It’s happening more and more frequently, in large and small jurisdictions across North Carolina. It may come by email, personal delivery, or even in a good old -fashioned letter, signed, sealed and delivered by snail mail. It’s the massive public records request. You know the ones: “copies of all emails send to or received by the manager and each member of the board on XYZ issue,” or “every email that mentions the name Jane M.
Looking to drum up new business, Tony Gazzo makes a public records request to the Rockyham County property tax office for a report listing t
Looking to drum up new business, Tony Gazzo makes a public records request to the Rockyham County property tax office for a report listing t
It’s budget time for local governments, and the fun should not be reserved just for finance and budget staffers. Tax officials need to play an important role in the process, too. The Local Government Budget and Fiscal Control Act … Read more
It’s budget time for local governments, and the fun should not be reserved just for finance and budget staffers. Tax officials need to play an important role in the process, too.
It’s budget time for local governments, and the fun should not be reserved just for finance and budget staffers. Tax officials need to play an important role in the process, too.
Along Broken Dreams Boulevard, not far from Main Street, an abandoned mill overlooks a troubled neighborhood. Once a thriving residential area with inexpensive mill housing (single family homes and duplexes), the neighborhood is now typical of a declining mill village. … Read more
The town’s governing board wants to be more transparent. They direct the clerk to post all agendas, attachments, minutes, and budgets on the town’s website. The IT director, who manages the website, suggests that these documents should be converted to PDF format, and password-protected in order to prevent members of the public from modifying them. After several weeks of posting this information, a citizen requests a copy of a power point presentation that was shown at a recent meeting. The request is for an electronic copy of the presentation “in native format”.
The town’s governing board wants to be more transparent. They direct the clerk to post all agendas, attachments, minutes, and budgets on the town’s website. The IT director, who manages the website, suggests that these documents should be converted to PDF format, and password-protected in order to prevent members of the public from modifying them. After several weeks of posting this information, a citizen requests a copy of a power point presentation that was shown at a recent meeting. The request is for an electronic copy of the presentation “in native format”.
[Update: In 2013 the N.C. Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals decision discussed below. See this blog post for more details.] In the first of three decisions we are expecting on internet sweepstakes, the N.C. Court of Appeals ruled … Read more