Over the Weekend McCrory’s Hometown Paper Noted his Shall We Say – Evolution – on Releasing Public Records.

“But when McCrory’s campaign on Thursday touted “his long record of openness and transparency, routinely providing emails, documents and other records to the public and media,’ we couldn’t help but think back to the summer of 2007. The Observer asked then for all of Mayor McCrory’s emails, which state law says are public. McCrory loudly complained and at one point turned to an Observer reporter and said, “Y’all have lost it.” We’re relieved to learn his stance has changed.” (Charlotte Observer, editorial, 6/11/12)

But That’s Not the Only Example…

 2008: Charlotte City Attorney Said Top Charlotte Officials Had Stopped Sending Sensitive Info by Email for Fear It Might Become Public. The News and Observer reported, “Charlotte City Attorney Mac McCarley said Thursday that public information requests for e-mail had become so burdensome that top officials had quit sending sensitive messages for fear they might become public. Ned Cline, a panel member and former newspaper editor from Greensboro, asked: ‘Do you have any idea whether or not any of your people covered by this have started doing more of their business by phone or in the men's room than doing it by paper or electronic?’ ‘It gets printed out as assistant city manager says X and it sounds really stupid,’ McCarley said. ‘So what you do is you change the way you do business.’ Cline asked whether Charlotte city government was less transparent than it was a year ago.  ‘Yes, but we do it for the purpose of efficiency and creativity so you get an opportunity to think through new ideas without getting shot for it,’ he said.” [News and Observer, 5/9/08]

2008: McCrory Said the Media Has a Responsibility to Make Public Records Requests “Reasonable.” “McCrory agreed with McCarley that the amount of requests could become burdensome to city staffers, especially when media, including the Observer, ‘ask for anything, at any time, in any place.’ ‘I think there's a media responsibility in making the requests reasonable,’ McCrory said.” [Charlotte Observer, 5/10/08]

McCrory Hoped Dumping Already Public Records Would Distract from Failure to Make Financial Disclosures. “The Pat McCrory campaign on Friday released its 2012 statement of economic interest, but not the tax return that Democrats have been calling for. The statement notes that McCrory, the GOP candidate for governor, has an interest in Duke Energy Co., his former employer, Spectra, Tree/Lending Tree, and the Kewaunee Scientific Corporation. Note: His economic interest form is not new -- click here for a February report on the document when he filed it with his candidacy papers.” (News & Observer, “Under the Dome” Blog, 6/8/12) 

The Question Still Remains… Who Pays Pat McCrory?