January 2005 Newsletter (Vol. 9, No. 1)

As predicted, Virginia’s so-called public-private education partnerships are causing right-to-know tensions — not just with parents but with school boards, city councils and boards of supervisors as well. The secret nature of the so-called PPEA process almost guarantees such conflicts, with elected governing bodies on the outside looking in — or, in some cases, not…

Journalism organizations, schools and libraries plan a week-long campaign to push harder for access to government. Beginning March 13, news outlets will run stories, editorials and cartoons urging greater access to government information. The effort has been dubbed “Sunshine Week.” “From city hall to Congress, and from police chiefs’ offices to the attorney general’s office,…

With record access tested in more than 30 states in the last seven years, you’d think government officials would be obeying FOI laws by now. Not so. The new Tennessee Coalition for Open Government even announced its audit ahead of time. Even so, one-third of the time its auditors were denied access. As TCOG Director…

Maria Everett, executive director of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council, was given VCOG’s 2004 award for exemplary work in seeking to keep government open to public scrutiny. The Virginia General Assembly created the council in 2000 to foster compliance with the state’s open-meeting and open-record laws. Under Everett’s leadership, the council has gained…

A decade ago, the joke around Richmond was that even VDOT’s road crews had one of those rubber stamps that said, “Confidential. Governor ’s Working Papers.” At the time, Republican George Allen was governor. What a difference a decade makes. House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, now wants to restrict a governor’s ability to keep…

The Martinsville-Henry County Economic Development Corp. hired a lawyer to say if it was subject to FOIA. Roger Wiley, the FOI lawyer, said in his opinion it was not a public body, and thus not covered by FOIA. The corporation said it would operate as a public body anyway — as urged by Wiley and…

WHRO, the public television and radio station in Norfolk, is not a public body subject to FOIA because it is not supported wholly or principally by public funds, Norfolk Circuit Chief Judge Joseph Leafe held on Sept. 1. The ruling put an end to an attempt by David Wigand of Pulaski to compel the station…