June - July 2001 Edition

Revealing Glimpse    The discussion at a recent Council meeting between Fair Lawn Councilman Victor Amato and Borough Manager Barbara Saks, provides a revealing glimpse in how Fair Lawn is governed and how goals are balanced.    Councilman Amato has been trying to ensure that borough employees do not abuse the Internet and telephone.  The Borough Manager is concerned that excessive prying into borough employee behavior will hurt morale and invade individual privacy.    This discussion was obtained directly from the Borough Clerk's council meeting minutes. It starts with Councilman Amato's repeated attempts to get information about employee use of the Internet from CWN (the Borough's Internet Service Provider).    Underlying the discussion is Fair Lawn's form of government in which the Borough Council hires the Borough Manager, but then may not supersede her powers.  (See Related Article on Government Roles)    Dialogue From The Meeting Councilmember Amato stated that two weeks ago he reported that he had contacted CWN about monitoring e-mail and Internet access. CWN told him that the number of times the employees log on and the length of time each logs on was available. The Manager had said that information was always available as a log. In March 2000 he had asked Manager Sacks how the users were monitored. He got no response. He asked again in May and he was told that the Manager was working on the budget and could not address his questions. He asked again in November and the Manager reported that the web master contacted CWN to find out if any information was available. He read the response from the web master. He did not understand why he could not get that answer and the information over a year ago. He received a memo from Manager Sacks telling him that it was impossible for her to get the data summarized and it would take a full time person 40 hours and possibly 250 hours to summarize the raw data. He wanted the raw data directly from CWN.   Manager Sacks advised that she contacted the vendor but she does not have an answer. She reiterated that Councilmember Amato asked for it by user which is not available. It was only very recently that he asked for the log on/log off records. She was asked about the web sites visited and how she would know if employees were using the internet and e-mail for their personal use. What was requested was not available and what is available is not what was requested. What is available is not monitoring.   Mayor Ganz asked if Manager Sacks she was aware of any abuse by the employees. Manager Sacks indicated that she did not see any abuse. She has limited the number of people using it to the main department heads. When she visits the departments she sees people on line with various agencies or downloading statistics. She has no probable cause to suspect abuse. Mayor Ganz then asked Municipal Clerk Kwasniewski if she saw any abuses. Municipal Clerk Kwasniewski replied that she has not seen any.   Councilmember Amato reiterated what he asked for and stated that the Manager could have told him that raw data was available. He wanted the raw statistics. He could call CWN and get it.   Manager Sacks asked for a directive from the Council to provide any further information of this type because she is concerned about 4th amendment right to privacy. She felt because there was no probable cause, they were actually snooping. She is not comfortable with the type of information being released. If the Council feels that this is necessary information to be exchanged, she wanted them to give her a directive.   Councilmember Amato did not feel that asking to find out how long people were logged onto a server invaded anyone's privacy. He was simply trying to protect the Borough.   Attorney Lustgarten noted that the Council is discussing Borough owned and Borough paid for e-mail and internet access uses. Presumably they are only used for legitimate government purposes. The Council has oversight responsibility. He felt it was incorrect to state that an inquiry into a log on/log off data base has anything to do with an invasion of privacy, snooping or 4th amendment rights. It is inappropriate to bring the debate to this level.   Manager Sacks indicated that she was not just speaking of internet use. She was speaking of the phone logs or application forms filed with the Recreation Department for pool passes. She expressed concern that the phone logs contain confidential calls made by the Police. Also there may be information in the raw data that will allow hacking into other computers.   Councilmember Amato reiterated that all he wants is the telephone number, the time logged on and the duration. Manager Sacks felt that looking at the log on/log off records will not tell them anything. She explained that they discovered that the Legal Department was logging on in the morning and staying logged on causing an inordinate number of message units to be used. They do not do that any more, but that was not an abuse simply a practice that she does not want used in the Borough.   Attorney Lustgarten pointed out that the issue is what data is any Councilmember entitled to provided that are not in violation of the Faulkner Act or privacy and constitutional issues. Prior Councils have taken into consideration whether a request is going to unreasonably intrude on the Manager's ability to run the Borough, the cost factor and the invasion of privacy issues. The premise has been that the greater the flow of information the better.   Councilmember Amato noted that he never said he suspected anyone or anything. He is concerned with productivity. If he saw something glaring, he would ask why. If there is a reason that is fine. If the Council feels that he is going beyond his authority, then he has done as much as he can and he will not ask for them again.   Manager Sacks suggested using Attorney Lustgarten's criteria to evaluate these requests. These requests have had a horrible effect on morale. Many employees are concerned that someone is looking over their shoulder. It is demoralizing for the employees. All these requests have had an enormous cost in terms of personnel devoting inordinate amounts of time pulling information together. Employees feel that their privacy is being invaded.   Councilmember Amato did not believe that his requests have had any cost.   Mayor Ganz summarized that Councilmember Amato wants the information. Manager Sacks has taken the position that she will provide it if the Council directs it. She believes that the requests have had intangible costs of time. Councilmember Amato feels it is essential to have oversight responsibility of internet use, telephone use and gasoline use. Councilmember Amato added that he wants the information directly from the vendor. Manager Sacks pointed out that the vendor is authorized to deal with her in this form of government. He should not be dealing directly with the vendors. She has received complaints from the vendors.   The consensus was that the Manager would request the raw data be sent to Councilmember Amato directly from CWN with Deputy Mayors Adler and Etler dissenting.   What Do You Think?: Send an e- mail to editor@fairlawnnews.com or post a message on the Fair Lawn News Discussion Forum.