RAYMOND – Raymond Selectman Dana Desjardins this week failed to produce documents as requested by a Raymond resident under Maine’s Freedom of Access law.

Laurie Forbes, chairwoman of the town’s technology committee and overseer of computer usage by town officials, made an official written request of Desjardins in August. She is seeking the back-up copies of e-mails that were previously deleted from Desjardins’ town-issued laptop computer. Acting as a conduit between Forbes and Desjardins, Chairman Joe Bruno had requested Desjardins bring the information to Raymond’s monthly meeting on Tuesday.

After growing tired of communicating via e-mail, Desjardins turned his laptop in to the town in early January. However, the laptop was returned wiped clean of all e-mail correspondence and reinstalled with a different operating system. Maine law prevents town officials from deleting official e-mails for two years.

Desjardins said later in January that he didn’t have copies of e-mails he had written prior to turning over his laptop. But at a May meeting, he waved several disks over his head at a selectmen’s meeting while saying he did have copies.

Forbes said she doesn’t have to provide a reason why she wants Desjardins’ back-up disks, saying the Freedom of Access law protects seekers of information. But Forbes told the Lakes Region Weekly that she became concerned after reading a local newspaper article that quoted Desjardins claiming that a virus had infected his town-issued laptop in the fall of 2009.

As overseer of the town’s computers, Forbes said, she was alarmed that Desjardins never told her about the virus and that she wants to inspect the back-up disks to identify the virus, which she said could have spread to other computers in the town’s network.

Desjardins, however, feels he is being unfairly targeted and said he is “ready to face the consequences” of not producing the back-up disks.

“Laurie’s Laurie. She requested the disks but I’ve denied them and why shouldn’t I? Those are mine. I paid for them; they’re mine. I don’t know what they’re looking for,” Desjardins said earlier this week.

At Tuesday night’s selectmen meeting, Desjardins was again defiant of Bruno’s conveyance of Forbes’ request through Maine’s Freedom of Access law.

“I just want it to be known that I, as chair of the selectmen, don’t condone this in any fashion. I think it is breaking the law,” Bruno said. “I think it’s unfortunate that there’s a refusal to do this, to hand over the items … I just want the people of Raymond to know that when someone requests something from us, I think it’s our duty and our responsibility to hand it over.”

Desjardins then responded by saying people in town are unfairly targeting him, including Bruno himself, because he fights against the status quo.

“The same people that started this smear campaign against me after I turned the laptop in, rather than calling me, they called the press, and for me to turn over the information, I made it clear at the May 11 meeting, I held the disks up and no effort was made to call the press after I claimed to have the back-ups,” Desjardins said at the meeting. “But I do have the back-ups, and considering the ramifications not to abide this, I would probably entertain somebody else, a third party, to look at these. But to give the people who accused me of a crime without calling me first would be like letting a fox in a hen house, and I’m not going to do it,” he said.

When asked why he told the Lakes Region Weekly in January that he didn’t keep a back-up copy after reinstalling a new system, Desjardins said prior to the meeting, “I probably wasn’t as forthcoming as I probably should have been, because I felt like I was being set up.”

Bruno said that Desjardins has five days to explain to the board in writing why he is refusing to supply the requested information. If Desjardins fails to cite a reason that the board deems satisfactory, Bruno said he would consider disciplinary action against Desjardins, an item that would be put on the agenda for the Oct. 12 meeting.

Now that Desjardins has refused to hand over the requested information, Forbes, as the one whose Freedom of Access request was denied, can now seek legal recourse against Desjardins, something Forbes confirmed Wednesday she will pursue.

“I’ll go ahead with whatever the next step is,” Forbes said.

She is working without a lawyer at the current time, but if successful in a lawsuit against Desjardins, Desjardins would be responsible for penalties and fines for violating the law as well as Forbes’ legal costs, Bruno said.