Presenters: Garrett Corbin, Staff Attorney, Maine Municipal Association; Nathan Poore, Town Manager, Town of Falmouth

Who Should Attend:

This webinar is aimed at helping municipal staffs, “Public Access Officers” and elected and appointed officials understand Maine’s Freedom of Access Act and fulfill FOAA training requirements. It will provide an overview of the FOAA, including open meeting requirements, why FOAA requests are filed and how to handle them properly. (Qualifies as Maine-required FOAA Training. This session does not explore laws about criminal investigations and records.)

Course Information:

Does our board meeting need to be held in public? When can the board enter executive session? How do we respond to a record request from a citizen? Or a serial requester, or a journalist? Maine law requires that all “public proceedings” occur in public and that FOAA requests be handled properly, fairly and in a timely manner. This two hour workshop is designed to help municipal officials at all levels comply with the FOAA and make good decisions about FOAA requests, even if the requests grow in number.

Topics Include:

•    Maine’s FOA Law: An Overview

•    Open meeting requirements

•    Executive sessions

•    Receiving Requests

•    Designating a Point Person (or Two)

•    Timing and Deadlines

•    Fulfilling requests, redacting, denying

•    Tracking and Processing

•    When E-mails Are Involved

•    Repeat Requestors

•    Your Mental Health

•    Understanding the Media

Certification:

This course applies to the Maine Town, City and County Management Association Certification Program as 2 credits in the Elected Relations category.

*Registrants will receive their Zoom registration, including meeting details and the link to access the webinar, no later than 24 hours in advance.

Cancellation Policy:

Cancellation notification must be provided in writing. Cancellations received after 12/13/23 at 9am will be charged a $15 cancellation fee. Please complete this form to cancel your registration: http://www.memun.org/TrainingResources/WorkshopsTraining/Cancellations. If you have questions, please contact the Educational Services Office at (800) 452-8786 or (207) 623-8428 or training@memun.org