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.
City of Asheville Submitted: March 28, 2023 | Updated: July 31, 2023
(March 2023) Request for City of Asheville, NC Government: All text messages between City Council, Mayor, City Manager, or City Staff. 12/01/2021 – 12/31/2021.
Hello City of Asheville, NC Government (Records Officer),
I'd like to make a public records request for the following information under NC Public Records Law.
Ref: https://www.ncleg.net/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bychapter/chapter_132.html
This request is NOT subject or keyword specific.
Please provide ALL text messages [including all attached media] exchanged between any or all Asheville City Council members (including the Mayor), City Manager, and any or all City Staff. During the time period of 12/01/2021 through 12/31/2021. To clarify – I’m seeking text messages that include at least one member of Council or the City Manager as either a sender or a recipient of the text.
[This request should include text messages sent between Council Members, messages between Council Members and the City Manager, and messages between the City Manager and Staff.]
** Please note: I am not requesting to come in person to inspect, nor to obtain printed copies of, these electronic records. In accordance with NC Public Records Law, I’m requesting explicitly that all responsive records be provided via an electronic medium / format (in which the records should already exist), such as an email, file share, google drive folder, mailed flash drive if necessary, etc.
I do not have any additional or further clarifying info to provide other than what you see in the message above. If you are unable to fulfill any or all parts of this request, please specifically cite where a reason for its denial is justified under NC Public Records Law.**
——————
** Please note that by submitting this request, I am NOT agreeing to pay any potential fees or associated costs related to my request. If it is not possible to process the request without incurring fees, then please let me know the itemized potential cost and explanations for those charges upfront, and DO NOT proceed until I can respond.
This request has been sent solely from the email address [email protected] . If anyone other than that email address contacts you to pursue a similar request, it did not come from me or my Team. 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!
Status: Completed
Documents:
Activity:
-
July 31, 2023 9:19 am
8 months ago
from: City of Asheville Public Records <[email protected]>
to: [email protected]
date: Jul 31, 2023, 9:19 AM
subject: Your City of Asheville public records request #23-173 has been closed.City of Asheville Public Records
Record request #23-173 has been closed. The closure reason supplied was:
The records responsive to your request are available here.
All records responsive to your request have been released in accordance with the North Carolina Public Records Act. Your request has been fulfilled and is now closed. Please reply to this message or contact [email protected] if you have any questions.
**Editor’s Note: In addition to using the City’s URL (linked above) from Allison, you can also see the referenced file (“23-173-20230731T170353Z-001.zip”) at top left in our Documents section.
from: City of Asheville Public Records <[email protected]>
to: [email protected]
date: Jul 31, 2023, 9:19 AM
subject: Your City of Asheville public records request #23-173 has been published.City of Asheville Public Records
Record request #23-173 has been published and is now available for public view.
Status: Completed -
July 28, 2023 1:12 pm
8 months ago
**07/28/23 Editor’s Note: This records request is now #2 on the City’s “Communications Search Queue”. Thank you for using Sunshine Request!
Status: Government Processing Request -
July 25, 2023 10:21 am
9 months ago
**07/25/23 Editor’s Note: This records request is now #4 on the City’s “Communications Search Queue”. Thank you for using Sunshine Request!
Status: Government Processing Request -
July 11, 2023 10:14 am
9 months ago
**07/11/23 Editor’s Note: This records request is now #7 on the City’s “Communications Search Queue”. Thank you for using Sunshine Request!
Status: Government Processing Request -
June 27, 2023 10:40 am
9 months ago
**06/27/23 Editor’s Note: This records request is now #13 on the City’s “Communications Search Queue”. Thank you for using Sunshine Request!
Status: Government Processing Request -
June 13, 2023 11:03 am
10 months ago
**06/13/23 Editor’s Note: This records request is now #15 on the City’s “Communications Search Queue”. Thank you for using Sunshine Request!
Status: Government Processing Request -
May 30, 2023 12:39 pm
10 months ago
**05/30/23 Editor’s Note: This records request is now #22 on the City’s “Communications Search Queue”. Thank you for using Sunshine Request!
Status: Government Processing Request -
May 15, 2023 11:15 am
11 months ago
**05/15/23 Editor’s Note: This records request is now #23 on the City’s “Communications Search Queue”. Thank you for using Sunshine Request!
Status: Government Processing Request -
April 28, 2023 12:49 pm
11 months ago
**04/28/23 Editor’s Note: This request is now #28 on the City’s Communications Search Queue (formerly known as the City of Asheville’s “Email Search Queue” spreadsheet). Thank you for using Sunshine Request!
Status: Government Processing Request -
April 6, 2023 2:18 pm
1 year ago
**04/06/23 Editor’s Note: This request is now #29 on the City’s Communications Search Queue (formerly known as the City of Asheville’s “Email Search Queue” spreadsheet). Thank you for using Sunshine Request!
Status: Government Processing Request -
April 4, 2023 10:53 am
1 year ago
from: City of Asheville Public Records <[email protected]>
to: [email protected]
date: Apr 4, 2023, 10:53 AM
subject: [External Message Added] City of Asheville public records request #23-173City of Asheville Public Records
A message was sent to you regarding record request #23-173:
Good morning, Sunshine Request,
From now on, all requests for communications – including emails, text messages, Google Chat messages, voicemails, etc. – will be processed in the order received. Your request is currently number 30 in the search queue; you can check the position of your request at any time using the City of Asheville Communications Search Queue (formerly the City of Asheville Email Search Queue). I appreciate your understanding as I work to fulfill public records requests equitably and as promptly as possible. Thank you!
Status: Government Processing Request -
March 30, 2023 7:48 pm
1 year ago
from: Allison Byers <[email protected]>
to: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
date: Mar 30, 2023, 7:48 AM
subject: Re: request #23-173Thank you, Sunshine Request.
Allison Byers
Public Records Officer
City of Asheville
828-259-5631
Status: Government Processing Request -
March 29, 2023 5:46 pm
1 year ago
from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
to: Allison Byers <[email protected]>
date: Mar 29, 2023, 5:46 PM
subject: Re: request #23-173Hi Allison,
Thank you for checking.
Yes — the request would include texts exchanged between any Council Members and City Staff.
——–
Please provide ALL text messages [including all attached media] exchanged between any or all Asheville City Council members (including the Mayor), City Manager, and any or all City Staff. During the time period of 12/01/2021 through 12/31/2021. To clarify – I’m seeking text messages that include at least one member of Council or the City Manager as either a sender or a recipient of the text.[This request should include text messages sent between Council Members, messages between Council Members and the City Manager, and messages between the City Manager and Staff.]
——–Once someone submits a request to our website, our team reviews and edits the wording of the request. We use our best judgement to determine what the sender hopes to receive, and we try to make our request as clear as possible. However, in some cases if we feel it’s still too vague or broad, then we will not send it to the City.
In this case specifically – when I reviewed how the submission was originally worded on our website, it seemed like the sender was trying to re-emphasize that they want “all text messages sent to, sent from, and sent between, any or all of those parties named — in any combination. And that there must be at least one member of council or the City Manager listed as the sender or a recipient of the text”. I bracketed the second line of the request, but I do see how that is redundant and could have been better worded.
FYI. There are several other similar requests as this one, currently pending my review on our website. As we start to send them in over the next few weeks, we’ll try to make sure they are more clearly worded.
Thanks for your help!
~ Lauren (and the Sunshine Request Team)
Status: Clarification Provided -
March 29, 2023 3:48 pm
1 year ago
from: Allison Byers <[email protected]>
to: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
date: Mar 29, 2023, 3:48 PM
subject: request #23-173Good afternoon, Sunshine Request,
I’m reaching out about your most recent request, #23-173, for text messages. The first part of your request asks for “ALL text messages exchanged between any or all Asheville City Council members (including Mayor), City Manager, and any or all City Staff”, however there is another portion of the request that says “[This request should include text messages sent between Council Members, messages between Council Members and the City Manager, and messages between the City Manager and Staff.]”
I’m just wanting to clarify to make sure I’m getting everything you are looking for – are you also wanting text messages exchanged between council members and City staff?
Thank you,
—
Allison Byers
Public Records Officer
City of Asheville
Status: Clarification Requested -
March 29, 2023 2:36 pm
1 year ago
from: City of Asheville Public Records <[email protected]>
to: [email protected]
date: Mar 29, 2023, 2:36 PM
subject: [External Message Added] City of Asheville public records request #23-173City of Asheville Public Records
A message was sent to you regarding record request #23-173:
Good afternoon, Sunshine Request,
Just a quote note on this request – because it does not include emails, it will not be entered on the City of Asheville Email Search Queue spreadsheet. However, it may take several weeks to collect these texts and then review them for responsiveness and confidentiality. If at any time you have questions or would like to check on the status of your request, please feel free to reach out through the portal or email. Thank you!
Status: Government Processing Request -
March 29, 2023 2:31 pm
1 year ago
from: City of Asheville Public Records <[email protected]>
reply-to: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: Mar 29, 2023, 2:31 PM
subject: [External Message Added] City of Asheville public records request #23-173City of Asheville Public Records
A message was sent to you regarding record request #23-173:
Your public records request has been received by the City of Asheville and has been assigned to the appropriate person(s) for processing. Once processing is complete, you will receive any responsive records. Please reply to this message or contact [email protected] if you have any questions.
Status: -
March 29, 2023 2:00 pm
1 year ago
**Editor’s Note: This request was sent in via Asheville City Government’s public records request portal. As we receive updates, we will post them here on our website. Thank you for using Sunshine Request! Here’s a link to the request on NextRequest: https://cityofashevillenc.nextrequest.com/requests/23-173
Hello City of Asheville, NC Government (Records Officer),
I’d like to make a public records request for information that may be available in your office.
If you’re not the appropriate party to contact about the request, please provide the correct name and email address of whom I should send it to.
Please confirm receipt to let me know the request will begin processing, and if possible, please provide a rough estimate of when the request may be completed. I will plan on following up again in April if I have not heard back before then.
Here are the details of the request:
Subject: (March 2023) Request for City of Asheville, NC Government: All text messages between City Council, Mayor, City Manager, or City Staff. 12/01/2021 – 12/31/2021.
Message: “Hello City of Asheville, NC Government (Records Officer),
I’d like to make a public records request for the following information under NC Public Records Law.
Ref: https://www.ncleg.net/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bychapter/chapter_132.html
This request is NOT subject or keyword specific.
Please provide ALL text messages [including all attached media] exchanged between any or all Asheville City Council members (including the Mayor), City Manager, and any or all City Staff. During the time period of 12/01/2021 through 12/31/2021. To clarify – I’m seeking text messages that include at least one member of Council or the City Manager as either a sender or a recipient of the text.
[This request should include text messages sent between Council Members, messages between Council Members and the City Manager, and messages between the City Manager and Staff.]
** Please note: I am not requesting to come in person to inspect, nor to obtain printed copies of, these electronic records. In accordance with NC Public Records Law, I’m requesting explicitly that all responsive records be provided via an electronic medium / format (in which the records should already exist), such as an email, file share, google drive folder, mailed flash drive if necessary, etc.
I do not have any additional or further clarifying info to provide other than what you see in the message above. If you are unable to fulfill any or all parts of this request, please specifically cite where a reason for its denial is justified under NC Public Records Law.**
——————
** Please note that by submitting this request, I am NOT agreeing to pay any potential fees or associated costs related to my request. If it is not possible to process the request without incurring fees, then please let me know the itemized potential cost and explanations for those charges upfront, and DO NOT proceed until I can respond.
This request has been sent solely from the email address [email protected] . If anyone other than that email address contacts you to pursue a similar request, it did not come from me or my Team. 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!”
Thank you!
** 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 -
March 28, 2023 6:22 pm
1 year ago
Submitted to Sunshine Request
Status: Pending