Skill building 2

2. Find an example from the popular press where email correspondence was at the center of a government or
nonprofit controversy. In a one-page memo addressed to the leadership of the affected organization, describe
what happened, the role played by email communication, and the key lessons and best practices, based in part
on the guidelines from above, that should be communicated to the organization’s employees regarding the use
of email communication.

TO: Fort Lee Major Mark Sokolich

FROM: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
DATES: 12/14/2013
SUBJECT:

Memo to Major of Fort Lee borough, New Jersey city and all our citizens residing in that area.

Dear Major Sokolich,

As Governor of New Jersey I would like to offer my sincerest apologies for misery and frustration people of Fort
Lee borough been through during George Washington Bridge closure in September. It is obvious that, this
misconduct occurred due to negligent and careless performance of several senior managers of my office.

I would like to stress that, it is not only misrule and deceitful action of my staff towards me, but also their
improper conduct and ignorance to concerns of our citizens make me angry and furious. This misdeed also
elucidates the fact of improper usage of government email accounts and utilization of personal email addresses
for correspondence, which is undesirable and against our email policy. This kind of sloppy attitude may lead to
information leakage, data and records lost and put cybersecurity at risk, which might go beyond our governance.

Other key points to note was the unformal language and irony they used (quote: “They are the children of
Buono voters,”) or ignoring of email etiquette (brief, delayed and ambiguous corresponding style) fully reflect
their unwillingness to fully comprehend the seriousness of situation and failure to timely intervention to ease
the stress and frustration of people of this highly congested area.

Our objective from now on would be to win the trust and hearts of our citizens, as well as tighten the measures
against personal email usage for public servants. We have taken all necessary measures to shed the light to this
misbehavior and will make sure that they will be held accountable for their actions. Please bring my deepest
apologies to all families that experienced the pain and agony through these weeks because of lack of
professionalism from our side.

Sincerely,

Chris Christie

New Jersey Governor

New Jersey Governor’s Office
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie became embroiled in a political scandal
because of emails sent by his top aides.

In 2013, New Jersey saw some of the worst traffic jams due to two of three access
lanes being closed on the George Washington Bridge. According to the Port
Authority, the lanes were closed for a traffic study. The traffic prevented students
from getting to school as well as emergency services from arriving at medical
emergencies. However, correspondences between Deputy Chief of Staff, Bridget
Ann Kelly, and David Wildstein, former Port Authority official, surfaced showing that
there was ill intent behind the traffic jam. In one email, Kelly writes, “Time for some
traffic problems in Fort Lee” to Wildstein, who responds “Got it.” Three weeks later,
Wildstein sends an email to Kelly that says, “I’ll call you Monday AM to let you know
how Fort Lee goes.”

In addition, Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich sends an email asking for help with the
traffic, mentioning that children can’t get to school. Wildstein replies, “They are the
children of Buono voters,” referring to Christie’s Democratic opponent for governor,
Barbara Buono.

Once the emails and text messages were revealed, Kelly was fired and went to court
to fight the subpoenas for documents on the lane closures on the bridge. Wildstein
was found guilty of contempt after refusing to answer questions during an Assembly
hearing. Ultimately, this led to a distrust of the Christie office.

References:

https://www.southcoasttoday.com/story/news/nation-world/2014/01/09/e-mail-scandal-threatens-n/
41042760007/

https://www.itbusinessedge.com/storage/nine-email-scandals-that-underscore-the-need-for-proper-archiving/

https://www.npr.org/2016/06/30/484168951/missing-from-bridgegate-investigation-chris-christies-personal-
email-account