According to his lawsuit, Craig Merrill accuses the first-term representative of failing to provide “public records of official correspondence between your office and the residents and businesses of House District 6, which you represent.”

[Boswell staffer Beth] Strandberg first told Merrill in late April that “documents in the custody of a legislator are treated uniquely under the law.” Documents between legislators and legislative staff are not public record, she argued, also citing “legislative immunity” that protects lawmakers’ speech within the General Assembly.

All that’s irrelevant to his request, Merrill responded in an email a few days later. He reiterated that he was requesting correspondence between Boswell’s office and constituents, arguing those clearly fall under the public records law.

Bart Goodson, chief of staff and general counsel for Speaker Tim Moore, then gave Merrill a different reason for denial of his request. He argued that public records are defined as not only involving public officials and public business, but must also be generated “pursuant to law or ordinance,” as stated in the law defining public records.

In his email to Merrill, Goodson said “it is the long-held position of the General Assembly bipartisan central staff that constituent emails do not meet the definition of public record.” He cited no state law or court precedent that supported that position.

…After Merrill made more than a dozen requests for records, the ACLU decided to support a lawsuit against Boswell’s office because of the organization’s “longstanding commitment to transparency” in government, Legal Director Chris Brook said in an interview Thursday. He also warned that Boswell’s interpretation of public records law could give other lawmakers cover to skirt public records law and deny the public insight into their activities.

Boswell sued over request for records – Daily Advance

Unexpected twist in the saga of the bag ban.

 

 

Not only are plastic bags always one of the top 10 litter items found in coastal clean-ups in North Carolina and worldwide, the Ocean Conservancy has named them the second-most deadly litter to marine animals, which mistake the bags for food. Only abandoned fishing gear is deadlier. The bags also take hundreds of years to decompose and leech pollutants into the environment.

…Few Outer Banks residents, local businesses or local governments support repeal of the legislation enacted in 2009 that banned the bags on beachfront areas on the Outer Banks in Hyde, Currituck and Dare counties.

Even fewer would oppose a program that encourages recycling of all kinds of plastic bags. Still, the bill’s sponsors who represent the Outer Banks in Raleigh – state Sen. Bill Cook, R-Beaufort, and state Rep. Beverly Boswell, R-Dare – say the repeal is necessary to encourage merchants to create more jobs, and that consumer education about littering and plastic bag recycling would be more effective.

Plastic Bags Only Part of the Problem | Coastal Review Online

hmmmmm

Sounds like a lot of whining and weaseling and excuses from a a few folks who have decided they don’t want to uphold and support the will of the folks who elected them.

More than a dozen protesters upset over the repeal of the Outer Banks ban on plastic grocery bags jeered those arriving at a Friday evening fund raiser for Republican state Rep. Beverly Boswell at an oceanfront home in Kill Devil Hills.

…“Democrats and Republicans have shown they support the plastic bag ban,” Nasch said, adding Friday’s protest was a non-partisan gathering about a non-partisan issue.

Those who pulled into the narrow driveway in front of the three-level cottage were met with boos, chants and even a few snide comments about supporting, “Bev The Bag Lady.”

The Outer Banks Voice – Bag ban repeal opponents jeer Boswell, others at fundraiser

Supporting a repeal of a bag bill seems a little out of sync with the coastal area she represents.

Hmm….