Neighbors to city: Provide more records access
The Greensboro Neighborhood Congress had a request for city council Tuesday night.
Make it easier for residents to access public records.
They recommended that council:
-- Establish a public records request ombudsman
-- Create date-driven response deadlines that require the city to provide written status reports to requestors within specified time periods
-- Hold a hearing before Council for any request not fully responded to within 75 days
-- Disclose the procedures through the city’s Web site and in writing to any person submitting a public records request
Their full recommendations can be found
here.
Currently, North Carolina's public records law does not set deadlines for when government entities must respond to a request. Other states and the federal government require that requests be answered within a certain number of days (10 to 20 usually). If Greensboro did adopt timetables, it would be an improvement over what is required by state law.
Donna Newton, Neighborhood Congress liaison, said the recommendations were prompted by residents' complaints about getting information from the city.
As a reporter, I usually do not have trouble accessing documents. But I have the advantage of knowing how the system works and knowing many city employees -- a sure way to get what you need quickly.
I'd be curious to know what regular residents have experienced trying to get documents. Any good stories out there?
Due to recent automated spamming attacks on our blogs, we are temporarily requiring commenters to authenticate themselves via TypeKey® before posting comments to any News & Record blog in order to prevent denials of service. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.