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.
Editor’s Note 06/11/25: The submission above has been marked as “Completed”.
1. As written, we find the request to be overly broad / unclear overall.
– A. Looking at the Subject vs. the content of the Message as well as the “Start Date / End Date”, it’s unclear to what specific time period the info requested should apply.
– B. “… Any emails, memos, reports, meeting minutes, or other communications between city officials and representatives of U.S. ISS Agency, LLC related to: the scope or purpose of the contract, the progress or status of the investigation, and any findings or deliverables submitted to the city.”
It’s unclear what investigation the underlined text refers to.
2. Per the FAQs / Policies page of our site:
Sunshine Request is an anonymous, free community project built by our small 3-person team in Asheville. We allow users to anonymously submit requests to our Team to fulfill, and we don’t require any personal info to be submitted in order for our Team to process requests. This means we also cannot verify who submits a request to our website, or how / if any responsive records may be used (by anyone other than our team). We do not send the results of requests directly to individuals, and we publish the results of all completed requests on our website. This also means that we do not communicate directly with individuals about the requests on our site. Once a request has begun processing on our site, we do not edit or cancel its fulfillment process.
According to info posted on the (redacted) weblink the sender provided, it’s clear they sent the City a nearly identical request as the submission above in April, and that they’re actively engaged in ongoing discussion with the City about their request. The last update they’ve shared was from 6 days ago. We cannot speak to the veracity of any of the statements or info the sender or the City has made in the updates they’ve posted. However, if the sender has reason to believe that the City has improperly disclosed, or is not disclosing to them, all available public records in accordance with NC Public Records Law — we encourage them to reach out to the City directly as they’ve been doing to this point. And perhaps, to consider taking the appropriate steps to pursue legal mediation under NC Records Law.
The (redacted) weblink the sender provided also includes the sender’s name, personal opinions / statements, and other personally identifying information about the sender and possibly their family members. That link is also regularly updated, and documents the status of each communication they’ve had with the City through June 05.
It would not make sense for our Team to submit a duplicate request for this same info to the City at this time, while the sender is actively engaged in discussions about the same. We find that such actions often confuse entities and complicate requests, which also results in our Team receiving sensitive communications that we are unable to post on our site. Due to the personal nature of the conversations the sender has been having with the City about this request, we recommend that they continue to reach out directly to the City for assistance.
3. Additionally, please note:
Sunshine Request is a site built to make requests for public records (recorded info such as documents, emails, and data sets) to government entities. We are a small 3-person team, running the website in addition to our primary business. Due to our availability, the volume of requests we receive, and the time required to fulfill each one — our focus is on fulfilling requests which are in the public interest, and evaluating if there is a public benefit to that info being available.
– We will not fulfill requests for “public safety” or court type records specific to a single individual, address, incident, case number, etc. This also includes police reports, calls for service, complaints / incident reports / citations, criminal / arrest type records, or camera footage. We will, on a case by case basis, fulfill public safety related requests that focus on system-level trends and data.
– Due to the personal nature of the info you (might be) seeking, we would recommend the sender reaches out directly to the appropriate entity for assistance with the request, if that type of info happens to be contained in any of the responsive records you’re hoping to receive.
In the future, please feel free to revise and submit a new request through our website. Please clearly indicate any specific details, subject, message, dates, record types, City / County / State, etc. about the exact public records that are being requested.
Sunshine Request will not fulfill the following types of requests:
☀️ Requests listing the possible “sender’s” name or other contact information in the request subject or message.
We do not require any personal info to be submitted in order for our team to be able to process the requests. This means we are not able to verify who submits a request, and we also do not send the results of requests directly to individuals. We publish the results of all completed requests on our website.
☀️ Requests for public safety information specific to a single individual, address, incident or name.
This includes police reports, calls for service, complaints / incident reports / citations, criminal / arrest type records, or camera footage. We will, on a case by case basis, fulfill public safety related requests that focus on system-level trends and data.
Due to the personal nature of this type of information, we recommend that the sender reach out directly to the appropriate entity for assistance with the request.
☀️ Requests that include profanity, personal statements, opinions, possibly defamatory statements, or other unnecessary info that is not relevant to making a records request.
Please do not include personal opinions and statements in the request’s Subject or Message. Please omit any extraneous statements that are not specific to the exact information you’d like to receive. This is not relevant information pertinent to the processing of a records request, and the request will not be published.
☀️ Requests that are incomplete, non-specific, or vague.
While we do proofread requests we receive for general spelling and clarity, we may choose not to fulfill the request if it is incomplete, or it is unclear what specific information the requester hopes to receive. In this case, the sender may rewrite and resubmit the request.
It’s the requester’s responsibility to write the request in a manner that clearly specifies a record that is being requested, and to what government entity it should be sent.
☀️ Please be specific:
It is important that what you are requesting is specific and reasonable, and is an actionable records request. Please specify the exact type of records you’d like to receive, rather than any “possible” or “potential” info that could be searched. Remember that the larger your request, the more time it usually takes to fulfill. Specificity will often help reduce the amount of time needed to process the request.
It is important that a request has a clearly written and complete Subject and Message, and also specifies the Government Entity (or entities), City and/or County, and State to which the request should be sent. If applicable, please also include any responsive timelines for the info that should be requested.
While we do proofread requests we receive for general spelling and clarity, we may choose not to fulfill the request if it is incomplete, or it is unclear what specific info the requester hopes to receive, or if it violates our policies.
Before submitting a request, please take a moment to review our tips for How to write and make a successful request. If you have additional questions about our site or how to make requests, please check out our FAQs or Policies page.
☀️ Code of Conduct: Please do not use Sunshine Request or any of the results of public records requests to harass government entities / employees, businesses, private citizens / individuals, or otherwise.
☀️ Please note that we cannot pay any fees / associated costs related to any of the requests on our site. If it is not possible for a Government Agency to process our request without incurring fees, then it is the responsibility of that Agency to let us know what the potential costs may be — at which point we will ask that they cease processing the request. We will mark the request as “Completed” on our site, and the sender can contact the Government Agency directly, should they wish to further pursue a request.
Thank you for using Sunshine Request!