Our community has learned a lot about the limits of open government law over the past year, as indictments of former Buncombe County employees Wanda Greene, Mandy Stone, Jon Creighton and Michael Greene revealed corruption and embezzlement concealed from both the public and the media over many years.
Tag: open government
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Local initiatives provide access to public records in WNC
Local organizations, municipal bodies and citizens groups across Western North Carolina have partnered to empower community members to play a direct hand in the management and accessibility of public records, and help create a virtual landscape where responsibility for the dissemination of these records is shared by everyone.
Legislator briefs NC Press Association on public notices
At a Feb. 27 legislative briefing in Chapel Hill, Rep. Chris Malone updated members of the North Carolina Press Association on a handful of issues related to the journalism industry.
Off the records: no easy way to access Asheville’s housing complaints
Concerns about substandard rental housing in Asheville are nothing new. But assessing the extent of the problem has proved to be a slippery slope: Although tenant complaints are a matter of public record, there's no easy way to access or search them.
Asheville starts open-data nominations
Does the city of Asheville have some information you’d like to see made available to the public? Let them know, as they’re now taking nominations on the city’s open-data catalog.
Affidavit filed as evidence room lawsuit nears its day in court
Lawyers representing a coalition of local media (including Xpress) have filed an affidavit to bolster the case for the release of an audit of the Asheville Police Department evidence room. The lawsuit goes before a judge Sept. 4.
Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy talks about evidence room issues
In this interview with Xpress Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy talks about the state of the Asheville Police Department evidence room situation, oversight issues, and if the city will be able to hire the number of staff recommended to keep the same problems from re-emerging. Photo by Max Cooper.
The evidence room audit lawsuit
The full legal complaint from a coalition of local media calling for the release of the audit of guns, drugs and money missing from the Asheville Police Department evidence room.
Local media sue DA, city of Asheville over evidence room records
Xpress and four other local media outlets are suing District Attorney Ron Moore and the city of Asheville, seeking to make public the audit of guns, drugs, and money missing from the Asheville Police Department evidence room.
Two months later, District Attorney still won’t release evidence room records
More than two months ago, Xpress requested a copy of the audit of the Asheville Police Department’s evidence room from District Attorney Ron Moore. We have received no reply. According to attorneys from the North Carolina Press Association, the audit should be public record, and Moore’s behavior violates the state’s open records law.
Emails shine light on city’s reaction to Occupy Asheville
Xpress has obtained 270 emails from city of Asheville staff concerning Occupy Asheville. The emails reveal law enforcement considering their approach to (and surveillance of) the protests as well as city staff and Occupy representatives debating freedom of assembly, among other things. These emails are available to the public in a searchable database.
photo by Bill Rhodes