Hallelujah! How Beaufort County Administrator Ashley Jacobs honors public’s right to know | Editorial

Beaufort County Administrator Ashley Jacobs took a strong stand for the public’s right to know last week, and we hope the whole world’s watching.

At least all of Beaufort County should see how her appreciation of the law — along with common sense and common courtesy — brought a sudden solution to an unnecessary problem.

Too often, that is not the case in situations like this, when citizens or members of the media ask public employees for public information through the S.C. Freedom of Information Act.

In September, reporter Kacen Bayless filed an FOIA request with the county for public records related to independent service contracts with former government employees.

That’s because it came to light last year that former interim administrator Josh Gruber wrote himself a $12,000-per-month consulting contract with the county as he walked out the door for a new job as assistant town administrator on Hilton Head Island.

An investigation into that contract revealed that this under-the-radar practice is common with our county government.

The public needs to know every detail about every contract.

So we asked for them all.

Then this happened: The county records department estimated the search would cost $299.17. The newspaper agreed to pay the cost and put down a 25% deposit to start the search. On Nov. 1, the department emailed The Packet, “You paid a deposit of $74.79. The estimated total was $299.17. The actual total amount for this request is $655.66, as searching and compiling these records took considerably longer than originally estimated. Your balance due is $580.87.”

That’s ridiculous, and we reported that. We reported that a citizen got a bill for $12,000 after asking for the release of county council members’ emails. We wrote about the provisions of the law, which attempts to make the most information possible available to the public with the least amount of hassle and expense. And we reported that other states, such as Kentucky, prevent governments from charging the public for staff time costs related to FOIA requests.

Columnist Liz Farrell raised the question in an opinion piece about the 30 hours the county claimed it took to round up the material. Why would it take 30 hours? Especially when the information already had been gathered during a recent county investigation of Gruber’s consulting contract.

And then on Friday, the county administrator sat down with Bayless and resolved the issue. Jacobs did so by living up to the spirit of the state law. Yes, some of the material was right there in her office. Yes, it could all be quickly provided — and at no charge. Jacobs also said the county would refund the paper’s $74.79 down payment and that the county would not charge the media for FOIA requests as long as they are not “burdensome to staff.”

And then this, for which we should all stand as if she were singing the “Hallelujah Chorus.” Jacobs said:

“It’s a new day in Beaufort County, and we’re going to be completely transparent.”

To Jacobs, on behalf of the public, we say, “Thank you.”

That’s government as it should be. All other local governments should take note: It didn’t hurt. The sky did not fall. The law was obeyed. The rights of the public were honored.

Hallelujah.

This story was originally published November 25, 2019 at 4:10 PM.