Harlem City Council voted on a policy establishing new protocols for fulfilling open records requests (ORR).
During its monthly meeting, Monday night, city manager Debra Moore responded to questions from council members clarifying the policy.
Open records requests to the city will be directed to the city manager, or the city clerk if the manager is not available. Minor requests, Moore explained, such as if a person asking for a copy of the report of a traffic accident they may have been involved in, could be fulfilled by office staff.
The Harlem Police Department, while subject to the same Open Records Act guidelines, would be responsible for fulfilling its own open records requests.
The council would also go on to vote in favor of a 10% pay increase for city police officers (the increase did not apply to management or administrative staff), and the addition of two part-time, as-needed firefighter positions in its fire department.
The council approved the purchase of new generators for its fire station and its city hall building, a cautious investment in the wake of Hurricane Helene’s impact on Harlem, last year.
“As you know, we did not have generator power in several of our city buildings, crucial buildings,” said Mayor Roxanne Whitaker. “This is a way that we can be prepared if and when we ever have another catastrophe like we did on September 27.”
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
