Franklin City Public Schools has been found to be in violation of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in multiple ways. The school division admitted to certain instances, and a ruling from a Suffolk Circuit Court judge added two more. Though a variety of subjects were discussed during the hearing pertaining to FOIA, Judge Helivi L. Holland focused on three particular issues for which she made rulings. Attorney Kevin Martingayle contested, on behalf of the plaintiffs, that the conference room in which the Franklin City School Board has held its monthly work sessions is not sufficient to accommodate the public in a way that conforms with FOIA. Public meeting notices from FCPS for the monthly work sessions held in the School Board conference room state that seating is limited, and it was also mentioned that its capacity is 22 to 23 people total.

Richmond officials since December 2023 spent nearly $100,000 on billboards proclaiming the safety of Richmond’s drinking water. But the billboard on display during the city’s second water crisis last month was an error, a city spokesperson told The Times-Dispatch. The six-month ad campaign included messaging on the controversial billboard located in a historic Black cemetery in Richmond’s North Side. Former Mayor Levar Stoney last year requested billboard giant Lamar take down the sign out of respect, but the company declined. Invoices obtained through a public records request show that Rhonda Johnson, a public information officer for the city’s Department of Public Utilities, placed an order for Lamar billboard advertisements across 21 different locations in Chesterfield County, Henrico County and Richmond.

Keeping track of Smithfield’s finances over the past decade has itself proved costly. The town spent over $817,000 on Munis since 2015 with little to show for its 10-year and ultimately unsuccessful conversion to the financial software platform made by Tyler Technologies, according to a May 15 memorandum from Town Manager Michael Stallings to Smithfield’s Town Council. After informing Tyler of the town’s intent to pause implementation of Munis, the Town Council voted unanimously on June 4 to award a contract to Munis competitor RDA Systems. The new contract will cost an additional $360,398, with $202,000 due in the first year, Stallings’ memo states.

The University of Virginia’s Chief Operating Officer J.J. Davis and Board Member Douglas Wetmore clashed over the new budget, which increased 10.8 percent from last year. Wetmore also shared that he was trying to make sure that Diversity, Equity and Inclusion expenses were not present in the upcoming budget, at the discretion of Gov. Glenn Youngkin, in both University administration and the schools. In response to Wetmore’s concerns about the lack of detail in the proposed budget, Davis expressed frustration and disappointment, saying that the people who worked on it ensured that it was responsible with funds. She also said that the administration had been transparent about the budget. Davis went on to say that an open session is not the place to talk about DEI and further added that the budget increases are meaningful because they better the lives of the University community.