A look at the Blade’s attempts to get public records from the city, what happened to them, and how long they took
Above: City Hall by moonlight, photo by Max Cooper
As part of a recent Sunshine Week collaboration with the Asheville Citizen-Times, the Blade looked into the number of open records requests the city receives, how it handles them and some of the praise, criticism and efforts for reform on that important issue.
Now that Sunshine Week’s wrapped, it’s a good idea to keep up the focus on this vital part of how city government operates. As part of the collaboration, we published records from the city showing how many requests it received in a quarter.
That’s important information and by the same token, we figured it would be good to reveal to the public more about our own experiences requesting, and getting, public records from the city of Asheville. So we’ve assembled a list, going back to the Blade‘s very first records request from the city, back in June of last year. The list includes details about the request, when it was made, how the responses went, when we got it and if we had to make follow-up requests to obtain the original documents. We’ll update this every few months so the public can get a better idea of how our particular slice of open records hounding works.
In a few cases, records we received from the city are still part of ongoing investigative pieces that we’re still in the process of researching, and we didn’t list those. We’ll add them to this list when those stories are completed and published.
June 18 — Request of emails of city staff discussion about issues of park benches in Pack Square. Emails received June 19.
Time to receive record: 1 day
July 6 — Request for alternatives to gentrification study. City staff reply on July 11 that the study will only be available after it’s presented to Asheville City Council on July 22. City staff send report over July 17 after it’s presented to Council’s Housing and Community Development Committee.
Time to receive record: 11 days.
July 16 — Request for addresses of graffiti removal. City staff reply that they’re concerned such addresses becoming public could result in the property owners facing further graffiti, but later clarify they did not mean to imply that the addresses are not public record. Information received July 29, and city later makes a map of sites it’s cleaned up public.
Time to receive record: 13 days
August 12 — Request to talk to city staff and obtain basic details about Asheville Police Department’s downtown unit, reply received same day. After no further reply received, request repeated Aug. 19. APD staff respond same day. After no further reply, check in on request Aug. 25. City staff reply same day, saying they’re working on request and setting up an interview. Again, no further reply is received and another follow-up is made Aug. 28. City staff answer questions Aug. 29.
Time to receive record: 17 days, with three follow-ups necessary.
August 14 — Request for all equipment and weaponry the Asheville Police Department received under the federal 1033 military surplus program since 2004. City responds to request Aug. 15.
Time to receive record: 1 day
August 16 — Request for all equipment and weaponry the APD received under the 1033 program from 1996-2003. Records released Aug. 19.
Time to receive record: 3 days
September 4 — Request for city’s chart and information on how its calculates its workforce and affordable housing rate. Chart and explanation sent the following day.
Time to receive record: 1 day
September 23 — Request for current edition of city’s living wage ordinance. Ordinance sent Sept. 26.
Time to receive record: 3 days
October 3 — Request for number of employees the city qualifies as “temporary/seasonal,” basic information about their employment (length of time employed and pay) and the city’s criteria for considering employees “temporary/seasonal.” Reply received Oct. 7 noting request sent “to the appropriate departments.” After no further reply received, follow-up request on Nov. 18. Records turned over Nov. 21.
Time to receive record: 49 days, with one follow-up necessary.
October 3 — Request for all emails between Council and staff from the past year discussing the above issue. Request is not part of records received on Nov. 21. Follow-up on Dec. 17. Single email exchange concerning topic sent same day.
Time to receive record: 75 days, with one follow-up necessary.
October 14 — Request for APD’s current pay scale. Scale received same day.
Time to receive record: same day
November 3 — Request for copy of letter sent to Civil Service Board concerning APD pay and benefits. Letter received Nov. 10.
Time to receive record: 7 days
December 2 — Request sent for further information on pay, length of employment for specific temp/seasonal employees. Information received Dec. 10.
Time to receive record: 8 days
December 17 — Request sent for further information on pay, length of employment for specific temp/seasonal employee. Record received January 2.
Time to receive record: 16 days
January 15 — Request for current guidelines on city staff speaking to media. Reply received Jan. 20 asserting “there is no adopted document that specifies how staff members are to interact with the media.”
Time to receive record (or lack thereof): 5 days
February 19 — Request for city’s plan/schedule for snow plowing. Information received same day.
Time to receive record: same day
March 16 — Request for number of city’s open records requests, following up on earlier phone request. Received March 17.
Time to receive record: 1 day
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