What A Waste

Last month I reported to you about the gentleman who had made the public records request. Richard Truitt who regularly attends and speaks at commission and school board meetings filed an open records request with the mayors office. I also predicted that it would cost thousands of dollars to comply to the request. The cost so far is more than $5,300.00. $5,300.00 of your tax dollars have been thrown away to satisfy one man's request for public records in hopes that he/they might find some incriminating evidence against the mayor and commission.

His request was for:

All written correspondence and/or communications including, but not limited to, notes, letters, memos, faxes, etc. and all electronic communications* including, but not limited to, text messages, e-mails, email attachments, etc. related to county business of any kind and sent or received by Commission Chairman Steve Harrelson, Commissioner Van Shaver, Commissioner Harold Duff, Commissioner Earlena Maples, Commissioner Leo Bradshaw, Commissioner David Meers, Commissioner Matthew  Tinker, Commissioner Bill Satterfield, Commissioner Henry Cullen, Commissioner Kelly Littleton-Brewster, and County Mayor Buddy Bradshaw from January 26, 2015 – March 6, 2015.

That request involves a lot of information and a lot of work to bring it all together but last week it was all compiled and Mr. Truitt was contacted to tell him his requested records were ready for him to view. Not surprisingly, Truitt's attorney replied that he was out of town and that she would be inspecting the records for him. She stated that she would be at the county office on Friday to inspect.

As most suspected who was really behind the records request, self appointed watchdog Pat Hunter, showed up with Truitt's lawyer with her own copier under her arm. You see, the county can't charge anyone to view records. Fees can only be charged if the county provides copies to the requester to take with them.

In an effort to follow the letter of the law, Mayor Buddy Bradshaw informed Ms. Hunter that she would not be allowed to inspect the provided records with the attorney, given that the request had come from Mr. Truitt. Ms. Hunter did leave her copier for the attorney to use. Ms. Hunter left but later returned to wait on the attorney.

Truitt's lawyer, Linda Noe, spent seven hours in the mayor's office last Friday going through the more than twenty-five hundred documents that had been compiled, making copies of many of the documents.


A Months Worth Of Public Records
Attorney Linda Noe Looking Through Records
Pat Hunter In Waiting

It's so hypocritical for folks like Mr. Truitt and Ms. Hunter who have griped and moaned for years about wasteful spending by county government to then turn right around and waste the tax payers money.

Kind of tells you all you need to know about their real motives.

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4/15/15