City of Asheville Submitted: April 10, 2026 | Updated: June 12, 2026

(April 2026) Request for City of Asheville, NC Government: Communications related to transit contract and key staff retention. 03/01/26 – 03/26/26.

SUBJECT:
(April 2026) Request for City of Asheville, NC Government: Communications related to transit contract and key staff retention. 03/01/26 - 03/26/26.

MESSAGE:
Good afternoon (Records Officer / Custodian(s) of these records),

Please reply promptly to the following public records request, which I’m making in accordance with NC Public Records Law. https://www.ncleg.net/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bychapter/chapter_132.html

This request pertains to the City’s transit contract. Please provide all communications (emails, texts, phone logs, chats, etc) between City Council, City Staff, and RATP DEV, regarding key staff retention. Specifically, during the time period of March 01 through March 26, 2026.

** I’m simply requesting an electronic copy of an electronic record, if one exists. I’m NOT asking for the opportunity to come in person to “inspect”, nor to obtain a printed copy of, this electronic record. I’m requesting explicitly that any responsive info be provided to me via the electronic medium / electronic format (in which the copy of this record already exists). If you are unable to fulfill any or all parts of this request, please specifically cite where a reason for denial is justified under NC Public Records Law. **
————————————

Please note that by submitting this request, I’m NOT agreeing to pay any potential fees or associated costs related to my request. If it isn’t possible to process the request without incurring fees, then please let me know the itemized potential cost and clear explanations of those charges upfront, and DO NOT proceed until I respond.

By Law I’m not required to provide a name or address to associate with a public records request, but in order to move things along I’d like to clarify that this request is being made by:

Sunshine Request
PO Box 17391
Asheville, NC 28816

The request has been sent solely by me and my email address [email protected] . If anyone other than that email address contacts you to pursue a similar request, it did not come from me. Please do not commingle or treat that as an alteration or cancellation of my request – I intend to continue to pursue my request.

Thank you for your assistance!

** Sunshine Request (www.sunshinerequest.com) makes no claim as to the veracity of any statements or information contained in any of the requests, or public records, we receive.

Editor’s Note: Sunshine Request makes no claim as to the veracity of any statements or information contained in any of the requests, or public records, we receive.

** 04/10/26. Editor’s Note to Sender: When requesting communication records, it’s important to specify the type of communications being requested, who the communications are “sent to”, “sent from”, or “sent between”, any specific people / staff / departments etc. that should be included, and specific subject matter or keywords to be searched.

As it was originally written, the sender was asking for “… any communication between city council, city staff and RATP DEV… “

Please note. The City’s JustFoia platform requires that a field be entered clarifying the specific types of communications being requested. Unless specified otherwise, we typically interpret the term “correspondence” or “communications” to mean: Emails, SMS text messages, Google Chat messages, Facebook Messenger messages, and phone logs.

In this case, we’ve decided to interpret the sender’s request for communications to mean: “emails, texts, phone logs, chat, etc.”

In the future, please specify the exact “communications” records you are hoping to receive. Clarifying this info will help to narrow the scope of the request, and will also reduce the amount of time it takes the Disclosing Agency (as well as our team) to process the request.

Thank you for using Sunshine Request!

Status: Government Processing Request

Activity:

  • June 12, 2026 4:20 pm

    1 week ago

    **Editor’s Note 06/12/26: At some point between 05/14/26 and 06/12/26, our request moved to position #25 in the queue.City’s “Communications Search Queue” spreadsheet.

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13ywJghRYp1cWoXbuClDKOFh_VhsiqNrLHSTH7R34m94/edit?gid=1255437035#gid=1255437035

    Status: Government Processing Request
  • May 14, 2026 2:05 pm

    1 month ago

    **Editor’s Note 05/14/26: As of 05/14/26, our request has now been added to the City’s “Communications Search Queue” spreadsheet. We are #31 in the queue.

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13ywJghRYp1cWoXbuClDKOFh_VhsiqNrLHSTH7R34m94/edit?gid=1255437035#gid=1255437035

    Status: Government Processing Request
  • May 7, 2026 12:00 pm

    1 month ago

    **Editor’s Note 05/07/26: As of this writing, our request has not been added to the City’s “Communications Search Queue” spreadsheet. We will continue to monitor the request for updates once a week.

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13ywJghRYp1cWoXbuClDKOFh_VhsiqNrLHSTH7R34m94/edit?gid=1255437035#gid=1255437035

    Status: Government Processing Request
  • April 30, 2026 5:00 pm

    1 month ago

    **Editor’s Note 04/30/26: As of this writing, our request has not been added to the City’s “Communications Search Queue” spreadsheet. We will continue to monitor the request for updates once a week.

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13ywJghRYp1cWoXbuClDKOFh_VhsiqNrLHSTH7R34m94/edit?gid=1255437035#gid=1255437035

    Status: Government Processing Request
  • April 21, 2026 9:45 am

    2 months ago

    from: Allison Byers <[email protected]>
    to: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    cc: 2b4b5806-473b-4ff1-b520-5f6dc6da7596.AshevilleNC@request.justfoia.com
    date: Apr 21, 2026, 9:45 AM
    subject: Re: City of Asheville, NC – Public Records Request [REDACTED]: Confirmation

     

    Good morning, Sunshine Request,

     

    Thank you for bringing this to my attention. The communications search queue is simply a workflow tool that I use and is not intended to serve as a realtime indication of request status or progress. It should have been removed from the “NOTE” you mentioned and was not – I apologize for the confusion, and that change has now been made. The search queue can be provided upon request, but please note that it is only updated as needed and, as previously mentioned, is not a realtime indication of request status. Requests for communications records are still processed in the order received.

     

    Best,

     

    Allison Byers
    Public Records Officer
    City of Asheville

     

    ** Editor’s Note to Sender: The “special NOTE” we referenced in our email with Allison, is located within the City of Asheville’s JustFoia Records Request submission form. When submitting a new request, users are asked to specify whether the request is for “Communications” records. If so, then an additional note appears, indicating that Communications requests can be tracked on the City’s Communications Search Queue spreadsheet at any time. This is what the Note looked like as of 04/20/26:

     

    We have been monitoring the search queue, posting updates about the position of our various requests on the queue, and speaking to various AVL City Records Officers about that queue, for years — so we know the City created the spreadsheet on or around the time they first began using their previous records platform (NextRequest), and have been using it since.

     

    Allison’s response today (04/21/26) indicates that the special “NOTE” about the queue written in the “Communications dropdown” on the City’s request form, has now been removed as of today. This is what the Note looks like now:

     

     

    It is unclear how users should monitor the status of Communications requests if that queue is not being kept up-to-date. However, we will continue to follow up on our requests every few weeks.

    Status: Response Received from Government
  • April 20, 2026 6:12 pm

    2 months ago

    from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    to: 2b4b5806-473b-4ff1-b520-5f6dc6da7596.AshevilleNC@request.justfoia.com
    cc: Public Records Request Inbox <[email protected]>, Allison Byers <[email protected]>
    date: Apr 20, 2026, 6:12 PM
    subject: Re: City of Asheville, NC – Public Records Request [REDACTED]: Confirmation

     

    Good afternoon JustFoia, Allison,

     

    The request above was submitted on 04/10/26 @ 4:41pm. The special “NOTE” written within the dropdown / check-box section for your communications-related requests states, in part:

     

    “Requests for communication records are processed in the order received. Once received and confirmed, you may view the queue document at any time to see the position of your request.”

     

    – As of this writing, the request has not been listed on the City’s “Communications Search Queue” spreadsheet. I just want to confirm when it will be added, so that I can track the request’s progress / position in the queue?

    – I’ve also noticed no other updates have been made to the queue since at least March 19th. There are only 26 requests shown in the queue… the newest of which is dated 01/27/26.

     

    Thank you for your help!

     

    ~ The Sunshine Request Team

    Status: Follow up
  • April 10, 2026 4:40 pm

    2 months ago

    from: JustFOIA Notification <[email protected]>
    reply-to: 2b4b5806-473b-4ff1-b520-5f6dc6da7596.AshevilleNC@request.justfoia.com
    to: [email protected]
    date: Apr 10, 2026, 4:41 PM
    subject: City of Asheville, NC – Public Records Request PRR-2026-310: Confirmation

     

    Dear Requester,

     

    Thank you for submitting a request for public records on 04/10/2026.

     

    Your request reference number is Request Number: PRR-2026-310 and your security key is [REDACTED].

     

    Please have the security key and reference number available when communicating with our staff regarding your request.

     

    Thank you,

     

    City of Asheville, NC
    70 Court Plaza
    Asheville, NC 28801
    (828) 259-5610
    [email protected]

     

    Editor’s Note: The rest of the body of this message just contained a copy of the form we filled out to submit the request.

    This request has been added to “My Requests“.

     

    Thank you for submitting a Public Records Request to the City of Asheville, NC.

     

    Your Request Reference Number is: PRR-2026-310.

    Your Security Key is: [REDACTED]

     

    This information can be used to track the status of your request at any time, and to download documents when they have been made available, here: https://cityofashevillenc.justfoia.com/publicportal/home/track

     

    Please have this security key and reference number available when communicating with our staff regarding your request.

     

    You will receive a confirmation of your submission that contains the above information to your email.

     

    Thank you, 

     

    City of Asheville, NC 

    70 Court Plaza

    Asheville, NC 28801 

    (828) 259-5610 

    [email protected] 

     

    **Editor’s Note: We submitted the following request to the City of Asheville on 04/10/26 at 4:40pm EST, via their public records request portal, JustFOIA. If we receive updates, we will post them here on our website.

     

    SUBJECT:

    (April 2026) Request for City of Asheville, NC Government: Communications related to transit contract and key staff retention. 03/01/26 – 03/26/26.

     

    MESSAGE:

    Good afternoon (Records Officer / Custodian(s) of these records),

     

    Please reply promptly to the following public records request, which I’m making in accordance with NC Public Records Law. https://www.ncleg.net/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bychapter/chapter_132.html 

     

    This request pertains to the City’s transit contract. Please provide all communications (emails, texts, phone logs, chats, etc) between City Council, City Staff, and RATP DEV, regarding key staff retention. Specifically, during the time period of March 01 through March 26, 2026.

     

    ** I’m simply requesting an electronic copy of an electronic record, if one exists. I’m NOT asking for the opportunity to come in person to “inspect”, nor to obtain a printed copy of, this electronic record. I’m requesting explicitly that any responsive info be provided to me via the electronic medium / electronic format (in which the copy of this record already exists). If you are unable to fulfill any or all parts of this request, please specifically cite where a reason for denial is justified under NC Public Records Law. **

    ————————————

     

    Please note that by submitting this request, I’m NOT agreeing to pay any potential fees or associated costs related to my request. If it isn’t possible to process the request without incurring fees, then please let me know the itemized potential cost and clear explanations of those charges upfront, and DO NOT proceed until I respond.

     

    By Law I’m not required to provide a name or address to associate with a public records request, but in order to move things along I’d like to clarify that this request is being made by:

     

    Sunshine Request

    PO Box 17391

    Asheville, NC 28816

     

    The request has been sent solely by me and my email address [email protected] . If anyone other than that email address contacts you to pursue a similar request, it did not come from me. Please do not commingle or treat that as an alteration or cancellation of my request – I intend to continue to pursue my request.

     

    Thank you for your assistance!

     

    ** Sunshine Request (www.sunshinerequest.com) makes no claim as to the veracity of any statements or information contained in any of the requests, or public records, we receive.

    Status: Sent to Government
  • April 10, 2026 4:48 pm

    2 months ago

    Submitted to Sunshine Request
    Status: Pending