City still struggling with public records requests
After 23 days, Charlotte has failed to produce records related to city attorney switch
The following article appeared in the Jan. 8, 2025, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with smart and original local news for Charlotte. We offer free and paid subscription plans. More info here.
City of Charlotte public records update: Day 2️⃣3️⃣, still waiting
It’s a new year, but as far as the city of Charlotte’s responsiveness on public records, it’s looking a lot like last year.
Welcome to the first 2025 installment of “Public Records Update,” our quasi-regular feature in which we take you behind the curtain and share how your local governments are responding (or not responding) to legit and reasonable requests to provide records as required by state law.
The law says they’re to turn over public records “as promptly as possible.” You can make the call whether that law is being followed … or not!
Last month, The Ledger requested several documents related to the city’s switcharoo of city attorneys — an event shrouded in secrecy that we think residents might be entitled to know more about, as these are some of the city’s top-paid officials. Under state law, contracts the city enters into — such as employment agreements and severance agreements — are indisputably public documents.
Here’s the latest status update on the documents we requested:
◼️ Engagement letter with Anthony Fox
Requested: Dec. 16
Status: Not produced
◼️ Severance agreement with Patrick Baker
Requested: Dec. 16
Status: Not produced
◼️ Employment contract with Anthony Fox
Requested: Dec. 16
Status: Not produced
For good measure, we also requested the expense reports from a November trip by council members and some city staff to Germany. (Don’t you want to know if any city money was spent on bratwurst and lederhosen?)
◼️ Expense reports for the 8 council members and undetermined number of city staff for last month’s “economic development” trip to Munich, Germany, that coincided with a Carolina Panthers game:
Requested: Dec. 16
Status: Not produced
Additional updates:
◼️ Joe Bruno weighs in: After our most recent update, we heard from ace WSOC reporter Joe Bruno, who confided that he, too, requested the Germany expense reports, all the way back on Nov. 12. He’s still waiting as well.
◼️ Poll results: Last month, we took a poll asking readers if they believed the city is following the law on public records. The results — 85% said they think the city is failing to follow the law:
Share your stories: If any readers (including reporters) have any public records experiences they’d like to share, let us know! Your saga might be included in a future edition of “Public Records Update”!
Transparency first: We’ll keep being transparent about what we’re requesting and the responses we receive (if any).
Related Ledger article:
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