January 2009 Newsletter, vol. 13, no. 1


  • Ask us a question

    Q: A county board of supervisors has discussed appointing an interview panel to screen applicants for an open position. The board has five members. The interview panel would consist of two board members, a member of the county economic development authority, a representative from the Chamber of Commerce, the county administrator and possibly a citizen…


  • SSNs can stay on watchdog’s Web site

    Privacy activist challenges law that would have punished her for publishing Social Security numbers she got from public recordsA newly enacted law prohibiting people from intentionally posting a person’s Social Security number online is unconstitutional as applied to privacy advocate B.J. Ostergren’s Web site, a federal district judge in Richmond ruled Aug. 22.The new law…


  • FOIA legislation under the dome

    Sun will shine on House subcommitteesHouse Speaker William Howell, R-Stafford, issued a statement in mid-December announcing that subcommittee votes will be recorded during the 2009 session. Since 2006, a House internal rule allowed legislation to be killed in subcommittee on an unrecorded voice vote.The press hammered the practice, noting the Senate records its subcommittee votes…


  • FOIA Complaints

    AppomattoxAfter the Times-Virginian reported that the county school board may have violated FOIA by holding a meeting without properly notifying the public, as required by FOIA, and speculating that the meeting led to the ouster of a high school principal, school superintendent Aldridge Boone went on the offensive. Boone not only argued that the board…


  • FOIA Council updates: opinions

    In AO-07-08, issued in June, the council wrangled with what constitutes records responsive to a citizen request. A Richmond-area citizen asked for the calendar of the deputy secretary of natural resources, but was told that a single calendar did not exist. The council said that while the secretary might not use a calendar in the…


  • FOIA Council updates: subcommittees

    Council committees propose fixes, will further study other issuesAt the council’s Aug. 5 meeting, Sen. Edd Houck, D-Spotsylvania, and Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, switched roles. The council’s enabling legislation requires the chairmanship to rotate every four years. Houck will now be the council’s vice chair, while Griffith will pick up the gavel as chair from…


  • President’s Note

    By LAWRENCE McCONNELLPresidentVirginia Coalition for Open GovernmentIn the business world, the quantitative often can reveal much about the qualitative. And, as the incoming president of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, I’ve reviewed some of the numbers associated with the coalition — numbers that I think you’d agree tell a positive story about the impact…


  • VCOG bulletin board

    Coalition names new directorMegan Rhyne was named executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government in October 2008 by VCOG’s board of directors. Rhyne previously served as VCOG’s associate director for 10 years. Megan has an undergraduate degree in radio, television and motion pictures from University of North Carolina, and a law degree from…


  • VCOG installs new officers

    VCOG installs new officersFamiliar faces begin terms Jan. 1, 2009The Virginia Coalition for Open Government installed new officers at its Nov. 21 board meeting at the Virginia Press Association home office in Glen Allen.Lawrence McConnell, publisher of the Charlottesville Daily Progress, was elected to succeed Wat Hopkins of Virginia Tech’s school of mass communication, as…


  • Correcting the record on the Virginia Tech shootings

    Correcting the record on the Virginia Tech shootingsRecords released through FOIA contradict officials’ earlier statements about timeline of broadcast warnings; students create records archiveWhen Virginia Tech reached a settlement with the families of the victims of Seung-Hui Cho’s shooting spree in April 2007, it agreed to make public some of the key details of the…