Freedom of Information Commission Executive Director and General Counsel Colleen Murphy has announced that Bruce Chudwick Esq, from the Hartford firm of Shipman and Goodwin, will be the keynote speaker at the annual FOI Conference April 3 at the Rocky Hill Marriott.

A former certified public accountant with seven years of experience at Deloitte & Touche and PricewaterhouseCoopers, Chudwick is experienced in representing municipalities as corporate counsel/town attorney and as bond counsel and underwriter's counsel on their tax-exempt financings.

Chudwick will lend significant expertise to the 2012 conference’s general theme: Economic Development and FOIA:  Can they peaceably co-exist? Sessions during the all-day affair will focus on questions about the juxtaposition between open government and economic development.  Those conference sessions will explore the fact that Connecticut’s Freedom of Information Act presumes access to the public’s business and the fact that economic development negotiations can crave secrecy.

Chudwick has had experience grappling with the balance between open government and delicate negotiations. He represented the Town of Preston in its purchase of approximately 400 acres of real estate comprising the site of the former Norwich State Hospital.  The town intends to redevelop the property for productive use.

Preston’s first selectman Bob Congdon will be on hand to discuss the Norwich Hospital transaction and the role FOI issues played in those negotiations. Congdon is in his ninth term as first selectman in Preston. He also has served as the town’s representative in the state house. Congdon will participate in a panel on the topic of economic development and FOI. He will join Andrew McDonald from the Governor’s office, journalist Keith Phaneuf and Vincent Valvo, President, Agility Resources Group LLC. FOI Attorney Lisa Siegel will moderate that panel.