The Ledger

By Becky Holland

There is a difference between providing public records and answering public questions.

City Hall needs to stop treating those things as interchangeable.

The Ledger sent Interim City Manager Angela Redding and Mayor Carla Coley direct questions about Cochran’s utility-billing problems. We asked when the problems were discovered, what caused them, how many customers may have been affected, how customers would be notified and what was being done to prevent similar problems.

Those were not Open Records Requests.

They were questions.

Redding’s response was to forward the inquiry to City Clerk Hannah Kennedy “as an ORR.”

That may produce documents. It does not answer the questions.

Mayor Coley received the same questions. The Ledger has not yet received a response from her. The questions were sent during the weekend, and we did not expect either Coley or Redding to spend Saturday and Sunday preparing answers.

Monday brought another development.

In a separate Open Records Request, Redding wrote Friday, Oct. 2: “I will have this information for you by close of business on Monday, October 5th.”

Monday morning, Redding informed The Ledger that Kennedy would now be the point of contact for all media requests.

Kennedy responded promptly and professionally. This is not about her.

This is about Angela Redding.

Until Monday, The Ledger’s non-records questions to city officials were handled through ordinary communication — email, phone calls and in-person conversations. Questions seeking comment, clarification or explanation were not automatically converted into Open Records Requests.

Now, after The Ledger asked Redding direct questions about utility-billing problems, those questions were forwarded “as an ORR.” (https://thecbledger.com/2026/10/04/the-ledger-seeks-answers-from-cochran-officials-on-utility-billing-errors)

Then, in a separate matter, after Redding personally wrote that she would have requested information for The Ledger by close of business Monday, she advised Monday morning that the city clerk would serve as the point of contact for all media requests.

That is not a minor distinction.

A reporter asking the interim city manager to explain something that happened under city government is not the same as requesting a document. City Hall should know the difference.

The Open Records Act is essential, and The Ledger will continue using it when records are needed. But open government cannot be reduced to paperwork.

A document can show when something happened. Minutes can show how someone voted. A billing report may show how many accounts were affected.

But paperwork cannot explain judgment. It cannot answer why something happened, whether officials believe it was handled properly or what they intend to do differently.

Those answers must come from people.

The utility-billing questions are among the most pressing questions before City Hall right now, but they are not the only ones.

Redding is the interim city manager. When questions concern matters under her administration, directing the mechanics of communication elsewhere does not transfer responsibility for answering them.

The title comes with more than authority. It comes with accountability.

Mrs. Redding can designate someone else to receive media requests. She can designate someone else to gather records. She can designate someone else to send the documents.

Designating someone else to handle media requests does not transfer responsibility for Angela Redding’s own statements, decisions and commitments.

The Ledger will continue requesting records when records are needed.

We will continue asking direct questions when direct answers are needed.

And we will keep our readers informed no matter what.

Transparency is not a routing system.

A referral is not an explanation.

And accountability cannot be forwarded to somebody else.