Groups Applaud End of Automatic Deletion of Emails

May 22, 2015

Groups Call On Cuomo to Lead By Example on Transparency, Issue Executive Order Saving Emails 7 Years

We welcome the announcement from the Governor’s Office that the Governor is ending the automatic deletion of emails after 90 days. Ending the policy is good, and it shows the power the governor has to lead by example to increase transparency. Unfortunately, ending the bad email deletion policy does not restore the years of records that were lost when the governor put the policy in place.

Going forward, our groups call on Governor Cuomo to lead by example on transparency by issuing an Executive Order that requires agencies to save emails for seven years – consistent with the federal “Capstone” policy. The Governor can make New York the leading state on email transparency without legislation. The White House, via the National Archives, will soon begin requiring all federal agencies to save emails for a minimum of seven years – which was done through executive action without Congress.

John Kaehny
Executive Director
Reinvent Albany

Noel Hidalgo
Organizer
BetaNYC

Blair Horner
Legislative Director
NY Public Interest Research Group

David Moore
Executive Director
Participatory Politics Foundation

Dick Dadey
Executive Director
Citizens Union

Susan Lerner
Executive Director
Common Cause NY

Peter Iwanowicz
Executive Director
Environmental Advocates of New York

Dan Estrin
Supervising Attorney
Pace Environmental Law Clinic

Elizabeth Bird
Project Coordinator
Good Jobs NY

Barbara Petersen
President
National FOI Coalition

Paul Gallay
President
Riverkeeper

Veronica Vanterpool
Executive Director
Tri-State Transportation Campaign