Let's go to the replay, folks

Today, I’ll let the video speak for itself. I have thoughts on a few things (what a surprise), but for now, here’s a rundown of what you’ll hear in this hour-long meeting of the FOIA Council that was held on July 17, 2024. (Full video here)

02:14
After Delegate Marcus Simon, chair of the FOIA Council, gavels the meeting in and has members introduce themselves, he notes one member can’t attend electronically because of poor wifi and another can’t because of “technical issues.”

03:55
Staff reports on the first meeting of the workgroup on FOIA fees.

10:23
Conversation over the potential wrench that might be thrown into the study process if three members of the council attend the workgroup.

13:30
Simon asks that people from PETA join the fees study workgroup and explore the possibility of instances where fees are not uniformly applied.

17:35
Maria Everett (VCOG board president and former director of the FOIA Council) brings up the workgroup again and asks if it might make more sense to talk about the fees issue in a subcommittee setting, which would alleviate the quorum question when the workgroup membership is undefined.

19:29
Simon invites members to make suggestions about specific concerns or issues they have regarding FOIA or what they’d like the FOIA Council to do.

20:33
Everett brings up agenda issues, citing the Petersburg case where an item scrapping the RFP process and picking a casino developer was added to the agenda late in the meeting and immediately acted upon.

23:11
Deputy Counselor to the Governor, Lindsey Fisher (the former Speaker of the House’s citizen appointment), says she is concerned about “abuse of process,” noting an issue in a previous office where one person was making substantially the same FOIA request over and over.

27:40
Surry County Attorney, Lola Rodriguez Perkins, who is the official local government representative on the council, shares concerns that were brought to her by colleagues in the local government attorney world. She first brings up “abuse of process” issues.

29:51
Perkins says some colleagues would like to withhold records created after a closed session that are about the closed session, and some colleagues would like there to be prohibitions against board members talking publicly about what was said in closed session.

36:53
Perkins says some colleagues want response deadlines for FOIA and federal FERPA (student privacy) requests aligned, meaning responses to requests for educational records could be answered within 45 days (FERPA), not 5 (FOIA).

38:01
Perkins says some of her colleagues want limitations on FOIA during litigation, particularly for requests made by the parties after the deadline for discovery has passed.

39:33
Perkins says some want to expand the scope of the exemption that allows government to withhold contact information for people who’ve signed up for government alerts/messages/newsletters, etc. “This goes to the privacy of our citizens.”

41:21
Amigo Wade, Director of Legislative Services, raises the issue of the inconsistency in how legislatively created workgroups are set up. Are they subject to FOIA or not and if not, spell it out.

43:14
Chidi James, a partner at the law firm Blankingship & Keith, says exemptions should be reviewed and that maybe there are too many of them.

43:53
Simon shares James’ concerns, particularly in the area of law enforcement records, and also asks about revisiting what it means to grant discretion under FOIA.

47:03
Simon discusses beefing up enforcement of FOIA violations.

47:47
Simon says he’d like to review the working papers exemption.

48:35
Public comment period where I update the council on four FOIA cases pending at the Court of Appeals.

55:01
Meeting adjourned.