Florida Times-Union audit

Times-Union intern Kyle Peters participated in the statewide open records project. Peters visited local governmental offices the week of Feb. 13 asking for specific public records available to him as an interested taxpayer. Participants in the project requested the same information in each county. Here's what happened in Jacksonville.

SHERIFF'S OFFICE

Records requested: Call log for previous 48 hours.

Results: Compliant. Upon entering the building Peters walked through a metal detector, had his bag searched and was asked his reason for coming. Peters said he was trying to obtain a call log and was directed to the line at the records desk. Upon his request at the desk, the officer said those records hadn't been put in the computer system yet. Peters then asked for the call log for the previous business week but was informed the number of calls would be in the thousands and that reports are $3 for the first 20 pages and 15 cents each page after that. Peters changed his request to the calls between noon and 1 p.m. on that previous Wednesday. The report was 10 pages and the officer explained to Peters what each column on the report documented.

Time: 25 minutes

Cost: $3

SCHOOL BOARD

Records requested: Superintendent Joseph Wise's e-mail correspondence with members of the School Board for the past week.

Results: Non-compliant. Upon entering the school district building Peters was required to sign in, provide I.D. and wear a name tag. Peters was directed to the sixth floor to the communications department where he met Communications Director Marsha Oliver. She told him it would be required for him to provide an e-mail requesting the records he was looking for so the School Board would have documentation of the requests being made. A written request is not required according to the law, so the School Board should be considered non-compliant.

Peters went ahead and made the request and asked to pick the records up the next afternoon. Oliver responded saying she shared the request with the superintendent's office and could not guarantee the records would be ready but they would try.

The next afternoon Peters tried to call the superintendent's secretary, Denese Mealor, but could not get in contact with her. The following day Peters spoke with another receptionist. She told Peters they were aware of his request and were trying to get the records, but with the superintendent going out of town the next day, the office was very busy. She also asked him why he was looking for the records. Peters told her he wanted the records because he was an interested taxpayer and needed them no later than Thursday afternoon. The following afternoon Peters was told the records would be ready in one hour, so he later returned and was given the records.

Time: Four work days

Cost: No charge

CITY HALL/MAYOR

Records requested: Mayor John Peyton's e-mail correspondence with City Council members for the past week.

Results: Compliant. Upon entering City Hall, Peters had to provide I.D. to be permitted access to the upper levels of the building and was directed to the fourth floor. Inside the mayor's office Peters made the request for the records. The mayor's receptionist, Alice Newman, asked him if he was with the media to which Peters responded he was an interested taxpayer. Newman asked him to wait in the lobby. She brought out Misty Skipper who asked Peters to explain what he was looking for. Peters explained his request again and was told they could have it ready the following day. When they asked Peters his name, he asked if it was necessary in order to get the records. They said it was in order for the correct person to get the documents when he or she comes back to pick them up. He gave them his first name.

The following afternoon Peters returned and the documents were ready.

Time: Two work days

Cost: No charge

CITY HALL/COUNCIL PRESIDENT

Records request: City Council President Kevin Hyde's e-mail correspondence with City Council members for the past week.

Results: Compliant. After Peters made the request for records, council receptionist Willene Pittman asked him to take a seat in the waiting area. After five minutes she came over and asked for his name. Peters asked her if it was necessary to get the records and she said she didn't know, so Peters declined to give his name. After another 10 minutes she told Peters that the only people with access to those records were Kevin Hyde and his secretary, Alison Miller, both who were in a meeting. She told him he could return the next day at 3 p.m. to pick up the records at the legislative services desk. The next day Peters returned and was told there were no such records to be picked up. A woman from the legislative services desk followed Peters back to the City Council office to explain the problem to Pittman. Pittman contacted Miller and explained the situation. After 10 minutes Miller came out to tell Peters she had just dropped off the records with legislative services and apologized for the confusion and delay. Peters had to pay for the cost of copies and give his name for the receipt that was hand written.

Time: Two work days

Cost: $5.55

Reproduced courtesy of the Florida Times-Union
Back to top | Return to fsne.org