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One of the greatest responsibilities of the media – if not the No. 1 priority – is to ensure that public meetings and public records are actually open to the public. However, the person who gets to decide what constitutes a public record holds the real power.
That’s why Section 27.9 on page 531 of North Carolina’s biennial budget is so important. A small note gives custodians of public records in the Legislative Building the authority to “retain, destroy, sell, loan, or otherwise dispose of, such records.” Lawmakers also removed another section of law that required lawmakers to reveal documents and communications related to the redistricting process.
Despite what many government officials say on the record, plenty would like to remove all aspects of transparency in government. Thankfully, at least one state official isn’t having any of it.
Treasurer Dale Folwell, a Republican gubernatorial candidate who visited Cherokee County last month, took aim at the budget provision during an “Ask Me Anything” call on Oct. 10.
“As state treasurer, keeper of the public purse and recipient of the Open Government Coalition’s Sunshine Award, I feel strongly that restricting public access to important public information reduces confidence in all levels of government, which is already at historical lows,” he said. “By allowing individual lawmakers to determine what records are public and what material can be destroyed, without ever seeing the sunshine of public view, creates a system that does not have standards or accountability.”
Perfectly said. Unlike some of his competitors in the gubernatorial race, Folwell is well known for transparency. Sadly, a more reasoned approach to government doesn’t seem to get nearly as much attention as lobbing verbal grenades.
Folwell’s comments follow an Oct. 3 letter from a coalition including the N.C. Press Association, N.C. Association of Broadcasters, Carolina Journal, Radio One Charlotte and others outlining objections and calling on lawmakers to rescind the budget language.
“The new amendment grants custodians the power to determine what constitutes a public record and allows for the destruction of records that could otherwise be essential for transparency and accountability,” the letter reads. “This change effectively creates a situation in which state lawmakers, who are also considered custodians of their records, could exempt themselves from public records law, denying citizens their right to scrutinize their government’s actions.”
The letter pointed to the unanimous state Court of Appeals decision in September in WBTV vs. City of Charlotte that reiterated “public records and public information compiled by the agencies of North Carolina Government, or its subdivisions are the property of the people.”
The case, the coalition wrote, “reaffirmed the importance of the Public Records Act in ensuring accountability” and illustrated “it is more critical than ever to protect and strengthen the right of citizens to access government records.”
The budget language sparked immediate backlash. Republican budget negotiators say the change is aimed at clarifying vague law and codifying common practice with records requests, but ramming such a change through inside the state budget – instead of in a separate bill that could have been properly debated – reveals less-than-honorable intentions.
The Cherokee Scout calls on state Sen. Kevin Corbin and Rep. Karl Gillespie (both R-Franklin) to work to remove this language from the law. If you don’t want to listen to us, listen to Folwell.
“By allowing individual lawmakers to determine what records are public and what material can be destroyed without ever seeing the sunshine of public view creates a system without standards or accountability. It prevents the public from learning who and what influenced decision-making on their behalf,” Folwell said in a later release.
“There shouldn’t be a double standard of justice where the Legislature doesn’t live by laws that other state and local governments do concerning the right to have access to the records of public agencies.”
David Brown is publisher of the Cherokee Scout. Call him at 828-837-5122 or email dbrown@cherokeescout.com.