The following are the scant communications exchanges thus far regarding minutes of the PBH board of directors.
The last contact was a Sept. 19 phone call from PBH Communications Director Cyndy Brooks wanting to follow up with regards to making arrangements to come view the minutes. I again informed Brooks of the Public Records Law requirements to provide copies of requested documents, and asked how many of the requested records (minutes from January 2003 to present) were stored off-site, in what format and why they needed to be scanned rather than copied. Brooks said she would look into those questions and get back to me. Two months later finds me still waiting.
And after a September 9 commentary, Crossroads reconsidered: Doing it the right way, an obviously misdirected email reply to that column was received from PBH CEO Pam Shipman, that simply stated: “Yeah, our Board voted in August to post minutes going forward. he will have to come on site to review old minutes.”
July 27, 2011
David,
I have received your email requesting copies of the PBH Board Minutes. Please submit a Public Records Request in writing for these records. I will need you to provide specific information about the records you want to access. Once we receive your written request, we will review it and respond.
You may send your request to me at:
Cyndy Brooks, Communications Coordinator PBH Corporate Office 4855 Milestone Ave. Kannapolis, NC 28081
Regards,
Cyndy Brooks PBH Communications Coordinator
July 27, 2011
Cyndy,
According to the state Attorney General’s office in its Guide to Open Government and Public Records:
“There is no specified procedure or form necessary to request copies of public records. There is no requirement that requests be in writing, except in the case of requests for copies of computer databases. Some agencies might ask for written requests for their records in order to assure accuracy, but they cannot insist on it. There is no requirement that the person making the request refer specifically to the Public Records Law or disclose the reason for their request. Also, there is no requirement that the person making the request provide their name or any identification.”
In light of the above, I reiterate my previous request for minutes of board meetings from Jan. 1, 2003, until present. It would be my expectation that these are already saved as Word documents or as a PDF file and either would be the preferred format in which to receive them. The above referenced guide from the Attorney General’s office is also a good primer as to PBH’s responsibilities in responding to my request. One of those responsibilities is to notify me in writing that you have received my request, which you have now done via email. And since email is the most expedient way of communicating on the issue, I would think that other correspondence would be handled electronically as well.
My thanks for your attention to this.
David
September 13, 2011
David,
To date I have not received your written request for the PBH Board Minutes. As a reminder, you may access those minutes by submitting a request in writing to Cyndy Brooks, Communications Manager, PBH Corporate Office, 4855 Milestone Ave., Kannapolis, NC 28081.
Regards, Cyndy
September 13, 2011
Cyndy,
As I responded July 27 in response to your previous email on this matter, from the Attorney General’s Guide to Open Government and Public Records:
“There is no specified procedure or form necessary to request copies of public records. There is no requirement that requests be in writing, except in the case of requests for copies of computer databases. Some agencies might ask for written requests for their records in order to assure accuracy, but they cannot insist on it. There is no requirement that the person making the request refer specifically to the Public Records Law or disclose the reason for their request. Also, there is no requirement that the person making the request provide their name or any identification.”
Copies of your original email and my response are pasted at the bottom of the page.
The law does require a public entity to respond as promptly as possible. I’ll note it has now been seven weeks since my request. The Public Records Law, General Statute 132, can, and to my mind, should, be read here. If you choose to read it, please pay particular attention to those paragraphs outlining allowable costs. Charges are not allowed for costs that would have been incurred had I not made the request. In short, a charge for the limited time it would take one person to copy files to a disk is difficult to justify, especially considering three other LMEs have provided minutes at no charge.
The specific request was detailed in my earlier message repeated below. The mailing address here is: 10 Timberleaf Drive, Fletcher, NC 28732. Electronic delivery is fine as well.
David
September 16, 2011
David,
I would like to make arrangements for you to come view the PBH Board minutes. Some of the older files were stored offsite, so it took me sometime to access them myself. PBH has no plans to scan copies of files, so there would be a cost of 75 cents/page if you need these scanned. The PBH Board voted at its August meeting to start posting minutes. The August minutes will be posted after they are approved at the September board meeting.
Please let me know some dates when you would like to come view the minutes. You can email me at cyndy.brooks@pbhsolutions.org or please feel free to call me at (704) 939-7766 or on my blackberry at (704) XXX-XXXX.
Regards,
Cyndy Brooks
PBH Communications Manager