INSIDE THE AG COMPLAINT

Below are some examples of actions by city of Atlanta officials that lawyers for the AJC and Channel 2 Action News allege violate the Georgia Open Records Act: In July 2016, Channel 2 sought watershed department records for meter readings on accounts with the status “Vacant – shut off” from March to June 2016. After 10 weeks of negotiations, the city provided incomplete records, including a database that omitted columns of data. A source told Channel 2 the spreadsheets were incomplete, and the station insisted on obtaining the full documents. Lawyers for Channel 2 ultimately intervened in October 2016, and the city complied the next month only after the station spent thousands of dollars on legal fees. In spring 2017, Channel 2 sought water billing records for several city officials. In response to the open records request, former press secretary Jenna Garland and former watershed department staffer Lillian Govus communicated by text and coordinated delayed release of records, with Garland instructing Govus to “Drag this out as long as possible. And provide information in the most confusing format available.” Channel 2 and the AJC obtained the texts this year and published stories in March that triggered the GBI investigation into the city’s handling of open records requests.

In July 2017, the AJC requested records relating to then-city CFO Jim Beard’s government issued purchasing card. The city initially said it would charge the AJC $240 to produce records, which the paper agreed to pay. The city failed to produce responsive records for six months. The AJC renewed its request Jan. 26 and added a request for records concerning former Mayor Kasim Reed. The city said it would provide records Feb. 16, and then said the records wouldn’t be made available until March 19. When the AJC obtained the records, the paper learned Reed had reimbursed the city for nearly $12,000 in purchases during the exact years for which the AJC sought records, and that checks from Reed were dated March 9. Reed has said his reimbursements were not related to the AJC’s records request.

In October 2017, an AJC reporter requested certain records pertaining to people housed in the city jail and for published municipal court judicial calendars. The city said it would require 30 to 45 days to produce the records, which should be readily available. Another city official said the request should have gone through the mayor’s communications office, not the court, and the reporter sought assistance from the city attorney. When the records ultimately were provided in mid-December, they did not include some of the requested materials.