Agency contacted: Macon Transit Authority 

Records that were requested:  Service Contracts for the new MTA signage installed in 2022

When do you first hear back from the agency?  I sent my original request on Oct. 13. On Oct. 20, I received an email from Craig Ross, the CEO and President of MTA stating that he had responded to me on  Oct. 17. However, the email sent on the 17th was not delivered to the correct email; therefore, my first contact with Mr. Ross was on Oct. 20, one week after my request was originally sent. 

Did the agency request a fee? There was no fee requested. 

Describe the response. The response I received on Oct. 20 stated that MTA does not have service contracts on signs. On Oct. 22, I responded to Mr. Ross, explaining that I was looking for information regarding who created the new MTA signs and requesting he send me to another agency that would have that information. On Oct. 24, Mr. Ross responded, stating he presumed I was speaking about the new wraps on the MTA bus, specifically the new Mercer bus. He provided me with invoices and receipts for the wraps on the new Mercer bus, though this is not the information I originally requested. He provided me with his phone number if I had any questions and thanked me for reaching out. I did not re-request my information, as Mr. Ross stated that the information I was looking for did not exist. 

Assign a grade for contact/process and explain: MTA receives a “B” rating for the contact process. MTA does have board meeting minutes available on its website, as well as a Public Information Officers’ blog. However, the contact information for the Public Information Officer is not on MTA’s website, and the person who responded to me was the President and CEO, not the PIO. No staff’s individual contact information is available online, though there is a “contact us” section on the website. However, this “contact us” section has one standard email address as well as several phone numbers but no contact form. There is no mention of public records requests on the website, so I just guessed that the provided email would be the proper communication channel. Overall, it was relatively easy to find the email, but no information about who the email was going to be received by or if that was the proper email for public records requests. 

Assign a grade for the response and explain: The response from MTA receives a “B/C” grade. Although Mr. Ross said he responded to my request within three business days, it was sent to an invalid email address, so I did not receive his response. Therefore, it took over a week to receive a response from MTA. Even after a week, my requested record was not fulfilled. Mr. Ross did respond with information within two days of my follow-up  though the information received was not what I requested. Overall, the confusion about what information I was looking for makes grading MTA complicated, but the long response time garners MTA a “B/C” grade. 

Anything else to note? Mr. Ross was very friendly and seemed like he wanted to help fulfill the request, but it was a bit confusing that the information I was looking for “did not exist” when new signage was installed earlier this year. Perhaps our interaction would have benefited from further clarification regarding what signage I was referring to.

See the full report card here.

Grading scale for agency’s ease of contacting agency staff and finding or filing for public records.

A: Agency uses an online portal or has a clearly defined process or contact on its website for requesting public records. An “A” agency may also provide the most commonly requested records on its website already such as agendas and meeting minutes.

B: Agency has some public information online such as meeting agendas or meeting times but additional information on how to request public information is not available.

C: Agency website has contact information for staff but nothing specific about how to request public information.

D: Agency has limited contact information on its website but it is not clearly labeled and/or easily accessible.

F: Agency contact information or how to get public records is not available on the website 

Grade scale for agency’s overall responsiveness and compliance with open records law

A: Provided records within the three-day window or less

B Acknowledgment of request within the three-day requirement but records were provided after three days.

C:  Acknowledged the request but then put forth a long timetable for response or requested a high fee or retrieval price for what should be a digital record and/or PDF that could be emailed.

D: Acknowledged the request but no further information or follow-up.

F:  No response