Todd Paris, Attorney and Candidate for Salisbury City Council
♦ Today I received confirmation that a dispute related to the construction of the Fibrant network and attorneys are involved. The city will provide limited and redacted records given that this appears to be an ongoing legal dispute.
This is confirmation that portions of the network were constructed out of compliance with the National Electric Safety Code. This is dangerous and will be costly to fix.
The city is refusing to answer simple questions I have related to this, under the excuse that they just don’t have to under state law. That’s not transparent and that’s bad government.
I challenge Maggie Blackwell and Karen Alexander to be open and honest about this major issue instead of keeping it covered up.
Salisbury residents do you feel the city should be transparent about the construction liability on the poles and what it will cost on your money to fix it?
City Hall’s response to my public information requests:
Myra Heard
To
‘Douglas Paris’
Today at 2:15 PM
Mr. Paris,
In regard to your various public records requests, we are compiling responsive documents for your inspection. Because some of the documents you requested are subject to the attorney-client privilege related to an ongoing dispute, narrative information will be redacted from attorney invoices, and correspondence to or from counsel for the City of Salisbury will not be produced. I am sure you understand the need to preserve this privilege as it relates to communications with the City’s attorneys.
Also, as to your request dated September 12, 2015, N.C. Gen. Stat. § 132-6 requires a public body to allow the inspection of public records. That statute does not require a public body to answer questions or create documents that do not otherwise exist. As such, the City will treat your questions as a request for documents, and will provide any responsive, non-privileged documents within its custody or control, but will not create a narrative response or other document that does not already exist.
As to the time of production, the City has pulled all responsive documents, and those documents are now being reviewed by counsel for the City. I am told we should be able to produce those documents by week ending September 25 . Please let me know in what format you would like those documents.
Thank you,
Myra Heard
To Myra Heard, “One additional thing. I understand the state law related to public records and that you don’t have to “create a record.”
However, at the candidate Q and A forum it was stated candidates could ask additional questions after the event. The previous questions that I sent to you unrelated to public records was and are a result of the city stating we could ask additional questions. In your previous email are you stating that the City is refusing to answer my additional questions? If so, who specifically made the decision that the city would ignore the questions of a council candidate?”
