April 2010 Newsletter



  • 2010 General Assembly session positive for open government

    Lawmakers review and pass bills good for transparency, bypass those that weren’t   The short version is that most of the bills to surface during the 2010 legislative session that  VCOG would consider “bad” were defeated in some fashion, and most of the “good” bills made it through both chambers. Many of the bills VCOG…


  • Director’s Note, April 2010

    Creative uses of FOIA may be legal, but they don’t serve the public well   Imagine these two scenarios: 1. Prior to a city council meeting, Councilman A huddles with Councilman B, talking, nodding and gesturing. Councilman B then goes over to Councilman C, again talking earnestly. Councilman B, then goes to Councilman D, then,…


  • VCOG Bulletin board, April 2010

    At its March 2010 meeting in Roanoke, the VCOG Board of Directors elected two new at-large members to the board: Forrest M. “Frosty” Landon, VCOG’s founding executive director and former editor of The Roanoke Times; and Jeff South, associate professor in VCU’s School of Mass Communications. Both were elected to three-year, renewable terms. Their seats…


  • President’s Note, April 2010

    Our Virginia Coalition for Open Government is fortunate to have an active, forward-thinking board. The work being done by our recently formed Futures Committee is emblematic of the efforts of our board to strengthen the Coalition for furthering the cause of open government in Virginia. The Futures Committee met in February at Virginia Press Association…


  • The ayes had these

    When Westmoreland County held its public meetings in a courtroom, the local judge there refused to let cameras in, despite the fact that FOIA says meetings can be recorded. VCOG contacted Del. Albert Pollard about the problem, and though he didn’t directly intervene (Sen. Richard Stuart did), he did make good on his promise to…


  • Sunshine did not prevail every time

    There were some good ideas that may have been ahead of their time. Then there were so-so bills that close off certain information, but which nonetheless follow FOIA’s policy of being narrowly drawn to address a specific need. Some of the pro-access bills that were killed had something in common: they called for the proactive…


  • Ethics reform

    Though a slew of ethics reform bills were introduced, most prompted by the aborted investigation into former Del. Phil Hamilton and the relationship between his job at an ODU teaching facility and legislative funding, only a few made it through to the chamber floors. Some were rolled into others, some were amended beyond recognition, and…


  • The saga of the threat assessment teams bill

    Following the horrific shootings at Virginia Tech in 2008, the legislature directed public universities to set up “threat assessment teams,” made up of campus police, mental health, student services and others, to identify potentially violent students, faculty and staff. Led by the University of Virginia’s lobbyist Rob Lockridge, the colleges came first to the FOIA…


  • Resolutely Speaking

    VCOG was especially pleased with two resolutions introduced this session (really, three resolutions, but two on the same topic). VCOG stopped by each sponsor’s office to offer its thanks. One resolution, sponsored by Harvey Morgan (R-Gloucester) in the House and Ralph Northam (D-Norfolk) in the Senate, celebrates the life of the former House Speaker John…