Re: FW: AURA: Transparency, ethics and renewal of 2+ week old FOIA request

Sabrina,

I have had very little success using the online form. Notably, my recent series of requests for documents related to the quite expensive and environmentally damaged stretch of greenway from Tanyard Branch/Umstead Park to the CHPD HQ.

I didn't want another request to fall through the cracks like so many others which is why I made this Aura request to the Mayor and Council to make sure it got visibility and the attention required for a timely production.

That said, I've gone ahead and filled out the online form with the information as requested below.

I made the first emailed request to Council and staff 2 weeks ago. Did you get a copy?

As this request covers materials from private meetings between staff and Council, emails to individual board members, etc. I expect the public records production to cast a wide net and be liberal in its interpretation of the scope.

Please remind staff that it is not required under NC statute that requests identify specific documents by date or page number or subject header as a condition of them being produced (I've been stone-walled before with this tactic, kind of gets old).

Feel free to let me know as soon as possible if clarification is needed or if the Town plans to mandate a COVID19 safe inspection over electronic copies.

Finally, the Council and its advisory boards are actively reviewing the zoning, traffic, environmental and fiscal impacts of Aura.

As this records request pertains to a public issue that is currently under an expedited approval process and with Council's final public hearing on the horizon, timeliness is critical.

And, as I mentioned before, we're already 2 weeks beyond the first request.

While I hope that it does not become an issue, if the Town doesn't expect the documents to be produced before the next series of hearings, please let us know so we can explore our legal option to expedite production.

Thank you for reaching out, looking forward to the big document dump.

Take care,

Will

ps. The online form has a number of issues, For instance, as you are aware, the form asks for a lot of identifying information that is not required under the statute. The way the various options are presented, it suggests a vastly limited set of conditions for producing documents than is allowed under statute. Suggest putting a preamble that explains to the casual user how broad their rights are under NC law.

On 4/1/21 9:01 PM, Sabrina Oliver wrote:

Will, please submit the below request using the online form located here . This is our process for tracking all requests we receive. Thank you.

Sabrina

Sabrina M. Oliver
Communications and Public Affairs Director/

Town Clerk
Communications and Public Affairs

Town of Chapel Hill
405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Chapel Hill, NC 27514-5705

Phone: (919) 968-2743
Fax: (919) 967-8406

Twitter: @chapelhillgov
Sign up for eNews! townofchapelhill.org/signup

From: Jeanette Coffin <jcoffin@townofchapelhill.org>
Date: April 1, 2021 at 10:40:00 AM EDT
To: campaign@willraymond.org
Cc: Colleen Willger <cwillger@townofchapelhill.org>, Judy Johnson <jjohnson@townofchapelhill.org>, Allen Buansi <abuansi@townofchapelhill.org>, Amy Ryan <aryan@townofchapelhill.org>, Hongbin Gu <hgu@townofchapelhill.org>, Jeanne Brown <jbrown2@townofchapelhill.org>, Jess Anderson <janderson@townofchapelhill.org>, Karen Stegman <kstegman@townofchapelhill.org>, Michael Parker <mparker@townofchapelhill.org>, Pam Hemminger <phemminger@townofchapelhill.org>, Tai Huynh <thuynh@townofchapelhill.org>, Amy Harvey <aharvey@townofchapelhill.org>, Ann Anderson <aanderson@townofchapelhill.org>, Carolyn Worsley <cworsley@townofchapelhill.org>, Flo Miller <fmiller@townofchapelhill.org>, Laura Selmer <lselmer@townofchapelhill.org>, Mary Jane Nirdlinger <mnirdlinger@townofchapelhill.org>, Maurice Jones <mjones@townofchapelhill.org>, Rae Buckley <rbuckley@townofchapelhill.org>, Ran Northam <rnortham@townofchapelhill.org>, Ross Tompkins <rtompkins@townofchapelhill.org>, Sabrina Oliver <soliver@townofchapelhill.org>
Subject: RE: AURA: Transparency, ethics and renewal of 2+ week old FOIA request

Thank you for your correspondence with the Town of Chapel Hill. The Mayor and Town Council are interested in what you have to say. By way of this email, I am forwarding your message to the Mayor and each of the Council Members, as well as to the appropriate staff person who may be able to assist in providing additional information or otherwise addressing your concerns.

Again, thank you for your message.

Sincerely,

Jeanette Coffin

Jeanette Coffin
Office Assistant
Town of Chapel Hill Manager's Office
405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
(o) 919-968-2743 | (f) 919-969-2063

-----Original Message-----
From: campaign@willraymond.org [mailto:campaign@willraymond.org]
Sent: Thursday, April 1, 2021 10:20 AM
To: Town Council <mayorandcouncil@townofchapelhill.org>; Manager <manager@townofchapelhill.org>
Subject: AURA: Transparency, ethics and renewal of 2+ week old FOIA request

External email: Don't click links or attachments from unknown senders. To check or report forward to reportspam@townofchapelhill.org

Dear Mayor and Council,

It has been over two weeks since my initial request that Council stand-by its collective pledge to conduct business in a transparent and ethical fashion on behalf of our community.

The Aura project will have major impacts on safety, traffic, environment in its current form.

We have already seen the downsides of the first major development in Central West, adding more problems by ramrodding Aura through the process poses both short and long term negative consequences.

As I understand it, residents have already submitted over 50 specific questions and concerns about the Aura project with no official response from the Town to-date.

Given that, the extraordinary pace that the Aura project is moving through the approval process, the many manifest problems residents have already highlighted, the ethical issues that surround the Central West planning effort and the most recent CDC hearings, it is incumbent on this Council to respond in a timely, detailed manner.

I am renewing my request for the following records covering Jan. 1, 2021 through June 1st, 2021 for the series of private Council member meetings where members were briefed on the new Town-wide traffic model in general and, more specifically, traffic studies, environmental, fiscal assessments and other issues surrounding the Aura project on the corner of MLK,Jr./Estes.

Residents expect the Town to either release or make available for inspection records like:

- all audio, video recordings of these meetings
- a roster of who attended
- all minutes and notes by Council and staff
- all materials used in those presentations
- all communications with UNC Chapel Hill as pertains to Aura project's impact on the Carolina North project.
- all communications from individual Council members to advisory boards, individual advisory board members involving Aura
- all communications from individual Council members and staff available as per the narrowest interpretations of "economic development"
restrictions of NC GS 131 with Cant Hook, Trinsic Residential, their representatives - most notably CDC Chair Dancy - and any other Trinsic agents.

For the staff researching these records, the request should be interpreted liberally to include:

"all documents, papers, letters, maps, books, photographs, films, sound recordings, magnetic or other tapes, electronic data-processing records, artifacts, or other documentary material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received pursuant to law or ordinance in connection with the transaction of public business by any agency of North Carolina government or its subdivisions. Agency of North Carolina government or its subdivisions shall mean and include every public office, public officer or official (State or local, elected or appointed), institution, board, commission, bureau, council, department, authority or other unit of government of the State or of any county, unit, special district or other political subdivision of government."

In other words, please make available the broadest range of internal information available on Aura quickly so that our residents can respond appropriately.

Again, this is an official request for records.

Please feel free to have staff contact me if they need guidance on fulfilling this request.

Will

--

Dear Mayor and Council,

I recently sent a request that the series of private meetings sub-groups of Council is having with staff and others on the troubling Aura project be noticed, public given access to materials presented and that recordings/real-time access be provided.

The Mayor's office sent me an email and I called and left a contact number. Haven't heard anything since.

Please regard this as a formal FOIA request for these materials:
- all audio, video recordings of these meetings
- a roster of who attended
- all minutes and notes by Council and staff
- all materials used in the presentations

As you know, there is no legal requirement that a citizen file a formal FOIA request through the Town's website but I will if that means there will not be an extended delay of informing the public of the reasons for expediting this very troubling project through the land-use approval process.

It will be our residents - not the developer - who will pay for a bad outcome.

We are looking at a mistake that makes the Blue Hill fiasco pale in comparison - please do the right thing by inviting public scrutiny and review.

Will

###

I heard that a series of presentations on the troubling Aura project will be given to groups of 4 Council members at a time over the next couple weeks.

Apparently the intent is to meet with few enough members that the Town can dodge North Carolina's legal requirements to notice meetings, to provide the public materials and to allow the public to view the proceedings.

As you know, the Council has for decades committed to operate in the most ethical and transparent fashion possible in order that our community can assess whether the decisions Council makes are reflective of its values.

Given the extraordinary speed the Aura review is being done, the doubling up of advisory board meetings, the concern about the ethics of advisory members who have a direct interest in Aura participating, it is incumbent on the Council to assure, by both deed and word, that the public is included every step of the way.

I ask you notice each of these Aura meetings. Make all materials available to the public. Allow the public to watch each meeting in real-time and record the Council's reactions for further dissemination.

Thank you