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All Access
8 items
There was no newsletter yesterday, April 1, and there won’t be one tomorrow, April 3. But keep up with VCOG’s conference tomorrow through our social media feeds:
LOCAL
The City of Richmond has announced that it will pilot a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Reading Room with records pertaining to the water crisis. The act allows the public to request records or free entry to some meetings from “public bodies” unless there is an exemption. According to an announcement by the city in the afternoon on Tuesday, April 1, the reading room contains documents “of substantial public interest” that were previously released under FOIA.
https://www.wric.com/news/local-news/richmond/city-of-richmond-pilots-foia-reading-room-with-records-from-water-crisis/
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Local
The revelation over the weekend that Purcellville’s vice mayor sought to influence a consultant’s review of the town’s police department has other members of the town council raising ethical questions. They note the first issue is that Nett appeared to receive privileged access to a consultant conducting an independent review of the police department. They also raised concerns about ethical and legal issues related to Nett’s interest in becoming Purcellville’s chief of police.
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Local
The Franklin City Council voted 6-1 on Monday, March 24, to send a letter to the Franklin City School Board requesting that all seven members of the board step down. The request came in connection with protests and public comments from community and council members expressing opposition to Franklin City Public Schools’ recent reassignment of longtime Franklin High School Principal Travis Felts.
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Local
The Warrenton Commission on Open and Transparent Government, an advisory body tasked with improving transparency, accountability and public engagement in town governance, held its inaugural meeting Thursday evening. The commission was established in January by a 5-2 vote of the Warrenton Town Council. Town Councilman Bill Semple, elected as chair of the commission summarized its goals, stating, “Our objectives include ensuring transparent decision-making, promoting public access to information, investigating [when and how soon] citizens are engaged in the legislative process and enhancing communication and outreach.” According to Semple, the commission will focus on reviewing past applications for transparency concerns rather than interfering with active ones. Reviews will seek to identify practices that may have hindered transparency.
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Local
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit heard oral arguments in a case brought by Lynchburg At-large City Councilman Martin Misjuns, whose lawyers stated his lawsuit against the city over his firing from the fire department should be sent back to a lower federal district court. The judges grilled Misjuns’ lawyers at the March 20 hearing about how they plan to overcome legal precedent that allows municipalities to fire employees who disrupt a workplace through speech that would otherwise be protected if they were not a public employee.
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Federal
Government agencies are statutorily required to disclose information requested by Americans under the 1966 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) unless it falls under one of a handful of exemptions, such as material classified for natural security or content that, if made public, would violate an individual’s personal privacy. FOIA applies to the HHS, like any other department, and distinct agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and National Institutes of Health (NIH) all have FOIA offices. Or they did until Tuesday, anyway. Officials at the FDA and NIH have confirmed that many civil servants who work on FOIA in those offices have been let go, while the CDC’s FOIA desk has been completely eradicated, according to the agency’s chief operating officer. An email from Rolling Stone to foiarequests@cdc.gov returned an auto-reply that read, “Hello, the FOIA office has been placed on admin leave and is unable to respond to any emails.” Emails to several other addresses for FOIA requests at HHS agencies — to check whether they are still active — did not receive immediate replies.
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In other states
Data used to weight the placement algorithm of Hartford’s school choice program is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) according to a ruling from a New Britain superior court. While the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) claimed a FOIA exemption that applies to trade secrets, the court found an exemption that applies to pending litigation. In April 2021, Alicia Solow-Niederman requested a number of documents related to the “automated decision-making systems” CSDE uses in school lotteries, including documents that revealed what data the department uses in school lotteries and how it is weighted. Solow-Niederman also sought source code, documents validating the procedures the lotteries use, training materials, and correspondence weighing benefits and concerns about the use of lotteries. While CSDE provided some documents responsive to Solow-Niederman’s request, it withheld others claiming they were exempt under FOIA’s trade secret exemption. The Freedom of Information Commission ultimately found that CSDE did not “derive independent economic value” from keeping the lottery algorithm confidential and that students placed as a result of it would not derive any economic value from knowing what was weighted in the algorithm.
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IN OTHER STATES
The D.C. Council voted Tuesday to shut the public out of many of its meetings, including any meetings with Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) on any topic. The short-term legislation, passed on an emergency basis, could have lasting impacts on public access to elected leaders’ discussions if lawmakers ultimately make the changes permanent. D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) said the legislation was needed because council members have been “frustrated” that they can’t have conversations with colleagues about legislation or sensitive issues without triggering the Open Meetings Act — and they often decide they would rather not discuss it than have to talk publicly. “While this seemed innocuous when enacted, time after time what we have found is that this impedes deliberation,” Mendelson said of the Open Meetings Act, which passed in 2010 with his support and made virtually all council meetings and discussions open to the public when a majority of members are present.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/04/01/dc-vote-closed-meetings-council/
TENTATIVE CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
10:00 – 11:00 Animal testing transparency
11:00 – 11:20 Need to Know: Minium v. Hines
11:30 – 12:00 Buried treasures at the courthouse
12:00 – 1:30 Lunch program
awards
keynote speaker
VCOG annual meeting
1:30 – 2:00 Access and Gen Z
2:00 – 2:20 Need to Know: Courthouse News Service v. Smith
2:20 – 2:50 AI, Open Data and Civic Innovation
3:00 – 3:20 Need to Know: NPR v. Department of Corrections
3:20 – 4:20 The Transparency Gap in Local Solar and Data Projects
Thanks to our conference sponsors and donors.
Lee Albright
Bonnie Alexander
Tom Blackstock
Boone Newsmedia
Paul Casalaspi
Christian & Barton, LLP
Roger Christman
The Daily Progress
Maria Everett
Mark Grunewald
The Harrisonburg Citizen
Joshua Heslinga
Megan Rhyne
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Sage Information Services
Jeff South
SPJVA-Pro Chapter
Thomas H. Roberts & Associates, PC
Virginia Association of Broadcasters
Virginia Poverty Law Center
WHRO, Norfolk
Willcox & Savage
WTVR, Richmond
“Democracies die behind closed doors.” ~ U.S. District Judge Damon Keith, 2002
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