Bare’s proposed ordinance that prohibits the use of private email when conducting official city business.

Here is the summary memo from Councilman Charles Bare on his proposed ordinance:

All employees and elected officials in the city are provided with government-issued email addresses. These accounts are the primary means for conducting official business through electronic messaging.

According to a recent position statement issued by the Society of American Archivists, the “practice of using unofficial, non-governmental email accounts for the conduct of public business fails to meet the level of transparency that many believe the public should enjoy regarding the activities of government officials.”

In November 2014, Congress amended the Federal Records Act and Presidential Records Act to prohibit the use of private email accounts by government officials unless they copy or forward such emails into their government account within 20 days (44 USC 2911).

The proposed ordinance would extend a similar restriction to city employees and elected officials including the council and mayor. The ordinance requires the use of public, government-issued email addresses for the conduct of official business and requires that any private messages used to conduct official business must be forwarded to the individual’s public, government-issued email address within 14 days. The ordinance also provides an enforcement clause that mirrors the one included in the code of ethics within the city code.

And here is the ordinance proposed_ordinance_email_usage