"From: ben holder [mailto:benhwi......]
Sent: Friday, December 06, 2013 9:21 AM
To: Westmoreland, Jim; Shah-Khan, Mujeeb; Turner Roth, Denise
Subject: Re: Voice Mail Follow-up
Jim Jim,
You still haven't been clear on why you felt the need to withhold public record??? The background information sheet is and always has been a public record no matter what. WHY did you stand with wrongdoing and treat me like I am wrong? Why did I get the document that YOU said I wouldn't? Is it that you are an ass? Your staff fails more times than not and I am really tired of fighting with the city to get the right thing done.
ps
Mujeeb,
I got the win, you can get deez nutz!!!!!!"
Was it a little rude? Sure it was but when you're dealing with public officials who are openly refusing to do their jobs and adding to the level of corruption by doing so you cannot help but get frustrated. Then Mike Barber chimes in:
" On 12/6/2013 10:38 AM, Mike Barber wrote:
I want everyone to know where I stand on this nonsense that I am observing.
-I understand public records law and have shown for many years that I support anyone's right to information and err on the side of openness. I have spent much of the last 48 hours supporting that concept.
HOWEVER,
-If you leave a vmail, send an email, text, etc. that is vulgar, rude, personally critical of individuals or staff, whether it is a first request or follow up-then your request does not exist to me.
-I'm not here to convince anyone to use their large amount of free time more productively, or conduct charm school.
-I don't care how long you've been asking, I just got here.
I am here to ask staff to support a policy of openness, while the people requesting assistance are polite and reasonable in their expectations. And most importantly, I'm committed to creating a technological solution to make all public records available real time-please give me a chance.
Please don't send me an email telling me I'm wrong, I don't have the time or interest to read it today.
Respectfully,
Mike B.
Mike Barber
CEO/The First Tee of the Triad
Attorney
408 Hobbs Rd.
Greensboro NC 27403"
Well I've got news for you, Mike, you better care how long we've been asking because you knew it was a problem before you started running for office. And as to what is considered rude, who the fuck are you to say? What's rude in my world is two bit lawyers telling us we don't have the right to public records because you don't like the way we phrased a sentence. Fuck you, Mike Barber! You are bound by State and Federal laws to comply with records requests and I challenge you to show me the fucking law that says I have to ask nicely. There is, after all, only one reason for a public official not to comply with a public records request in a timely fashion and that reason is to hide corruption, fraud and malfeasance.
And now Roch Smith Jr weighs in proving every word I've written is true:
"From: Roch Smith Jr
Date: Fri, Dec 6, 2013 at 12:01 PM
Subject: Re: Voice Mail Follow-up
To: Mike Barber, Jim.Westmoreland@greensboro-nc.gov, nancyvaughangso@gmail.com, zackmatheny@gmail.com, hartzmancpe@gmail.com, benhwinstonsalem@aol.com
Cc: Denise.Turner@greensboro-nc.gov, Mujeeb.ShahKhan@greensboro-nc.gov, Donald.Turlington@greensboro-nc.gov
Mike, perhaps it would benefit you to come to know the extent of staff's mismanagement of records requests, even in response to the most civil and patient requesters.
Pretty please, with sugar on top, where are the contracts I requested 13 weeks ago that staff cited as a reason for not providing the database indexes I requested 20 weeks ago? They are ready documents. Staff had their hands on them to reference them in their denial, yet it is taking more than 13 weeks to produce them?
Pretty please, with sugar on top, where is the video I requested five and a half months ago from downtown for a six hour period that the city manager's IFYI has been reporting as under staff review for 4 months?
Pretty please, with sugar on top, where are the requests made by incumbent council candidates (i.e. elected officials) for information from staff during the election period of which the city says it cannot find a single such record?
Mike, I very much laud and appreciate your attention and involvement, but respect has to be maintained and, in the face of the City's history of and ongoing hostility towards public transparency, it doesn't surprise me that tempers may flair and city staff are held in such low regard -- they've earned it. You might agree if you knew the background of the consistently poor performance of the City on records requests and management's ineptitude in rectifying the situation. Speaking of which, where are the recommendations from the public records "team"? The staff-only, closed-to-the-public team that was supposed to come up with ways to improve responses to records requests for public input and council review by the end of May, then the end of June, then the end of July?
If you think this incompetence and interference can be bypassed by technology, I'm all ears; but in the mean time, we need prompt solutions to the immediate problems.
I hope everyone has nice weekend.
Yours,
Roch"
I'll gladly forward this e-mail to anyone who e-mail me at RecycleBill@gmail.com and request it no matter how rude your request might be. I hope Mike Barber will continue to push staff and Council to be more open with public records but to imply that a request doesn't exist simply because Mike Barber or anyone else considers the request to be rude-- that, my friends, is not what the law states and cannot be allowed.
