Transparency News 9/23/13

The appearance of license plate readers on police cars and some bridges in the area may have left some people with visions of Big Brother, but at least for now, those concerns may be unfounded in Virginia. License plate readers — high-speed cameras that capture any license plates they can see, noting the location and time — have earned the ire of privacy advocates concerned about a security state building databases to track citizen movements. But police in the two largest cities on the Peninsula — Newport News and Hampton — have given up on plate readers as a law enforcement tool and handed them over for the cities' tax collectors to use. Other local police departments and sheriff's offices report very limited success using plate readers, picking up an occasional stolen car or license plate.
Daily Press

A request by the parent company of the former Yorktown refinery to meet privately and secretly with members of the York County Board of Supervisors next week has raised questions about open government practices and what's next for the facility. According to emails between York County officials and the supervisors, executives from Texas-based Plains All American Pipeline requested to meet with members of the Board of Supervisors on Sept. 27. The purpose of the meeting, according to the emails, is to brief the supervisors on the improvements and plans for the facility, which the company is converting to an oil transportation terminal. The emails said Plains officials asked to meet with the supervisors individually or in twos. That would avoid a legal requirement that government bodies hold their meetings in public.
Daily Press

Two months after about 350,000 nonviolent felons became eligible to regain their civil rights, only a small fraction have done so. The Free Lance-Star reports that Gov. Bob McDonnell’s office has processed fewer than 800 new registrations for rights restoration since July 15, when McDonnell eliminated the two-year waiting period before an application could be filed to restore rights. Now, a nonviolent felon who has completed all court-ordered conditions can apply and be automatically approved. Eligible individuals must register with the secretary of the commonwealth via mail, email or phone to regain their rights to vote, serve on a jury and work as a notary public.
Roanoke Times

The Orange County Circuit Court says he's a fugitive. And neither police nor his former fellow elected officials seem to know where he is. Months after ex-Albemarle County Supervisor Christopher J. Dumler occupied the public spotlight, he is a wanted man, charged with failing to appear at a hearing for a client he represented while working as a public defender in Orange. It’s the second time in a year that Dumler has faced trouble with the law.
Star-Exponent

Authorities in Shenandoah County could face longer drives and time away from their communities when taking prisoners to the new regional jail. The Rappahannock-Shenandoah-Warren Regional Jail is scheduled to open July 1. A group of county and town officials plans to meet today to discuss the issue and possible solutions for law enforcement agencies. The meeting of the working or study group is not open to the public, County Administrator Mary Beth Price said Thursday. "I consider it no different than a staff meeting," Price said. "This is not a group that was appointed by the board [of supervisors]."
Northern Virginia Daily
NOTE: According to a follow-up note from the reporter, the meeting was canceled

Town halls could go high tech if the James City County Board of Supervisors agrees Tuesday tocontract for moderated online civic meetings. Officials are considering contracting with California-based Peak Democracy on a platform called Open Town Hall. The cloud-based service will allow the county to host online public forums that are akin to a traditional town hall.
Virginia Gazette

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s office is distancing itself from the staffer who in a series of emails appears to have advised energy company lawyers in their defense of an ongoing lawsuit over natural gas royalties in Southwest Virginia. Senior Assistant Sharon Pigeon “was not writing the emails at the direction of anyone in Richmond,” Cuccinelli spokesman Brian Gottstein wrote in a recent email to the Bristol Herald Courier. Pigeon is now barred from further discussing with corporate lawyers their federal battle against regional landowners seeking gas royalties, Gottstein wrote, and her job of scrutinizing the cases’ potential impact on Virginia ’s gas drilling laws has been handed to someone else.
Herald Courier

After years of holding committee meetings consecutively in the Rotunda’s board room, the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors is now holding the meetings simultaneously in different rooms of the Rotunda. Although the change, implemented at Thursday’s board meeting, makes it more difficult for the public to attend all board committee meetings, it permits the committees to spend more time in discussion, UVa officials say.
Daily Progress

National Stories

The city of Westland, Mich., is charging an illegal fee to people seeking public information, according to a lawsuit filed today by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. In June, Michigan Capitol Confidential, which is the news service of the Mackinac Center, sent Freedom of Information Act requests seeking financial information from every municipality in the state that operates a golf course. Westland responded that the city requires a $5 fee before it will provide any information.
Michigan Capitol Confidential

A judge has denied a FOIA request for documents concerning the funeral service for Osama bin Laden. In a seven-page decision made available Thursday, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon sided with the U.S. Navy in denying the full Freedom of Information Act request filed by Judicial Watch. The FOIA-filing group had requested "records and communications" relating to any funeral service held for bin Laden prior to his burial at sea on May 2, 2011. The Navy provided certain e-mails, but redacted portions. Leon concluded the redactions were "proper and necessary to prevent disclosure of sensitive operational details and to protect our national security."
McClatchy

An Illinois judge found a Patch.com reporter in contempt of court today for not revealing his confidential sources for a story he wrote about a double murder in Joliet, Ill. Hosey has been fined $1,000 and has to pay court fees. He was also fined $300 a day until he reveals his sources, though the fines have been stayed pending an appeal, as reported by Patch.com. Kenneth Schmetterer, the reporter's attorney, filed an appeal immediately after the ruling, Patch.com reported. Last month, Will County Circuit Court Judge Gerald Kinney gave Joe Hosey 21 days to hand over documents relating to his source. If the documents did not reveal the source's identity, Kinney said Hosey would have to write an affidavit detailing how he received the notes and from whom.
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

In upholding the dismissal of a defamation claim against Eliot Spitzer and Slate on Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York City (2nd Cir.) ruled that a broad reference to an organization or “[a company] and its employees” does not give an individual in that company a right to sue for defamation. The lawsuit stemmed from a column Spitzer wrote for Slate on August 22, 2010, in which Spitzer defends his investigation into the company Marsh & McLennan during his tenure as New York Attorney General. A Wall Street Journal editorial was critical of the investigation, noting that two of the convictions were later overturned. Spitzer countered in Slate that the editorial “fail[ed] to note the many employees of Marsh who have been convicted and sentenced to jail terms” and that “Marsh and its employees pocketed the increased fees and kickbacks.”
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

Vincent August Sicari chose his acting and stand-up comedy career over his part-time job as a municipal court judge in South Hackensack on Thursday after the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that he could not continue to do both. Sicari said he was prepared for the court to reject an appeal he filed earlier this year of judicial advisory committee decisions issued years before, adding that he believes he was treated fairly. He tendered his resignation on Thursday afternoon, he said, rather than give up on a 16-year entertainment career that includes television appearances and performances at comedy clubs. “You don’t give up on a dream,” said Sicari, 44, who lives with his fiancée in River Edge and uses the stage name Vince August.
Governing

Editorials/Columns

Roanoke Times: Hmm, on second thought . . . easing regulations for open government meetings is still a bad idea. The Hanover County Board of Supervisors first broached the topic in July when, by unanimous vote, it asked the General Assembly to let larger groups of local elected officials meet privately, without public notice, to hash out public business. It would be so much more efficient, members reasoned — not to mention less embarrassing than kicking around sometimes stupid ideas before everyone and his brother.

Herald-Progress: We’ll call it a victory, for now. Last week, Virginia’s FOIA Advisory Council declined to take up Hanover County’s request to review the definition of a public meeting. According toWatchdog.org, a project of Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, Hanover’s county attorney, Sterling Rives told the FOIA Council that “eliminating the public meeting requirement for small groups would be more efficient and allow for better brainstorming.” Rives also claims that “the public atmosphere isn’t always conducive to throwing up different ideas and debating those ideas” adding that “public officials are reluctant to do that in front of the press.” Heaven forbid a politician have a gaff in public. It’s absolutely unprecedented. Chairman W. Canova Peterson IV said this week he expects talks on the FOIA change to continue. We urge him to reconsider.

Daily Press: We are breaking with protocol for this month's Open Door Award, which usually goes to a public official or organization in recognition of dedication to transparency and public access. But this month's award goes to a private citizen, York County resident Robert Holloway, for his efforts to demand transparency when it is not being offered. On a regular basis, Mr. Holloway uses the Freedom of Information Act to request documents and emails pertaining to county officials. Through his vigilance, he recently determined that the Board of Supervisors was arranging to meet – two members at a time – with the owner of the former Yorktown refinery, in order to get around a state law that requires formal public notice any time three or more public officials convene to discuss business.

Virginian-Pilot: Just how complicated and expensive has the scandal over gifts to the governor's family become? The initial case, the one that triggered expansive state and federal investigations into the conduct of Gov. Bob McDonnell and his family, wrapped up last week with the conviction of the former Executive Mansion chef on two misdemeanor embezzlement charges. Taxpayers, as The Virginian-Pilot's Julian Walker reported, have paid more than $240,000 in legal fees to private attorneys associated with the case. But the state investigation into whether McDonnell complied with Virginia's woefully inadequate financial disclosure laws is ongoing. So, too, is the federal investigation into whether he exchanged influence for financial gain.

Roanoke Times: Virginia taxpayers finally saw a return last week on the $243,000 they’ve expended in the court case against Gov. Bob McDonnell’s former chef. They’ll collect $2,300 in restitution for munchies Todd Schneid­er raided from the First Pantry. And let’s not forget the $486 assessed for court costs. Hooray. Or, more appropriately, pffft.

Daily Progress: In Richmond: More than $240,000 to pay lawyers for Gov. Bob McDonnell and other state staff during investigation of a gift-and-loan scandal. In Albemarle: More than $9,000 for ex-Supervisor Christopher J. Dumler’s legal fees in fighting a recall petition. Taxpayers are incensed at having to foot the bills for these politicians. And no wonder. If these men had behaved more circumspectly, no legal problems would have arisen and no tax money would have been spent on their behalf. Taxpayers would like to find a way to avoid paying these fees. But pay they must — and pay they should. Here’s why.