What the government does with its time and money is, generally, a matter of public record. A person can request that a public agency release documents about any number of subjects: use-of-force complaints against school resource officers, building maintenance records at local schools, or a list of users blocked by the city of Charlotte’s X account, to give some examples.
But while state law requires government agencies to release records “as promptly as possible,” it doesn’t set a deadline, as some neighboring states do. More than 1,500 public record requests filed with the city of Charlotte have gone unfulfilled, with some going as far back as 2019, according to The Charlotte Observer.
In October, Mayor Vi Lyles and a majority of the city council voted to end the employment of city attorney Patrick Baker after he fulfilled a public records request filed by WFAE. In a closed-door session, a city official characterized his action as a “leak,” despite the fact that he was complying with state law.
City officials declined Charlotte Talks' invitation to join our program, but acknowledged the backlog to The Charlotte Observer in September and said they were taking steps to address the problem — including moving the online portal for tracking public records requests to a new host.
On Tuesday, Mike Collins and our panel of guests take a closer look at the struggle for transparency in Charlotte, the factors behind the delays, and what city leaders are doing — or not doing — to rebuild public trust.
GUESTS:
Jonathan Buchan, media and First Amendment attorney*
Steve Harrison, WFAE political reporter
Mary Ramsey, local government accountability reporter at The Charlotte Observer
*Full Disclosure: Jonathan Buchan is a former member of WFAE's Board of Directors.
