January 2004 Newsletter (Vol. 8, No. 1)

The public’s ability to access campaign finance information is very poor in nearly every state, according to a new study that grades the states on their campaign finance disclosure programs. Virginia got a D+, and was ranked 13th. The state got a good rating for its disclosure laws, despite a lack of independent auditing of…

“You know when you control the information, you help control the destiny.”Republican Del. Leo Wardrup of Virginia Beach is a savvy politician, as his comments to reporters earlier this year suggest. But those words take on a more ominous ring when applied to Wardrup’s efforts to control information compiled by the Joint Legislative Audit and…

An editorial from the (Newport News) Daily PressUpdate: In early January, Attorney General Jerry Kilgore ruled that caucuses must be open when discussing votes and, presumably, other public business, but not when purely party matters are on the agenda. State government should be open, allowing the bright light of scrutiny and accountability to shine on…

A PAC set up by Speaker of the House Bill Howell got $25,000 from Southside Republican legislators Robert Hurt, Danny Marshall and Clarke Hogan.Asked about it, Howell told a Danville reporter, “I do know when the Committee on Committees is looking at different (House committee) slots, they’re going to say, Who’s helped us? Who’s a…

Edmund A. Matricardi III, the former executive director of the Virginia Republican Party, was fined $5,000 and sentenced to three years probation for his role in the GOP eavesdropping scandal. But the case didn’t end there.Matricardi’s Virginia law license was suspended following his guilty plea; a three-judge court later reinstated the license once his probation…

E-mail meetings hurt open government in Virginia by Forrest “Frosty” Landon Reprinted from the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, Oct. 19, 2003.There’s an old saying that suggests if you’re not confused by a complicated issue, you’re clearly misinformed. The Fredericksburg City Council e-mail case, now headed to the Virginia Supreme Court, has a lot of folks confused—and…

Prompted in part by the Beck v. Shelton case, and in part because of a massive FOIA request for more e-mails between Fredericksburg Mayor Bill Beck and some of his fellow council members, the Fredericksburg city clerk has begun archiving all of the council’s electronic messages for easy access by the public.During the course of…

The Rotunda plays host to panels, speakers and awards on perfect fall day by Bill Atkinson The Virginia Coalition for Open Government held its fifth annual conference on access issues Nov. 15 at the historic Rotunda on the grounds of the University of Virginia. More than 20 panelists and speakers discussed FOIA’s 35th anniversary; the…

ACCOMACK  The Accomack and Northampton boards of supervisors subsidize the Eastern Shore Railroad. Both boards are public bodies. The Accomack-Northampton Transportation District Commission oversees the funding. It’s also a public entity.The railroad might or might not be subject to FOIA, depending on how much public money it gets. But when it was time to…

Va.’s digital legislature ranked 8th in the nation Virginia’s legislature ranks eighth in the nation in its use of technology to keep citizens informed of legislative activity.Nevada has the most digitally advanced legislature, according to the 2003 Digital Legislatures Survey. In addition to good online information, it provides live broadcasts of interim committee meetings. Minnesota…

The leadership council of the State Bar is still resisting a FOI Advisory Council ruling that its list of licensed lawyers must be a public record.At a meeting in late fall, the council backed legislation to try to trump that part of the FOI law that mandates disclosure of any existing public-record database. In the…

The FOI Advisory Council held its annual statewide training workshops in September. Council staff held day-long events in Richlands, Roanoke, Weyer’s Cave, Virginia Beach, Richmond and Alexandria, attended by approximately 650 people. Attendees included state and local government employees and officials, law-enforcement personnel, citizens and media representatives.The workshops were approved for 5.5 hours of continuing…

Two subcommittees of the Freedom of Information Advisory Council were formed at the June 2, 2003, council meeting.One, made up of council members Tom Moncure and John Edwards, was to explore the possibility of bringing the Sexually Violent Predators Commitment Review Committee back within the purview of FOIA. Legislation from 2003 wholly exempted the committee…

In its annual report, the FOI Advisory Council detailed the number and types of requests for help asked of the council from December 2002 through November 2003. A draft of the report was made available at the council’s Dec. 1 meeting, though an official version, which will be given a Senate document number, will be…

Since June 2003, the Freedom of Information Advisory Council issued more than a dozen opinions, including AO-12-03, in which the Newport News city manager’s office failed to respond to any of three requests made by the Newport News Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference asking for documents related to the public comment period at…

by Bill Atkinson A state subcommittee will recommend that Virginia look at revising the Public Records Act to codify a procedure for storing electronic records. The panel, which is studying overall operations of Virginia agencies, boards and commissions, will ask the 2004 General Assembly to authorize the study, which comes at the request of the…

VCOG thank-you’s Thanks to the many friends of open government who helped us make the Access 2003 conference a success.Former Gov. Jerry Baliles, State Sen. Bo Trumbo, former Del. Jay Deboer and the press association’s Ginger Stanley provided a fine roast of retiring Del. Chip Woodrum at the fund-raising dinner  although, as expected, Chip…

The joint subcommittee to study the protection of information contained in court records ended its second year not with a bang, not with a whimper, but with a wait-and-see.Sen.-elect Jeannemarie Devolites, R-Vienna, who chairs the subcommittee, adjourned the Dec. 15 meeting, the second of the fall, without a legislative agenda for the 2004 term. Last…

Local governments and public access advocates will look to the Virginia Supreme Court in 2004 for resolution of the hot-button issue of the times: can the use of e-mail by members of a public body ever be considered to be an illegal electronic meeting.Electronic meetings are not allowed at the local level; they are allowed…