Local Reporters share articles inspired by Documenters Notes

On Aug. 26, I was the Documenter assigned to the Affordable Housing Review Board meeting. At this meeting the Board moved through the process of funding recommendations that they would make to the Wichita City Council from the various developers that had submitted Request for Proposal (RFP) Applications on the available affordable housing properties in Wichita.

A spreadsheet from the ZoomGrants program was displayed on the big screen at the front of the meeting room so those attending on-line and in person could see.  

After the meeting I asked Lance Dixon, real property program specialist, for a copy of the spreadsheet so that I could include it with my Documenter notes of the meeting. He agreed to send it to me in a day or two.

Here is where things got a little interesting. On Aug. 28, I received an email from Dixon saying he had been informed by Director of Housing and Community Services Sally Stang to not provide me with a copy of the Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) spreadsheet as it is considered a funding document not yet voted on by the City Council.

My question then became, if you cannot provide me with a copy, then why was it made public for viewing?

I forwarded the email to Debbie Haslam, project manager of Wichita Documenters and she had discussions with others on how to proceed. Haslam also sent an email to Stang to request clarification regarding her reasoning for withholding the information. Haslam received the same response I did. The spreadsheet  was a working document and needed a City Council vote before being made public.

Haslam passed on a suggestion that I request the spreadsheet through the City of Wichita Open Records Request process. A link to fill out the form to complete and submit my request was on that page. 

After submitting the form, I received an email from the City accepting the request and had the option to attach documents or correspondence. I attached the email chain I had with Dixon.

On Sept. 10, I received an email from Dixon with the requested file saying the City Council was to vote on the recommendation later in the day.  I received another email from the Open Records Department stating that my request had been closed.

This process, although somewhat tedious at times, reinforced to me the importance of the Open Meetings and Open Records acts and the processes that are in place to help the public ensure that information is properly shared.