A judge recently sided with Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner by dismissing a lawsuit brought by the Syracuse Common Council against her administration over a computer policy.

The council sued the Miner administration for a violation of separation of powers, according to the lawsuit. But Supreme Court Justice Hugh Gilbert dismissed the case because separation of powers does not exist in municipal government, according to Syracuse.com.

Miner had shut off access to the council and city clerks’ computers because they did not sign a computer use policy, according to the lawsuit. The policy, the councilors argued, would have allowed the mayor to monitor the computer activity of the common councilors, according to the lawsuit.

“The initial policy that was proposed by the administration was rejected by the majority of the councilors, and (they) indicated they would not sign because it was a line that they felt would be detrimental for the (mayor to cross),” said Common Council President Van Robinson.

Daniel Rice, a professor of law and public policy practice at Syracuse University, said in an email that he agreed with the judge’s ruling.

“The judge may have relied upon an old 1942 NY case Laguardia v. Smith where the court found that the separation of powers did not apply to municipal government,” Rice said.

“This decision allows the administration to continue to strengthen our cyber security initiatives to ensure our network is appropriately secured, as we were asked to do in an audit from the New York State Comptroller,” Miner said in a press release.

Miner’s press secretary, Alexander Marion, said Miner was not available for comment.

The computer policy was first proposed in April 2015, according to the lawsuit. The council then proposed a modified version, but it was not accepted by the Miner administration, and the computers were shut off in July 2015, according to the lawsuit.

The first lawsuit was filed shortly after, according to a September Syracuse.com article.

Rice said the reason the case was brought up was because the councilors were concerned that Miner would have access to emails and confidential information.

“Many employers routinely require employees to sign an agreement similar to the one that the Mayor asked the Common Council to sign,” Rice said. “The difference in this case is that the common councilors are not employees of the City but are elected officials.”

The city of Syracuse Department of Law prepared another modified computer policy agreement in August 2015, which the Council approved, according to the lawsuit. But in September 2015, an additional provision was added by Miner’s administration that allowed the mayor to fire the Common Council, city clerks and their staffs for violations of the policy, according to the lawsuit.

Robinson said a few councilors elected last November signed the modified agreement. He added that the council and Miner tried to work out an arrangement outside of court, but a full agreement between Miner and the entire council was never reached.

In September 2015, the council voted 5-4 to bring the issue to court again because of the new provision. The second lawsuit, which was filed in December, asked for an injunction for the mayor to turn the computers back on, according to a December Syracuse.com article. The judge’s dismissal was a response to this lawsuit.

Robinson said the policy has impeded the council’s work.

“It has slowed us down and impacted our communications,” Robinson said. “Resolving some constituent issues … their complaints (that) could have been answered almost immediately would take a day or two days.”

Robinson said this lawsuit has had some effect on the relationship between the council and mayor, but it’s not something new.

“There are obviously differences between the entities, the administration and legislative that happens daily, (on) all levels of government,” Robinson said. “It has strained the relations to a degree, but there are still open lines of communication.”

Robinson said the council and its attorney are evaluating the judge’s response to make sure nothing was misinterpreted.

 

Published on March 8, 2016 at 10:52 pm

Contact Haley: hykim100@syr.edu