A downtown Blue Ridge pay-to-park lot, owned by Mayor Donna Whitener, was in operation without a license.
An open records request was made on behalf of The News Observer Thursday, November 12, to obtain a copy of the license.
However, Assistant City Clerk Christina Mortimer was unable to find such records that day.
Another response came Friday, November 13, informing that the request had been sent to City Attorney James Balli “to review.”
It wasn’t until Wednesday, November 18, that a solid answer was provided, which was after the legally required three day limit for open records requests.
A business license was provided indicating that Whitener had applied for the license October 16, 2020, according to the application date. However, the official Occupational Tax Certificate, or business license, was not issued until November 13, 2020.
The lot had been in use prior to November 12.