On the heels of announcing a new financial portal for residents to view the city’s financial transactions, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has unveiled a plan to reform protocols for public records requests.
In a letter to the Atlanta City Council, Bottoms said she has directed the creation of a Citywide Open Records Compliance Policy to create consistent protocols across all departments for handling requests of city records by residents and the media. There will also be training sessions for city employees on how to handle the requests.
Bottoms said a new website for open records would also be created with an online form for submitting a records requests.
The mayor said she would ask the council to amend the Atlanta City Code to make sure the city was more transparent and in compliance with the state-mandated open records act. Two of those amendments will include the designation of an Official Record Custodian and the creation of a hotline to receive complaints and concerns about non-compliance in records requests.
You can read a copy of the mayor’s letter to the city council at this link via WSB.