A state official says the city of Schenectady is failing to comply with the Freedom of Information Law by withholding code documents related to the fatal Jay Street fire on March 6.
Robert Freeman, executive director of the state Committee on Open Government, said the city’s decision not to release Building Department documents regarding 100-102 and 104 Jay St. “makes little logical sense.”
The Daily Gazette was denied code documents for 104 Jay St. two weeks ago in response to a FOIL request. The city cited an “ongoing criminal investigation” as the reason for not releasing the information. The Gazette has appealed the denial to the city; if the appeal is denied, the newspaper could further appeal the decision in state Supreme Court.
According to Building Inspector Eric Shilling, code enforcement officials inspected all 18 units of the building the day before the fire. The inspection was performed because of a recent change in ownership.
“If there wasn’t a fire, they would have disclosed those documents,” Freeman said. “They were prepared in the ordinary course of business, not for law enforcement purposes. They were public before and they should be public now. Its contents have not changed.”
According to the law, an agency can withhold records that “are compiled for law enforcement purposes and which, if disclosed, would interfere with law enforcement investigations or judicial proceedings; deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or impartial adjudication; identify a confidential source or disclose confidential information relating to a criminal investigation; or reveal criminal investigative techniques or procedures, except routine techniques and procedures.”
Freeman argued that the code enforcement documents were compiled before the fire and were not specifically for law enforcement purposes, as the law requires in order to withhold information.
“How is it logical that the documents would have been available three weeks ago, but cannot be available now if nothing has changed?” he said. “Even if this was a criminal investigation, those documents should be released under FOIL.”
The fire was ruled accidental, according to Schenectady Fire Chief Ray Senecal. The massive blaze that gutted the two buildings across from City Hall claimed the lives of Harry Simpson, 59, Robert Thomas, 31, and Berenices Suarez, 33, all of 104 Jay St., as well as Suarez’s boyfriend, Jermaine Allen, 37.
Shilling said the building had expired certifications for the alarm system, boiler and furnace; the alarm certification expired Feb. 26. He stressed that does not mean the alarms were not working the morning of the fire, hours after the inspection.
Several tenants who were displaced by the fire said the buildings had problems such as a nonworking elevator, faulty heating, garbage on fire escapes and loose wiring.
Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney issued a grand jury subpoena for the code documents two weeks ago. The investigation is still ongoing, he said Tuesday. Freeman said even though Carney’s office subpoenaed the documents, that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be released to the public.
Meanwhile, city officials have declined to answer questions related to the two buildings, citing the ongoing investigation.
“It doesn’t seem to me that the law enforcement purposes exception would have applied,” Freeman said. “If there was no fire, they would have disclosed the information. If your apartment is inspected and there is a violation of code, you have the right to know about that.”
Categories: Uncategorized
