Public officials have been doing this for years.

Many of them are doing it right now, without anyone being aware of it. Most of them are getting away with it.

They’re subverting the state Freedom of Information Law and Open Meetings Law by communicating about public matters on private electronic devices. They’re sharing public documents, deleting messages that should be part of the public record, lying about the content of the communications and denying the very existence of the communications — all in the deliberate quest to keep the citizens from knowing what they’re entitled to know.

The difference today is that finally, someone got caught, someone got prosecuted and someone got convicted for doing it.

For all the citizens of New York who expect transparency from their public officials, today is a very good day.

On Friday, Saratoga Springs City Court Judge Jeffrey Wait found city Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran guilty on all three violations he faced........

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