Christina Jedra

The News Journal

The public can get a glimpse into an elected official's daily duties, challenges and triumphs by examining his or her emails.

But not in the case of former Wilmington Mayor Dennis P. Williams – because there are none.

Williams did not write a single email from his city account during his four years in office, according to records provided to The News Journal. A Freedom of Information Act request for four years of sent emails yielded 11 messages sent from Williams' official email address: nine were sent automatically from Microsoft Outlook, one was a link related to the city code from Williams to a city assistant and one was a city message about pay stubs forwarded from Williams' city account to his personal one.

POLL: What do you think of former Mayor Dennis Williams not sending any work emails during his tenure?

"It seems very odd," said Claire Snyder-Hall, the program director for the open government organization Common Cause Delaware. "It's hard to imagine that’s an efficient way to operate an office."

Williams did not respond to an interview request. His former chief of staff, Gary Fullman, said he never received an email from Williams because the mayor likely delegated email responsibilities to his administrative aide, who could not be reached for comment.

Fullman said he didn't know if Williams used a personal account for city business.

"I’ve never received an email directly from him, but there wasn’t a need," Fullman said. "I’m not a big fan of email myself. I would rather pick up the phone and have a conversation."

Fullman said Williams' lack of email use is "not unusual."

Former Mayor Jim Baker agrees. Baker, who served from 2001 to 2012, said he preferred to do business face to face.

"I never sent anything," said Baker, who is in his 70s. "I am not up to date with today's technology."

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As for 64-year-old Williams, Snyder-Hall said she would expect the mayor of a major city to be technologically savvy enough to use Microsoft Outlook.

"It's not like he doesn't know how to use email," she said. "People’s grandmothers are using email."

If Williams used his personal email for city business, Snyder-Hall said it's cause for concern.

"A healthy democracy requires an engaged public and in order to be engaged, people need to know what their representatives are doing. That's why we have FOIA laws," she said. "If the mayor used an alternate email to a avoid FOIA, that's a problem."

If Williams used an email address other than the standard one, he wouldn't be the first Delaware official to do so.

Gov. Jack Markell got heat in 2015 for using the alternate email address Alan.Jackson@state.de.us. State Rep. John Kowalko and John Flaherty, president of the Delaware Coalition for Open Government, said the use of the account raised transparency issues, creating a roadblock for the public to track government communications.

On Wednesday, Flaherty was baffled by Williams' nearly empty outbox. He called Williams "our own Rosemary Woods here in Wilmington," referring to the secretary of President Richard Nixon who was believed to have been involved in the erasure of 18 minutes of subpoenaed audio tapes.

"It's just not believable that the mayor of a major city had no emails," he said. "It's not a believable thing in today's environment."

Markell was asked Wednesday if he ever received an email from Williams. His reply was curt: “No.”

Mayor Mike Purzycki, who has been in office for about a week, wouldn't comment about Williams' emails but said he uses his city account and will continue to do so.

"We have a responsibility to be transparent. It will not be a problem with me at all," he said. "You're welcome to my email anytime."

Purzycki said he operates under the assumption the public is watching.

"If you don't want to see it on the front page of The News Journal, don't press send."

Contact Christina Jedra at (302) 324-2837 or cjedra@delawareonline.com. Reporter Matthew Albright contributed to this story.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story misstated Jack Markell's position.]