By MIKE HELM
Columbus County filed its response last week to a lawsuit filed by The News Reporter and Atlantic Corporation, the parent company of the Tabor-Loris Tribune, against Columbus County and Interim County Manager Jim Varner, seeking the release of what the newspapers claim is a public document.
The lawsuit asks the court to force the county to release a memo written by Emergency Services Director Ronnie Hayes that relates to the hiring of Dr. Fred Obrecht as medical director. It also seeks compensation for attorney fees and court costs.
Mark Davis of the Raleigh law firm Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice is representing the county.
In his response, Davis asks the judge for a jury trial. Whiteville attorney Butch Pope, who is representing the newspapers with Raleigh open government/First Amendment attorney Amanda Martin, said the call for a jury trial is just a delaying tactic and the newspapers would seek a summary judgment.
“We don’t see any new information or stated deficiencies (in our filing),” Pope said. “Therefore, we will ask a judge to rule in our favor without going through the time and expense of a trial to obtain what is clearly public information.”
The county has been contending that the memo relates to a personnel matter and is therefore exempt from public scrutiny by state law. The newspapers contend the medical director is a contract employee and information related to his hiring or firing or performance is not protected by personnel exemptions to North Carolina Public Information laws.
Obrecht oversees many aspects of county EMS operations, including the certification of personnel. The newspapers are seeking release of a memo Hayes wrote to the personnel committee of the County Board of Commissioners when renewal of Obrecht’s contract was being considered.
The county’s response to the lawsuit admits that Obrecht is an independent contractor but claims the memo written by Hayes is protected from media scrutiny. It states that the memo contains Hayes’ “mental impressions,” although it doesn’t explain the legal significance of that term.
In an earlier press release, Fowler stated.
“This is an internal communication document including a discussion about other potential personnel and their potential employment/employee relationship with the county. A number of parties have rights in regards to this document. It is our opinion that these rights need to be protected. It is the county’s responsibility to protect those rights zealously to the extent of the law.”
On Oct. 13, counsel for the plaintiffs wrote Fowler.
“Hayes is a public official within the meaning of the public records law,” counsel wrote. “The document he created was made in connection with the transaction of public business. The content of the memorandum apparently relates to filling an independent contractor position and possible candidates for that position. The press release alludes to ‘a number of parties’ whom you assume have rights to this document. The press release, however, does not identify any individual or specifically reference any statutory rights such people might have that would exempt the memorandum from the public records law.”
Before filing suit, the newspapers had asked the county to seek an opinion from the N.C. Attorney General’s office.
“This would have provided some guidance for all parties involved, but the county chose not to seek this free advice,” said News Reporter Editor Les High, who added he hopes the judge would issue a summary judgment in favor of releasing the document to the public.
