FOIL Request for Oath of Office and Public Surety Bond for George Latimer, Westchester County Executive

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the New York Freedom of Information Law, I hereby request the following records:

• Photocopy of Oath of Office for George Latimer, Westchester County Executive
• Photocopy of Public Official Surety Bonds for public official listed above that is required by the State of New York under Universal Citation: NY Pub Off L § 11, NYS Public Officers Law, Article 2, Sections 11-13, and NYS Public Officers Law, Article 4
• Photocopy of his Faithful Performance Bond and/or Fidelity Bond and/or Public Employee Blanket Bond and/or Statutory Bond and/or Errors & Omissions (E&O) and/or Surety Liability Insurance Policy and/or Risk Management Policy and/or the Duty of
Care Policy and/or Certificate of Liability if applicable.
• Photocopy of the following documents if applicable:
ACORD 125
ACORD 126
ACORD 127
ACORD 128
** The documents should indicate the policy number and the insured amount of the policy

• Photocopy and/or any other bond pertaining to proof of liability and policies.
**Based on any and all loses of financial responsibility due to negligence or dishonesty. Any and all based on the contract of terms and conditions.

• Photocopy of the Power of Attorney for the Surety Bond company for public official listed above, if applicable.
• Photocopy of the Blanket Bond Power of Attorney for the Surety Bond company for public official listed above, if applicable.

If you deny any or all of this request, please cite each specific exemption you feel justifies the refusal to release the information and notify me of the appeal procedures available as guaranteed under the law.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Marvin Garvey

Mr. Allen
thank you for your prompt response. You have stated that you "certify that no records responsive" to my request for Public Surety Bonds are maintained by the Office of the County Clerk.

Public Officers Law § 89 [3] commands that a government entity that does not supply any record in response to a FOIL request “shall certify that it does not have possession of such record or that such record cannot be found after diligent search” (Public Officers Law § 89 [3] [a] … ). Although “[t]he statute does not specify the manner in which an agency must certify that documents cannot be located” … , respondent failed to provide any such certification … . Accordingly, “we remit the matter to Supreme Court for a determination of whether respondent has any other documents in [his] possession which are responsive to petitioner’s FOIL request” … , or, if no responsive records can be found after a diligent search, for respondent to provide a proper certification as required"... Matter of Thomas v Kane, 2022 NY Slip Op 02164, Third Dept 3-31-22
Could you provide such certification?

Sincerely,

Marvin Garvey

Hello Mr. Allen,

Thank you for certifying, as per Public Officers Law § 89 [3] [a], that The Office of the County Clerk does not maintain Public Surety Bond for Mr. Latimer.
I really appreciate it.

Sincerely,

Marvin Garvey