A handle on e-mail

In keeping with the topic, he could have sent us all a message. So let's imagine.

From: Governor Easley

Subject: E-mail policy review

Date: March 19, 2008

To: North Carolinians

"Dear Fellow Citizens,

"It has come to my attention that the way e-mail is being handled in the part of state government that reports to me leaves a lot to be desired in terms of complying with the law on public records. Therefore, I am initiating a review of our relevant policies.

"I hope that this review results in procedures that meet not only the letter but the spirit of the law, whose abiding principle is that documents generated by or received by government officials should be accessible to the public. Such openness is a critically important tool in allowing the public to oversee the actions of officials who are supposed to be serving in the public interest.

"Of course, records not retained cannot be inspected. My administration has been following a policy that allows for the too-casual deletion of e-mails at the discretion of the recipient. I have asked former Supreme Court Justice Franklin Freeman, one of my top assistants, to head a re-examination of that policy. This process will include open hearings.

"As I stated Tuesday in announcing the review, modes of communication have evolved. E-mail is now widely used in state government, and our records-handling procedures must be kept up to date so that the guarantees of the public records law can be fully honored.

"Requiring e-mail to be retained for public inspection does not mean that all e-mail deals with matters of pressing significance to the public. But it's a problem when the person who receives the e-mail is left to be the sole judge of its significance, with the leeway to 'chunk' it if he or she wishes. There are some issues to be resolved, but as your governor I will insist that this administration's e-mail policy must carefully protect the public's right to know."

Good show, Governor. We'll be waiting.