electronic transmission and any attached documents or other writings are intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed
and may contain information that is privileged, confidential or otherwise protected from disclosure. If you have received this communication in error, please
immediately notify sender by return e-mail and destroy the communication. Any disclosure, copying, distribution or the taking of any action concerning the contents of
this communication or any attachments by anyone other than the named recipient is strictly prohibited.
From: Sean Conway
Sent: Monday, August 21, 2017 9:01 AM
To: Karla Ford <kfordPweldgov.com>
Subject: Automatic reply: BK: Out (8/21/17)
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Please be advised that I will be reviewing email at conwaycommissioner@gmail.com only. Please send any emails to this address. Thank you, Sean
Conway - Weld County Commissioner.
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Hello