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TAMPA---The law works a whole lot differently in Florida than it does in New York, not only in open government laws but in improper use of municipal computers on taxpayer time by municipal employees.
A city of Tampa employee was forced to resign his $76,356 a year job instead of facing disciplinary action that could have included firing because he allegedly used his work computer to visit improper websites.
But in New York, the Town of Chester, Warren County, even it was proven beyond all reasonable doubt that Bruce Nolin, the town bookkeeper and secretary to the town supervisor was using the town computer in violation of the town's employee policy, no disciplinary action was taken against Nolin and the complainant was in essence advised to sue the town.
Tampa's chief site plan reviewer Steve Erdmann of Valrico was allegedly using the city-owned computer to visit sexually explicit websites and sites selling automobiles.
The department where Erdmann was employed reviews site plans and issues permits. According to one applicant, when he visited Erdmann's office, "his computer monitor was displaying something that was clearly not city related".
A review of the hard drive of Erdmann's computer showed that during work hours he was visiting adult sites and conducting personal business online which is in violation of the city's personnel policy which specifies that the city's computer and email system must only be used for city business.
City officials fired four parking division employees last year for using city computers to send emails which contained sexually explicit jokes and photographs in additional to messages containing discriminatory remarks about race, ethnicity and sex.
In July, charges were filed with the Town of Chester that the confidential secretary to town supervisor Frederick Monroe who also served as Essex County court attorney at the time was allegedly using a town computer during working hours to post alleged libelous and defamatory messages against The Empire Journal and its co-publisher. Monroe is also the vice chairman of the Warren County Board of Supervisors.
According to the IP numbers tracked, it also appeared that Nolin had used a town computer to post comments regarding oral sex and other topics on an Internet message board.
Monroe, who is now the executive director of the Adirondack Park Local Government Review Board, was the law clerk to Essex County Court Judge Andrew Halloran at the time the postings were made.
The supervisor's computer, along with his secretary's, the zoning secretary and town clerk all registered the same IP number through the networking system used at the town hall. There's no doubt---one of them was improperly using a town computer on taxpayer time and all fingers pointed to Nolin due to the nature and verbiage of the messages left on message boards.
At $14.87 per hour, Nolin is receiving an annual salary of $30,888 from Chester taxpayers plus benefits.
The discovery of the alleged defamatory and libelous postings targeting The Empire Journal and co-publisher June Maxam was made in late July by the newspaper. The postings were made on two separate internet forums under a screen name with the dates and times of the postings listed.
The posting regarding oral sex was made June 14 while the postings targeting the newspaper and Maxam were primarily made over a three day period between June 12 and June 14 with an earlier one on April 26.
Maxam's computer was hacked on June 15, the day the autopsy results were released concerning Terri Schindler-Schiavo, the disabled woman in Florida who had died March 31 as the result of a judicial order removing her nutrition and hydration. The Empire Journal was nationally recognized for its in-depth investigation and coverage of the Schiavo case and as Maxam was preparing to post the article after watching the press conference and reading the autopsy report, the hard drive of her computer was attacked.
After learning of the postings which contained information which led to allegations that they had had allegedly been made by Nolin in late July, Maxam filed a Freedom of Information Law request with the town asking for the time cards and payroll records of Nolin, the internet provider numbers of the computers in several town offices including Nolin's and the town's policy regarding the personal use of town computers during business hours.
It was subsequently learned that Nolin had been using the computer in the town clerk's office during office hours to visit the website of The Empire Journal with the newspaper able to track the IP number of the town computer on its daily statistics.
The FOIL request indicated that Nolin had been working for the town at the time the alleged defamatory postings were made and it was also learned that Nolin was regularly using town computers on town time to send jokes and personal email messages to other town employees. The newspaper has obtained a copy of one of the email messages sent to another town employee indicating the Nolin was the sender and identifying his IP number.
Town policy states that "use of the town's computer equipment may occur only during Town office hours" and that "the Town's computer equipment may be used for official Town business, personal use is prohibited".
A written complaint with documentation was filed with the Chester Town Board on Aug. 12 and presumably discussed in an executive session on Aug. 16.
The newspaper has now confirmed and tracked that a town computer was used to make the postings during business hours. During the newspaper's investigation of the matter, Maxam also ascertained that the clerk for the town justice, Karen Griffen, was using a town computer to send jokes and other personal messages during business hours.
Records indicate that no action was taken against her either by the town board for allegedly violating town policy.
In a letter to Maxam, town counsel Mark Schachner said that the Chester Town Board had conducted a "thorough investigation" of the matter. Maxam says that no one representing the town contacted either her or any representative of The Empire Journal to discuss the complaint.
Despite the printouts of Nolin's improper email messages and other town computers showing improper messages from Nolin that Nolin had sent on town time utilizing the town computers, Schachner said that "the town board had conducted an investigation which has failed to establish definitive proof to substantiate your allegations against a particular individual town employee".
Schachner said that additional security measures had been taken to "safeguard the integrity of our computer systems and hopefully prevent any similar occurrences from being even potentially attributable to the Town of Chester in the future".
Maxam says that Schachner's choice of words is an admission of the improper use of the town computers and says that his statement probably means that rather than fire Nolin as is warranted, the town has taken steps to block their IP number from being tracked. 12-27-05
© 2005 North
Country Gazette
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