Cherokee County Clerk Karen Huey (right) talks with a visitor in her Woodstock, Ga., office. ``I've always tried to cooperate with the public, because they're their records,'' she said. The survey found most cities cooperative. ASSOCIATED PRESS

Cities are complying with the law

Web posted December 14, 1999

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By Robert Pavey
Staff Writer

Georgia's cities, it seems, have seen the light. In a statewide survey, they made public records available 93 percent of the time.

That score puts them well ahead of Georgia police departments, sheriff's offices and school boards in complying with the state's sunshine laws.

``Everything in this office is public record,'' said Susan Crowe, the city clerk of Clermont.

In Grovetown, ``No one asked me who I was or who I was with,'' reporter Meghan Gourley of The Augusta Chronicle said.

There was a different story in Talbotton.

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The clerk's office said that the city's meeting minutes were not available. A police chief in a neighboring county had them, she said. When a surveyor contacted the police chief, he said he knew nothing about Talbotton's meeting minutes.

The Talbotton incident, however, was isolated. More and more cities are taking bigger steps to ensure that public records are public, according to the survey results.

``We try to please, that's what we do,'' said City Clerk Jackie Brown of Tybee Island, a 4,000-resident beach town near Savannah.

Tybee Island is among a growing number of cities that place public records on the Internet. Tybee offers its residents (and anyone else who wants to look online) all meeting minutes since 1991.

``A couple times when they're not up to date, we've gotten calls from people wanting to know why,'' Ms. Brown said.

Sixty-five Georgia cities, from Hahira to Hazlehurst and points in between, have Web sites, and some include instant access to public documents.

In Columbus, city council agendas are posted online in advance of all meetings. They offer information on rezonings, bids, building projects, appointments, new ordinances, even citizen complaints.

Kevin Aker, PC Services Manager in the Columbus Department of Information Technologies, said online access to public records is a relatively new venture.

``We've only been posting agendas for a few months,'' he said. ``People want to know what's going on at city council meetings, and they needed to know in advance so they can decide if they want to be there.''

Grovetown Billing Clerk Vicky Capetillo works at Grovetown City Hall. During a recent Freedom of Information survey of communities in the area, Grovetown's open records were very accessible. JIM BLAYLOCK/STAFF

The online access has been so well received that city officials are working to expand the site and offer additional public records, he said.

``We're always going to be upgrading it,'' he said. ``We put together a committee that will be in charge, and each department will put their information out there that they think the public will want.''

New technology is converting the state's once-sleepy hamlets.

``I would guess that all but maybe your smallest rural cities have computerized,'' said Brad Williams, systems administrator for Peachtree City.

No Georgia city's Web site identified in the survey includes planning and zoning analyses, which would allow residents to examine the pros and cons of proposals before public hearings.

Despite these concerns, overall improvements by local governments have been dramatic, said Hollie Manheimer, executive director of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation.

``There has been a gargantuan effort among public officials to comply,'' she said.

Reach Robert Pavey at (706) 868-1222, Ext. 119.