April 2011 newsletter

For the most part, there was good news on the open government front during the 2011 General Assembly session. Several pro-transparency bills were passed with ease. Some bills that VCOG felt were not in the public interest were defeated. Much of the credit for those defeats can be attributed to the general public, who contacted…

Public Notices Neither of the two main bills aimed at making publication of legal or public notices in newspapers optional, rather than mandatory (as has been the custom for decades) made it out of subcommittee. (One bill was sent to the FOIA Council, but because the Council’s mandate covers only FOIA issues, its fate before…

I have to admit, that as the daughter of two former college professors, the flap over using FOIA to gain access to professors’ emails makes me a bit queasy. I know. Sounds hypocritical, doesn’t it? Part of it is disbelief. Deep-seated childhood memories of boredom at the dinner table as they talked on and on…

Each entry on VCOG’s blog of access issues now accepts comments, as do some of the articles, stories and resources we post on our website. You have to register with a valid email address (to keep out the spam-bots) and comments are moderated (to maintain decorum), but all viewpoints are welcome. The VCOG Board of…

Fairfax County Public Schools and area parents are awaiting a decision by Circuit Judge Leslie Alden in a case that accuses the FCPS of violating FOIA in its deliberations over whether to close a district elementary school. Jill Hill claims that board members exchanged so many emails about the closure in such a short period…

The Virginia Coalition for Open Government joined at least 20 other journalism and advocacy groups urging the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond to overturn a federal district court ruling that upheld Virginia’s limitation on the use of the state’s Freedom of Information Act to citizens of the Commonwealth (and newspapers covering Virginia).…

On March 1, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-0 that law enforcement cannot refuse to release records related to AT&T and other corporations by citing the “personal privacy” exemption of federal FOIA. The FBI began investigating AT&T after the communications company admitted it had overcharged the government for services provided under the E-Rate program for…

VCOG has been privileged to talk to several groups over the past few months: VCU’s Capital News Service students, editors from Media General, reporters at WWBT and a citizen’s group in Hopewell. VCOG will make presentations to Chesapeake records managers in May and to the 5400 Men’s Club in Richmond in June. Contact VCOG at…

Is your area governing board or elected official willing to go on record in support of open government? Talking about open government, transparency and accountability is harder to do than it is to put those principles into action every day. The organizers of the Sunshine Week 2011 initiative, which was held March 13-19, created what…

FORT DEFIANCE – Thomas Scott Cline of Fort Defiance was the third-place winner in a nationwide contest to recognize “Local Heroes” of open government. Cline, nominated by the Waynesboro News Virginian, successfully sued the county board of equalization for meetings violations. The ruling prompted the county to overhaul its meeting procedures and host FOIA-training sessions…

Dear Friend of VCOG: 2011 marks VCOG's 15th anniversary. For 15 years, VCOG has been the go-to resource for issues affecting transparency in the Commonwealth. We pushed for the creation of the Virginia FOIA Council and we've lobbied every year for and against bills affecting access. We've put on a dozen annual conferences, given workshops…