Corridor Chronicle
Post Office Box 20297 – Charleston, West Virginia 25362
304-533-5185
April 19, 2016
Honorable Vivian Livingood
Mayor, Town of Gilbert
Post Office Box 188, Central Avenue
Gilbert, West Virginia 25621
Dear Mayor Livingood:
Under the West Virginia Freedom of Information Act (29-B-1-1 et seq.), I am requesting an opportunity to inspect and obtain copies of records that describe the latest Town of Gilbert payroll, together with the names of each and every employee or contractor of the Town of Gilbert or its related agencies such as the Gilbert Water System and the Gilbert Convention and Visitors Bureau. Said request also is for the amount paid to each individual employee or contractor along with the job title of the employee or contractor.
Further, this is to request a copy of the latest audit of the Town of Gilbert conducted under the auspices of the State Auditor’s Office or Division of Tax and Revenue. In addition, please provide an accounting of all expenditures by the Town of Gilbert for travel, meals, lodging and associated costs for any and all Town representatives, including but not limited to the Gilbert Water Works and the Gilbert Convention and Visitors Bureau, during the period from July 1, 2015 to April 19,2016.
You are further requested to provide all documentation and paperwork that constitutes the creation and/or continued operation of a Gilbert Convention and Visitors Bureau. In the past, you have otally told me that the Gilbert CVB is not “accredited.” If that is true, please provide any and all rationale for the operation of a non-accredited CVN obtaining and expending public funds. If your earlier comments are not true, please so advise me.
Specific attention is called to your recent travel and that of others to a Hospitality Conference at The Greenbrier Resort and all government-related costs associated with that trip.
West Virginia law as recently been revised as to charging a fee for such copies. I request that the law be strictly adhered to regarding this request. Specifically, I believe all fees should be waived in that the disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest and will contribute significantly to the public’s understanding of the Town of Gilbert.
The West Virginia Freedom of Information Act requires a response to this request be made within five business days. If access to the records I am requesting will take longer than this amount of time, please contact me with information about when I might expect copies or the ability to inspect the requested documents.
If you deny any or all of this request, please cite each specific exemption you feel justifies the refusal to release the information and notify me of the appeal procedures available to me under the law.
Sincerely,
Ron Gregory
Editor
CORRIDOR CHRONICLE
304-533-5185