CORTLAND — City council on Monday gave initial reading on a new policy on the procedure to follow for public record requests for emails of council members and other city officials.

The ordinance, if passed, will prohibit the review or access of city email accounts of elected officials or city employees without consent or lawful approval through Ohio public records law.

Councilman John Picuri said he requested the ordinance to be placed on the agenda so there is a formal process in place for specific record requests regarding emails.

“I feel there needs to be a process in place when requesting this information. No one should be snooping around in our emails without asking us or going through a process. That to me has been the bottom line,” Picuri said.

He said there have been record requests regarding the former interim service director Sean Ratican’s resume and changes in his job titles by the city.

Councilwoman Kathy Fleischer said there have been record requests for the applications and resumes for the service director position and changes to the job title.

Mayor Deidre Petrosky said the city receives many records requests from the public, but email requests have come up more recently.

“We want to make sure everyone is protected and knows if their emails are being searched. Some public record requests include emails,” Council President Kevin Piros said.

The city maintains official email accounts for employees and elected officials to conduct the business of the city and establishes the right of the public to access public records, subject to certain legal exceptions and redactions.

Officials said they recognize the need to protect its employees and elected officials from unauthorized access to their city email accounts while ensuring that the city complies with Ohio’s public records law.

The ordinance states no city employee, elected official, department head, IT staff member, or other individual shall review, access, or inspect the contents of a city email account assigned to another employee or elected official except under one of the following conditions:

• Written consent is provided by the account holder or a public records request is first submitted and reviewed by the law director or designee.

• Approved by the law director or designee to ensure compliance with applicable exemptions, redactions and statutory requirements.

• A city department head may access or review city email accounts of their subordinates as part of an official administrative investigation.

• Access to city email accounts for purposes of routine system maintenance, IT support, or cybersecurity is not prohibited by this ordinance as long as message content is not examined.

DON’T FEED WILDLIFE

In other business, Piros said residents are being asked to not feed wildlife, which attracts skunks, raccoons and other animals. Piros said bird feeders are permitted for birds and squirrels.

He recommended letting skunks, rodents and other mammals find a sustainable food source elsewhere and not rely on table scraps and watermelon rinds from residents.

“The problem has been people leaving scraps of food outside for wildlife,” Piros said.

Resident Rita Dodd has said there has been problems with a large number of skunks in neighborhoods because residents are feeding them.

“This has been going on for many years. We need to eliminate the constant food source and let them go back to their natural habitat, and then it won’t be an issue. It will get worse when spring comes and the skunks will be out in full force again,” Dodd said.

Piros said some mammals will be hibernating during the winter months.

Dodd said she has seen residents open their garage doors and put food out for animals.

“They treat skunks like household pets. I have seen some buckets with food scraps,” she said.