The city of Leander may begin using an email archive system to gather information for open records requests, an idea that has raised concerns about privacy and transparency among members of City Council. The city’s Information Technology Department began using an email archive server Sept. 1, according to city documents. The server automatically saves copies of emails to and from city email accounts. The mayor and members of City Council use city-issued email accounts. Emails are subject to open records requests, according to the Texas Public Information Act. Currently, if the city secretary receives an open records request asking for a city staffer or elected official’s emails, the secretary asks the staff member or official to compile the information, said city spokesperson Mike Neu. The secretary then reviews the information to package and submit to the requestor. Using the new archive system to compile information for open records requests would streamline the process, which is important to do since the city is growing and receiving more emails than before, said Leander IT Director Paul Preston. He said since September, the archive has taken in more than 700,000 emails. “With this system, it has one repository for the city secretary to honor the open records request,” Preston told Community Impact Newspaper. “This system protects us from ourselves because it copies everything. It journals everything. It was also designed for transparency.” City Council discussed whether to allow the city secretary to use the email archive server to access the mayor and City Council member’s city-issued email accounts when searching for information needed to fulfill an open records request during a meeting May 2. Council member Christine Sederquist said she is concerned about not knowing when her emails are being accessed. “I like having the option to know when things about me are being requested [and] what’s being requested,” Sederquist said during the meeting. “And I want to review it, so I can flag some issues.” A governmental body that wishes to withhold certain information from public disclosure must ask for permission to do so from the Texas attorney general, according to the Texas Public Information Act. The act outlines exceptions to disclosure, or instances when information can be withheld. Examples include certain personnel information or information that would give advantage to competitors or bidders. Mayor Troy Hill said if the email archive is going to be used, he would be interested in setting up a procedure that would notify the mayor and council members when their emails are requested. That way, he said, he could be part of the discussion in determining what information should be requested to be an exception. “There are exceptions given by the law,” Hill said during the meeting. “If they’re not important, then why do they give them?” Council member Andrea Navarrette said she has always operated with the understanding that emails coming in and out of her city email address are public information. “I think we could let the city secretary start using a process that the IT department suggested and put in place for ease of use,” Navarrette said during the meeting. Council Member Michelle Stephenson said she felt the discussion was veering away from what is legal. “I think maybe getting lost in all this discussion is that we’re legally obligated to produce anything,” Stephenson said during the meeting. “We can’t pick and choose what we can share.” City Council voted 4-3 to take no action on the topic after the discussion, though Mayor Troy Hill said during the meeting the council members will discuss the issue more during the next City Council retreat. Council members Navarrette, Stephenson and Shanan Shepherd voted against taking no action. Leander City Secretary Dara Crabtree told Community Impact Newspaper that cities she has worked for in the past used an email archive system. “I’ve worked in other cities where we’ve had this service, and we did not have this discussion with council,” Crabtree said. “It was a policy set. It was software to help make things easier.”