The North Carolina Open Government Coalition awarded a Sunshine Award for Government to North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell and the NC Treasurer’s office staff for government service in responding to and fulfilling public records requests.
The Sunshine Award recognizes Treas. Folwell’s efforts to improve transparency by taking a personal interest in public records practice and following up on stale public records in response to journalists’ requests.
According to the nominating documents, Folwell personally investigated a lingering public records request related to a journalist’s inquiry into the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency’s HOPE program, which defrayed rent and utilities costs that some North Carolinians struggled to pay during the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,
Folwell also pushed for electronic access to Council of State meetings during the pandemic so that reporters could attend meetings and hearings more easily and has pushed to increase transparency in hospital pricing.
“North Carolina should want more of our state’s leaders to bring the same transparency-first mindset,” the nomination form read. Congratulations to Treas. Folwell and the public records staff in the Treasurer’s office.