Gotta ask, as the long-time — 15 years! — Charlotte city attorney was among the “email panel” members appointed by Mike Easley who last year — surprise! — rubber-stamped Mike Easley’s email policy.
That policy leaves it up to state employees to decide if emails are relevant enough to save for disclosure to the public. Employees like former NC State chancellor James Oblinger.
Today comes news that NCSU lawyers cannot find six months worth of email from Oblinger. A federal grand jury wants the emails from 2005 in connection with its investigation into — wait for it — Mike and Mary Easley.
Don’t be surprised if you don’t hear from Mac for awhile. He’s feeling a little used and abused.
Bonus Policy: Given the state of North Carolina’s problems with email, disclosure, and basic fairness, how about simply stipulating and automating a system which dumps all email from the prior 60 days onto a publicly accessible server. In other words, the state gets a 60-day privacy screen after which time — the whole world is watching.
