City fails to fulfill public records request

After nearly five months, the City of Greensboro has failed to adequately respond to the public records request made by Sam Spagnola, Joe Guarino and me. Our only remaining option is to sue. I'll be signing the suit today and we will file it on Monday.

You may recall that in February, City Councilor Mike Barber arranged a meeting with him, then-City Attorney Linda Miles, City Communications Director Pat Boswell and me to try to break the log jam and get the records released. Several promises were made at that meeting. They weren't kept. Among them were:

- A promise by Miles to inform us by February 29th of the records the city intends to release and the legal reasons for withholding information it does not intend to release. No response came by February 29th. The City did send us a letter on March 7th that offered reasons why it will not release the RMA report or the so-called black book and confirming the availability of minutes from City Council closed sessions. There was no explanation of the City's intentions regarding the rest of our request.

- A promise by Miles to comply with our request for communications to and from City Legal relating to Project Homestead and older than three years (as the law allows) by February 29th. To date, those have not been produced.

While some of our request has been adequately fulfilled, much of what has been provided has been problematic. What initially appeared to be a substantial volume of documents turned out to be padded with previously released official press releases, news clippings and blog posts, including volumes 1 - 27 of Jerry Bledsoe's series in the Rhino Times, "Cops in Black and White."

The copies of the minutes from City Council closed sessions we received were also deficient. In addition to the copies being of such poor quality that parts were illegible, they were from a period that was only partially responsive to our request. They were also heavily redacted and done so in a way that indicates an improper understanding of what can be kept secret. For example, "The City Manager xxxxx reiterated the need for confidentiality..." and "Xxxxx provided talking points for council..." are not proper redactions. The protections afforded by state personnel records laws do not exist to conceal any action or statement by a city employee that they wish to keep secret. To redact the names or statements of city employees or city councilors simply to keep their official actions secret exhibits a gross misunderstanding of the law and a disturbing contempt for open government.

It's a weird thing to sue a city one loves, but I guess one can think of it as tough love. Our city is off the track in understanding open government and it appears as if they won't change until a judge tells them to.

"I was born a poor black child" -- N&R letter-writer channels Steve Martin

In the 1979 rags-to-riches-to-rags film The Jerk, a very white Steve Martin begins his story with "I was born a poor black child." It was a funny set-up for the running gag of Martin's character, Navin R. Johnson, believing himself to be just like the black family he grew up with. Not so funny is the claim by a N&R letter-writer that she is a minority, even though she is not.

Shirley deLong of Jamestown in her letter, published today, describes herself as "Being a minority and growing up in the South..."

Ms. deLong is white.

I dig me some Rhino Times, but...

This week's Rhino included a front page headline "Unsubstantiated Allegations Make News." Although about another matter, the headline could have been regarding editor John Hammer's editorial in which he wrote:

"To get the support of the Simkins PAC, City Council candidates reportedly had to promise not to vote to fire Mitch Johnson." [emphasis added]

and

"What reportedly put Mitch Johnson over the hump was an agreement to keep Lt. James Hinson on the police force, which meant getting rid of Wray." [emphasis added]

Reportedly? Where? When? John is too experienced not to know the kind of journalistic prestidigitation he's trying to pull off here. A journalist writing to a higher standard doesn't say something has been reported unless it has been reported. A journalist who can't confirm something but wants to stoke people's suspicions will use "reportedly" in the manner John does. It is manipulative and a sign that John thinks that some of his audience is too unthinking to notice.

That Hammer does not cite a source is not the only indication that his claims can't be substantiated, they are also countered by people with first-hand knowledge of the events in question. Trudy Wade says she wasn't asked by the Simkins PAC to promise not to fire Johnson. Zack Matheny says he wasn't asked to make such a promise. On the promotion of Johnson to city manager, Hammer's "reporting" is refuted by Robbie Perkins and Sandy Carmany, two people who were on City Council at the time of that decision.