On Monday, June 24, a giant in our state government, Robert J. Freeman, who served all of the people of New York for more than 40 years, was taken down from his post as executive director of the Committee on Open Government, and he was gone, forever. I believe that he was not just a giant in our state government, but that he was the only giant in our state government.
As such, he constantly served all of the people of our state, not just the rich, or the powerful, or the connected. I can think of no one else in our state government who has ever done more to promote and to protect the Open Government rights of all of the people of this state, than Robert J. Freeman.
What brought down Executive Director Freeman? He was brought down by a lust for women, the same failing that brought down, or tainted, some other high-level Democrats in government, like Gary Hart, Elliot Spitzer, Anthony Weiner, Harvey Weinstein (a major financial contributor), John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton.
As reported on Page 2 of the June 26th issue of Newsday, “Robert Freeman was booted for behaving in a sexually inappropriate manner toward a female reporter, whom he kissed and fondled during his official duties, according to an investigation.
The reporter alleged that Freeman, age 72, sexually assaulted her while meeting with her in his official capacity. A review of Freeman’s work e-mails revealed that he also exchanged sexually suggestive e-mails and photographic images with another woman whom he seemingly met as part of his official duties.
Freeman admitted to many of the allegations, including kissing the reporter and exchanging sexual images with the other woman, on his work e-mail”.
Mr. Freeman had been sexually harassing women, some of them co-workers, some of them reporters, for years.
In 2013, he was investigated for “inappropriate workplace behavior” with several female co-workers, according to the inspector general’s office. He had to take sexual harassment training that year, after an internal investigation by the Department of State. The New York Department of State, which oversees the Committee on Open Government, confirmed on the 26th that Mr. Freeman was no longer employed by the state, but the Department had no further comment on the matter.
The Department said that the committee’s assistant director, Kristin O’Neil, had taken over the committee on an interim basis.
The Committee on Open Government was created in 1974. It is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the state’s Freedom of Information Law and the state’s Open Meetings Law.
The Freedom of Information Law governs your rights of access to government records, while the Open Meetings Law concerns the conduct of meetings of public bodies and your rights to attend those meetings. The committee also administers the state’s Personal Privacy Protection Law.
Mr. Freeman was a member of the committee from its very inception, although I can’t tell you if he was appointed its executive director, from its inception.
However, I can tell you that he served as its executive director for very many years. A public body is a county, a city, a town, a village and all special districts in the state, including schools, police, parking and water. A public body is also “any other governmental entity performing a governmental function for the state, or for one or more units of local government in the state” (like, for example, a Transportation Authority).
Over the years, Mr. Freeman publically stated, a number of times, that the worst offenders of the laws just mentioned are the school districts.
Our own Port Washington School District is a constant offender of the Open Meetings Law, as I will have to explain to you in a separate message (Part 2). However, before doing that, I hasten to tell you that the Committee on Open Government has prepared a 16-page booklet, explaining in very understandable language, the state laws just mentioned and your rights under those laws.
Every resident of Port Washington should have that booklet and be familiar with his or her rights under the laws described in the booklet. I am truly tired of hearing from frustrated residents that you can’t fight City Hall, when a resident believes that he or she has been unfairly dealt with by our town, or by their village, or by our school district.
You can fight City Hall if you know what your rights are. The booklet will be sent to you, at no charge, by the Committee on Open Government. The booklet is titled, “Your Right to Know”. The address to obtain the booklet is:
Committee on Open Government, NYS Department of State, One Commerce Plaza, 99 Washington Ave., Suite 650, Albany, NY 12231. You can also telephone for booklets by calling 518-474-2518.
I urge you to become an informed citizen.
Joel Katz
Port Washington
