Summaries of, and commentaries on, selected court and administrative decisions and related matters affecting public employers and employees in New York State in particular and possibly in other jurisdictions in general.
Governor Hochul deployed an additional 150 National Guard personnel to support the ongoing response to the asylum seeker and migrant crisis, bringing the total to 2,050.
Click on "press release" to access the Governor's Press Release.
Por favor haga clic en el texto a continuación en rojo para acceder al comunicado de prensa en español: La Gobernadora Hochul Despliega 150 Efectivos Adicionales de la Guardia Nacional para Apoyar la Respuesta a la Crisis de Solicitantes de Asilo
CNN reported the US government will relaunch a program to provide free Covid-19 home tests to Americans as new variants continue to alarm health officials.
Beginning Monday, September 25, 2023, US households can order four free tests from Covidtests.gov. The relaunching of the program comes as Covid-19 hospitalizations rise in the US with weekly admissions in September 2023 more than triple what they were in July 2023.
Click the text highlighted
in color below for the most recent COVID-19
data posted on the Internet by NYPPL's COVID-19 consultant, Isaac Michaels.
COVID-19 GIS epidemiology communicable diseases
COVID-19 epidemiology GIS communicable diseases
N.B.: Michaels revised this information on his Internet site routinely as the respective underlying data sources are updated. His website serves as a valuable resource for those interested in epidemiology and data science.
Click HERE to access Michaels' site on the Internet.
On September 22, 2023 New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced the following local government and school audits were issued.
Click on the text highlighted in color to access both the summary and the complete audit report
Saratoga Springs City School District – Procurement (Saratoga County)
District officials did not always procure goods and services according to policy requirements or maintain adequate supporting documentation for the purchases. Auditors reviewed 30 contracts totaling $1.2 million and determined that officials did not comply with policy requirements when procuring four purchase or public works contracts totaling $36,783. Officials also did not maintain contract pricing documentation for 13 contracts totaling $471,156 or safeguard the purchasing agent’s electronic signature.
City of Glens Falls – Sexual Harassment Prevention (SHP) Training (Warren County)
SHP training was not provided to all employees and any elected officials. Of the 30 total individuals tested (23 selected employees and all seven elected officials), two employees and all seven elected officials did not complete the annual SHP training. Additionally, the city excluded seasonal employees and new hires starting in June or after from the training.
Albany County – Sexual Harassment Prevention (SHP) Training (Albany County)
Although County officials provided employees and most elected officials annual SHP training, they did not maintain reliable records of who completed the training or ensure everyone who should have completed the training did so. Of the 315 total individuals tested, including 267 selected employees and all 48 elected officials, auditors could not reliably verify that 308 of the individuals tested completed the raining.
Town of Hyde Park – Sexual Harassment Prevention (SHP) Training (Dutchess County)
SHP training was not provided to all employees and elected officials. Of the 20 total individuals tested (10 selected employees and all 10 elected officials), one employee and six elected officials did not complete the annual SHP training. Additionally, the town excluded 47 seasonal employees from the training.
Village of Lake Placid – Sexual Harassment Prevention (SHP) Training (Essex County)
SHP training was provided to employees and elected officials. Of the 20 total individuals tested (15 selected employees and all five elected officials), one employee of the police department and two elected trustees did not complete the annual training.
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The County and its Assessment Review Commission [County] rejected a Freedom of Information Law [FOIL] request for certain records submitted by an individual [Petitioner]. County contended the records demanded were "intra-agency materials" within the meaning of FOIL and thus could be denied as "exempt" pursuant to Public Officers Law §87(2)(g).
Petitioner initiated a CPLR Article 78 proceeding to compel the production of the records Petitioner sought, contending the records were factual data and not in the nature of an opinion, advice, or recommendation. Supreme Court granted Plaintiff's petition to produce the records demanded and County appealed .
The Appellate Division affirmed the Supreme Court's ruling, with costs. In sustaining the Supreme Court's ruling the Appellate Division observed:
1. "FOIL imposes a broad duty on government agencies to make their records available to the public" citing Matter of Madeiros v New York State Educ. Dept., 30 NY3d 67, and Matter of Tuckahoe Common Sch. Dist. v Town of Southampton, 179 AD3d 929;
2. Such records court, are "presumptively open for public inspection and copying," unless they fall within an enumerated statutory exemption set out in Public Officers Law §87;
N.B. There are other statutory exemptions to disclosing government records.*
3. "FOIL does not require that the party requesting records make any showing of need, good faith or legitimate purpose" in support of a FOIL request as the underlying premise is that "the public is vested with an inherent right to know and that official secrecy is anathematic to our form of government";
4. "FOIL's statutory exemptions to disclosure "are to be narrowly interpreted so that the public is granted maximum access to the records of government"; and
5. It is the agency's burden "to demonstrate that the requested material 'falls squarely within a FOIL exemption".**
Rejecting County's reliance on exemptions authorized by FOIL with respect to the material sought in response to Plaintiff's FOIL application, the Appellate Division held that Supreme Court correctly determined that the information Plaintiff requested constituted "objective information," distinguishable from "opinions, ideas, or advice" and thus Supreme Court properly granted Plaintiff's Article 78 petition to compel County's production of the records Plaintiff requested.
* See, for example, Education Law, §1127 [Confidentiality of records] and §33.13, Mental Hygiene Law [Clinical records; confidentiality].
** See, also; Matter of Madeiros v New York State Educ.
Dept., 30 NY3d at 74; and Matter of Baez v Brown, 124 AD3d 881, at 883.
Click HERE to access the Appellate Division's decision posted on the Internet.
CNN reports the US government will relaunch a program to provide free Covid-19 home tests to Americans as new variants continue to alarm health officials. US households can order four free tests from Covidtests.gov starting Monday. The relaunch of the program comes as Covid-19 hospitalizations have been on the rise in the US since July, with weekly admissions now more than triple what they were two months ago.
Click the text highlighted in color for the most recent COVID-19 data posted on the Internet by NYPPL's COVID-19 consultant Isaac Michaels.
N.B.: Michaels updates the analyses routinely as the respective underlying data are updated. His website serves as a valuable resource for those interested in epidemiology and data science.
Click HERE to access Michaels' site on the Internet.