Other (indicate in message) Submitted: March 20, 2024 | Updated: April 25, 2024

(March 2024) Request for City of Northwest, NC Government: List of all current employees and salaries. As of the present day.

Good evening Donna, Mayor, (or 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

The type of basic salary data I’m requesting is simple to provide, is very commonly produced, and is widely considered a matter of public record as part of the public personnel file of employees. Many NC entities fulfill requests like this via email in 1 week, and in many cases 1 day.

Please provide the names and salaries of all current City of Northwest employees, as of the present day [on the date the query is performed]. Please include the following:

1) Employee first / last name
2) Date of hire
3) Position / title / department
4) Salary [including hourly wage, hourly rate, or salary -- whichever payment structure is applicable to the employee]

Ideally, I’d like to receive the responsive records in an Excel or other machine-readable format. If any / all of this info is already publicly available online, please provide a link to where it can be accessed.

** 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.

Status: Government Denied Request

Activity:

  • April 25, 2024 4:05 pm

    1 day ago

    from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    to: Finance Clerk <[email protected]>
    cc: Sheila Grady <[email protected]>
    date: Apr 25, 2024, 4:05 PM
    subject: Re: Public records request. (March 2024) Request for City of Northwest, NC Government: List of all current employees and salaries. As of the present day.

     

    Good afternoon Donna and Sheila,

     

    In regard to my public records request, first sent to your offices on March 20, 2024:
    (March 2024) Request for City of Northwest, NC Government: List of all current employees and salaries. As of the present day.

     

    I have not received any response from either of you since I submitted the request, nor have I received a response to my follow up messages about this on March 29, April 11, and April 18.

     

    I remain concerned by the City’s ongoing issues with their request fulfillment process, as displayed by this request (as well as several other records requests) I’ve submitted in the past.

     

    Under NC Public Records Law, the City is required to respond to, and “promptly” process, all public records requests. I want to highlight again the court case referenced in item #6 of the following article, posted on the NC Press Association website. In this instance: “The trial court held that an unjustified one-month delay in production of records was tantamount to a denial”. http://www.ncpress.com/stories/a-bakers-dozen-for-2022nc-public-records-law,2390

     

    Having made all reasonable attempts to follow up on my request, and having received no response at all in over a month, I will now mark this request as having been “Denied” by your organization.

     

    I would like to recommend, again, that the City of Northwest revisit their current public records request fulfillment process to ensure that you’re filling requests in compliance with the Law.

     

    Thank you.

     

    ~ The Sunshine Request Team


    Status: Government Denied Request
  • April 18, 2024 4:08 pm

    1 week ago

    from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    to: Finance Clerk <[email protected]>
    cc: Sheila Grady <[email protected]>
    date: Apr 18, 2024, 4:08 PM
    subject: Re: Public records request. (March 2024) Request for City of Northwest, NC Government: List of all current employees and salaries. As of the present day.

     

    Hi Donna and Mayor,

     

    This is my third and final attempt to follow up with you regarding my public records request sent to your offices on March 20, 2024:

     

    (March 2024) Request for City of Northwest, NC Government: List of all current employees and salaries. As of the present day.

     

    I have not received any response since first submitting the request, nor have I received a response to my follow up messages about this on March 29th and April 11th.

     

    I remain concerned by the fulfillment process (or lack of process) that the City has shown with this, and several other, records requests I’ve submitted in the past.

     

    Under NC Public Records Law, the City is required to “promptly” process all public records requests. Essentially, this means that if you intentionally delay the fulfillment of a request by allowing it to “sit” until staff has availability to address it, or feels like answering emails, then this could be considered a denial of a request. With this in mind, I want to highlight again the court case referenced in item #6 of the following article, posted on the NC Press Association website. In this instance:  “The trial court held that an unjustified one-month delay in production of records was tantamount to a denial”. http://www.ncpress.com/stories/a-bakers-dozen-for-2022nc-public-records-law,2390

     

    Please confirm receipt of my request to let me know it has begun processing, and please provide an anticipated date for its completion.

     

    I will follow up again in 1 week. At that point, if I still haven’t heard back, then I will mark this request as having been “Denied” by your organization.

     

    Thank you.

     

    ~ The Sunshine Request Team


    Status: Follow up
  • April 11, 2024 12:28 pm

    2 weeks ago

    from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    to: Finance Clerk <[email protected]>
    cc: Sheila Grady <[email protected]>
    date: Apr 11, 2024, 12:28 PM
    subject: Re: Public records request. (March 2024) Request for City of Northwest, NC Government: List of all current employees and salaries. As of the present day.

     

    Good afternoon Donna and Mayor,

     

    This is my second attempt to follow up with you regarding my public records request sent to your offices on March 20, 2024:

     

    (March 2024) Request for City of Northwest, NC Government: List of all current employees and salaries. As of the present day.

     

    I haven’t received any response since submitting the request.

     

    Please confirm receipt of my request to let me know it has begun processing, and please provide an anticipated date for its completion.

     

    If I do not hear back in 1 week, I will follow up again.

     

    Thank you!

     

    ~ The Sunshine Request Team


    Status: Follow up
  • March 29, 2024 1:45 pm

    4 weeks ago

    from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    to: Finance Clerk <[email protected]>
    cc: Sheila Grady <[email protected]>
    date: Mar 29, 2024, 1:45 PM
    subject: Re: Public records request. (March 2024) Request for City of Northwest, NC Government: List of all current employees and salaries. As of the present day.

     

    Hello Donna and Mayor,

     

    I submitted the following public records request to your offices on March 20, 2024:
    (March 2024) Request for City of Northwest, NC Government: List of all current employees and salaries. As of the present day.

     

    I have not received any response since I submitted the request.

     

    Please confirm receipt of my request to let me know it has begun processing — and please provide an anticipated date for its completion.

     

    I will follow up again in 1 week, if I don’t hear anything else before then.

     

    Thank you for your help!

     

    ~ The Sunshine Request Team


    Status: Follow up
  • March 20, 2024 6:24 pm

    1 month ago

    from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    to: Finance Clerk <[email protected]>
    cc: Sheila Grady <[email protected]>
    date: Mar 20, 2024, 6:24 PM
    subject: Public records request. (March 2024) Request for City of Northwest, NC Government: List of all current employees and salaries. As of the present day.

     

    Good evening Donna, Mayor, (or 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

     

    The type of basic salary data I’m requesting is simple to provide, is very commonly produced, and is widely considered a matter of public record as part of the public personnel file of employees. Many NC entities fulfill requests like this via email in 1 week, and in many cases 1 day.

     

    Please provide the names and salaries of all current City of Northwest employees, as of the present day [on the date the query is performed]. Please include the following:

     

    1) Employee first / last name
    2) Date of hire
    3) Position / title / department
    4) Salary [including hourly wage, hourly rate, or salary — whichever payment structure is applicable to the employee]

     

    Ideally, I’d like to receive the responsive records in an Excel or other machine-readable format. If any / all of this info is already publicly available online, please provide a link to where it can be accessed.

     

    ** 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
  • March 20, 2024 6:21 pm

    1 month ago

    Submitted to Sunshine Request
    Status: Pending