From the Watauga Democrat (8/10/13): Boone town officials have rewritten the definition of the word, "prompt."
The North Carolina statutes regarding the release of public records upon request is, at best, a gray area in public records law. Indeed, the statute says that public officials must comply “as promptly as possible.”
Now, “promptly” can mean different things to different people, but a request made more than 14 weeks ago would hardly seem to fit anyone’s sense of the word – or statute.
For the record, on May 2, the Watauga Democrat requested emails and other written communication to or from Mayor Loretta Clawson, Boone Town Council, Affordable Task Force members, Town Manager Greg Young and Town Attorney Sam Furgiuele from Nov. 1, 2012 to the present, related to, among other things, the town’s Unified Development Ordinance, the sale of the old Watauga High School – to Templeton Properties – and a potential lawsuit against the town by Watauga County. We also requested open and closed session minutes related to a potential lawsuit and/or potential sales tax changes by the county, since Nov. 1, 2012.