Roger O’Dwyer initiated an open records request to CCISD on April 22 asking for e-mail messages from council member Charlotte Heinze’s e-mail account for messages dated from Jan. 1, 2007, to April 30, 2008.
Heinze, a teacher at Copperas Cove High School, solicited the advice of three other council members and City Attorney James Thompson in a Sept. 11, 2007, e-mail about how to remove O’Dwyer and Councilman Larry Sheppard from office.
The Temple Daily Telegram earlier submitted a public information request to the City of Copperas Cove for any and all documents related to Heinze’s e-mail, as well as a copy of the city’s investigation.
The Telegram received the investigation paperwork, but was advised by Thompson in a letter that the city could not honor the request for the e-mails.
“The city e-mail server is not equipped to archive all e-mails,” Thompson said.
He added that he polled the council members, including Heinze, about their e-mail accounts and was told they had no copies of any subsequent e-mail messages in relation to Heinze or O’Dwyer.
The Telegram published an article about the request for records and Thompson’s reply last month, which spurred O’Dwyer to submit a request of his own.
“I read the article and I figured I would ask them,” O’Dwyer said.
CCISD spokesman Tracy Barnes replied to O’Dwyer and informed him that the district was reviewing those messages.
In light of O’Dwyer’s request, Barnes said the district is reviewing its policy of using district property for political purposes.
“We are doing research on that now,” Barnes said.
The district declined to comment on whether or not they are investigating Heinze or reviewing her e-mail files for disciplinary action.
Meanwhile, a local businessman has apparently taken the city to task and claims to have filed a complaint with the Texas Attorney General’s Office.
“The complaint is somewhere between me and the attorney general’s office,” said Frank DiMuccio, who filed the complaint. “I’m not exactly sure where it is.”
Neither is the AG, who was unable to confirm that a complaint had been received.
“Nothing is coming up yet, but that may be premature,” said Tom Kelley, spokesman for Attorney General Greg Abbott.
DiMuccio said he has also filed a complaint with the police department in Copperas Cove. He said the complaint was sent to Coryell County District Attorney David Castillo.
Castillo was out of the office and did not return numerous phone calls.
Regardless, DiMuccio said he is concerned.
“I feel that if we have a law that has been violated some way and nobody contests it, then the violation becomes the law,” he said. “If that is the case, then we all have a problem.”
