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Thank you for your thoughtful editorial concerning the use of e-mail by elected officials that appeared in the Jan. 29 edition of The Gazette ("E-mail is the wrong venue for this debate").

In that opinion, The Gazette expressed its view that e-mail is an inappropriate medium for our elected officials to use in their public dialogue on such important public issues as the waste-to-energy facility being considered by the Board of County Commissioners.

I wholeheartedly agree.

The editorial points out how such public debate should occur in open meetings available to the public, and that it is something that our democracy demands. The concern about use of e-mail by elected officials is even more problematic for the residents than most realize. Please let me explain.

It is not uncommon for residents who appear before public bodies, whether they be municipal or county, to encounter an elected official with an open computer in front of him or her and/or a hand-held technology device, such as a Blackberry.

Putting aside the rudeness factor, persons who appear before such bodies have no idea what manner of communication that elected official may be receiving during the course of public presentations.

What is to prevent that public official from receiving e-mails or text messages from opponents designed to undermine an application?

The problem is even greater when thousands of e-mails are exchanged outside of the public eye over a lengthy period on a matter of such public interest as the waste-to-energy facility. Why?

Suppose you are an elected official or a citizens group that is against a particular proposed legislative act, and that you are in the minority. By creating enough turmoil with hundreds and hundreds of e-mails exchanged over many months (particularly where the other elected officials choose to immerse themselves without advice from county lawyers), opponents can delay the decision-making process.

Moreover, if the decision ultimately is unfavorable to the minority view, we, the taxpayers, may well have to pay to reconstruct this lengthy e-mail discussion if a legal challenge is brought. We also can expect that the challenge itself will rely upon ill-considered comments by our elected officials in hastily prepared e-mail responses.

Suffice to say that much mischief can occur through technology. As such, ground rules must be established for its use by public officials whose comments in such a medium can compromise the rights of our residents.

Our right to due process and our rule of law may hang in the balance.

Thomas E. Lynch III, Esquire

The writer is a principal with Miles and Stockbridge P.C. in Frederick.