We don't need no stinkin' government email accounts

So here's a response given by the Port Authority spokesman when asked for email sent/received by a authority board member during a one-month period:

Mr. xxxx:

We have completed the search of our email server and found no records responsive to your request. Per normal, members of the Virginia Port Authority Board of Commissioners do not maintain an office at any of the terminals or the port’s main office. Further, the commissioners do not have email accounts attached to the port. I hope this helps. If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to contact me.

No port email accounts? That's troubling to begin with. But even if that's the case, the personal accounts/devices should be reviewed for responsive records.
In a later message to the requester the spokesman said, "we only keep six months’ worth of email on our server given the volume of correspondence we generate."

So because you generate a lot of email, you don't manage it past 6 months?

PLEASE NOTE: THESE ARE NOT THE COMMISSIONERS' PRIVATE EMAILS. THEY ARE THE RECORDS OF THE PORT AUTHORITY (AND HENCE, THE PEOPLE). THESE RECORDS ARE THE AUTHORITY'S HISTORY AND THEY ARE BEING LOST.