Transparency News, 12/14/20

VCOG penned a letter to House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn suggesting improvements for the way in which public comment will be taken during the all-virtual 2021 legislative session. It was signed by two dozen ideologically diverse organizations and individuals.
Read the letter and see who signed it on VCOG’s website

Halfway through a month-long application process, 88 people have offered their services as one of eight citizen members of Virginia’s new Redistricting Commission. Those selected will serve alongside eight legislators. Application deadline for citizen members is December 28. Source: Virginia Division of Legislative Services spreadsheet used to log in citizen-member applications to the Virginia Redistricting Commission, released on December 12 in response to a Freedom of Information Act request submitted by the Virginia Public Access Project.
VPAP

Virginia Republican legislators are pushing for new transparency requirements in the state’s parole system after the agency tasked with doling out the rare reward for good behavior made several missteps during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. “I’m not aware of any other board or commission in the state where the votes aren’t public,” said Sen. David Suetterlein. To that end he’s proposed legislation that specifically requires the collection and release of this information such as meeting minutes and recorded votes that lead to a parolee’s release.  Megan Rhyne, executive director of the independent state FOIA watchdog group Virginia Coalition for Open Government, welcomed Suetterlein’s effort.  “We generally believe if you are a government or tax-payer supported organization, then your work should be subject to some level of scrutiny and accountability,” Rhyne said in a phone interview, noting that the board makes decisions on behalf of the people while also impacting those they represent. 
Courthouse News Service

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service, or FWS, could not be ordered to make records available in the future. FOIA applies to records already in existence; not to information that will be created in the future. The amended complaint is premised on three alleged shortcomings by FWS: (1) its failure to post in an online reading room electronic copies of documents appellants requested; (2) its “longstanding and ongoing refusal” to comply with disclosure requirements and (3) its failure to properly index its Endangered Species Act, or ESA, documents. Appellants allege that these shortcomings violate the Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, and the Administrative Procedure Act, or APA.
Virginia Lawyers Weekly

Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler has revived a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, filing the latest iteration in Charlottesville Circuit Court and expanding his claims. Kessler, the primary organizer of the 2017 white nationalist rally, has filed several lawsuits against the city in years past, mostly centered around alleged violations of his constitutional right to free speech. In October, Kessler filed a complaint in Charlottesville General District Court alleging that city spokesman and FOIA officer Brian Wheeler violated FOIA law in 2019 by not providing Kessler with text messages and emails he requested from Maurice Jones, who was the city manager at the time of the rally. With his General District Court options exhausted, Kessler filed an expanded version of the lawsuit in Charlottesville Circuit Court on Friday. Specifically, the lawsuit requests that the court find that the city violated both the Freedom of Information Act and the Public Records Act by not preserving public records in the form of text messages.
The Daily Progress

 

The legal bills born by Odessa taxpayers keep piling up as the city continues to fight the Odessa American’s efforts to force it to comply with state freedom of information laws. Freedom of Information requests filed by the newspaper show another $24,647.48 has been billed to the city by the Austin law firm hired to contest the Odessa American’s lawsuit accusing the municipality of violating the Texas Public Information Act. To date, the legal battle has cost the city – and taxpayers $87,490.99. The OA has requested the November bill. The latest bill – for October – comes as word surfaced that the city apparently is no longer using the Austin firm Cobb & Counsel. Instead, the city will apparently rely on lawyers from the City Attorney’s Office as the case winds its way to a state appellate court based in Eastland. City of Odessa Attorney Natasha Brooks filed a formal motion for substitution of city attorney for the Cobb & Counsel firm.
Odessa American
 

Suppose your livelihood depends on persuading policymakers to draft legislation and adopt regulations to favor an interest or a client. It’s called lobbying, defined in dictionaries as organized efforts to influence legislators. It’s been around since the inception of the Republic, and it has historically required proximity and access to people in power. The very name derives from advocates who would crowd the corridors of power — lobbies — for some fleeting face time with policymakers. Now, imagine that the whole in-person proximity part vanishes. That’s exactly what has happened to Virginia’s corps of lobbyists accustomed to their midwinter encampments on Capitol Square thanks to the coronavirus pandemic and the General Assembly’s decision to largely meet virtually in the 2021 session that convenes in less than a month. While seasoned veteran lobbyists who’ve plied the hallways, galleries, committee rooms and offices for decades have negotiated the shift to varying degrees, rookies with few connections and resources and particularly ordinary Virginians with pressing, poignant causes are at a serious disadvantage.
Bob Lewis, Virginia Mercury

As the 2020 presidential election continues to make headlines across the country, it’s important to note that student journalists have kept up with recent updates and numbers. On top of their academic life, these journalists have kept their peers and superiors up to date on election news, whether it be through print, online or broadcast.  At JMU, student journalists who work for The Breeze’s print, online, and broadcast teams, as well as other college journalists at UNC and Syracuse, have put a great deal of effort into their election coverage. This election has been a difficult one to cover because of the mail-in ballots that are still being counted, and the many other ways COVID-19 has impacted this election. Many people go to mainstream news sources for information on the election, but there should be recognition for student journalists and their coverage. 
Kylee Toland, The Breeze