The city of Tallahassee is reviewing its policy for tracking and archiving text messages sent by city officials. Mayor Andrew Gillum says part of the change will involve an increased expense for the city.
"I just want to be transparent that this will be an added expense. And I think that the budget will have to reflect that for those of us that don’t have city devices—at least the elected official body and anyone else who is in regular communication with the public doing city business will need to procure one as well," Gillum said.
The move comes after the Tallahassee Democrat sued the city claiming it failed to follow public record rules. The local newspaper filed its lawsuit after city officials did not produce alleged text messages in which City Manager Rick Fernandez is said to have asked a city lobbyist for football tickets.
