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| Courtesy Don Landgren, Jr. of Worcester Telegram & Gazette |
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| Click here to go to site |
On July 10, 2010, the General Assembly enacted 2010 N.C. Sess. Laws c. 169 (HB 961)(the Act). Governor Purdue supported this Act and it is commonly referred to as the “Sunshine Law” in keeping with the long history of trying to open the actions of government officials to the government those officials represent. This session law also references General Statute 132 (previously in place) which specifically deals with Public Records. Both can be viewed at the NC Legislature’s web site: http://ncleg.net/
GS 132 includes provisions to force payment to attorneys for public records improperly denied. There are penalties that may be assessed personally to each person to denied the records, for each day they denied them.
Unfortunately, many critical issues in Charlotte remain dark and cloudy as City Council knowingly permits the use of City resources, such as city attorneys and other employees, to block release of important and basic information about Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department operations, from financial transactions to crime statistics about what’s really happening in our city.
The CMPD should not be hiding—or permitted to hide—information about crime, spending, personnel problems, shifting funds approved only by one man, missing police cars/equipment, and more.
It will be interesting to see if any of the major network or newspapers step up during this “Sunshine Week” and expose even the most basic operations of government in Charlotte at this critical time. The information is available for finding.
A little more sunshine in Charlotte is needed. And the stories are coming, with or without the help of the usual media sources.
See this re-cap of some major issues that need answers.
Charlotte-City of Trees for sure
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