Councilwoman sues Newburgh city manager and city over deleted iPad info

NEWBURGH – City Councilwoman
Cindy Holmes is not letting go of the issue of personal notes and photographs
she placed on her city-issued iPad being removed. She has filed a federal
lawsuit against Newburgh City Manager Michael Ciaravino and the city.
Believing all city administration iPads had been breached, Ciaravino ordered that all information, including emails, be deleted on all city officials’ iPads. He said he had access to all council members’ and department heads’ information and he believed his iPad data was visible to them.
He thought the material had been backed up on the Cloud, but Notepad and pictures are not included in the Microsoft Suite program and therefore, were lost forever.
Ciaravino had also maintained that all city iPad users had gained access to iTunes, which would have permitted them to make purchases on the city account.
In the end, the emails were restored to everyone’s device, but not the personal data, and that is what Holmes is concerned about. She had repeated demanded at city council meetings that she wanted that data retrieved.
Holmes maintains in her suit that the manger’s actions “did
not further any legitimate governmental purpose or interest”…
are a “breach of public trust, an unlawful interference with each
city council member’s ability to perform his and her governmental
functions on behalf of the City of Newburgh and an unlawful and tortuous
conversion of plaintiff’s data/information.”
Holmes said it is not about her, but rather about good governmental practices
being enforced in the future to prevent this from happening in the future.
The lawsuit asks the court to declare Ciaravino’s actions violated the Fourteen Amendment of the US Constitution; issue an order permanently enjoining the manager and city from engaging in such conduct in the future; award Holmes compensatory damages in amounts determined by the court; and award punitive damages against the manager in an amount determined by the court.