Transparency News 1/29/15
State and Local Stories
This morning, bright and early, a House transportation subcommittee advanced a bill to reform the public-private partnership process by, in part, adding an additional public comment period on final bids.
A House education subcommittee unanimously advanced two bills, one that would require the education department to develop policies on following the federal student information law (FERPA), and one that would require school board members to certify annually that they completed various training, including training on the Freedom of Information Act.
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You won't find the wallabies at the Virginia Zoo's Australia exhibit anytime soon. Most have died and the rest have been quarantined because of a rash of deaths over the past 11 months, zoo officials confirmed Monday. Since February, seven wallabies have died from toxoplasmosis, or "toxo," which is a disease caused by a parasite that is often carried through cat feces. A number of baby wallabies have died, too, and it's possible that some of them also died from toxo, the zoo's veterinarian said. Greg Bockheim, the zoo's executive director, would not say Monday how many wallaby offspring have died. The zoo plans to provide that information later in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, he said.
Virginian-Pilot
A bipartisan coalition of Virginia lawmakers is trying to increase public access to the records of public colleges and universities throughout the commonwealth. The legislators want to spike a provision in the Virginia Freedom of Information Act that exempts working papers and correspondence of Virginia university presidents and other chief executives of public institutions of higher education. Republican Del. David Ramadan says that when he was a member of George Mason University's Board of Visitors, nothing that he witnessed should have been shielded from taxpayers who funded the operation. "There is not a single thing that George Mason conducted during those two years, including board communication with the presidents — and there were presidents, one that retired and one that came in — that I wouldn't be comfortable with it being out there," says Ramadan, who represents parts of Loudoun and Prince William counties.
WAMU
Among the many exemptions to public records laws in Virginia are correspondence and "working papers" of public college presidents. Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, who annually targets a Freedom of Information Act exemption, thinks that should end. He defended his bill (SB893) during a Senate subcommittee hearing, saying the exemption is overly broad. "A college president is a president of a taxpayer-funded institution," he said. A Senate General Laws and Technology subcommittee recommended that his bill be studied in a three-year review of the law under way by the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council, an agency that offers opinions for citizens, news media and government officials.
Virginian-Pilot
The attack that killed staffers of Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris has raised difficult questions about the balance of freedom of speech in terms of if and when it is appropriate to criticize religion. A group of professors at Christopher Newport University tried to address those concerns in a panel discussion Tuesday. At the discussion at McMurran Hall open to students, faculty and staff, a panel of professors in the university's philosophy and religious studies department weighed in on the question "Are we Charlie?"
Daily Press
Charlottesville’s former top election official pleaded guilty Wednesday to four misdemeanors in Charlottesville General District Court in place of the six felonies she faced originally. Former Registrar Sheri Iachetta pleaded guilty to four counts of misdemeanor damage to and removal of city property. She had been charged with six counts of embezzlement related to the use public funds for personal use. Former Electoral Board member and local defense attorney Stephanie Commander also pleaded guilty to four counts of misdemeanor damage to and removal of city property, in place of four felony embezzlement charges.
Daily Progress
In the wake of a public finance scandal that rocked the Charlottesville Office of Voter Registration, city officials and the city Electoral Board are developing a memorandum of understanding concerning oversight of the registrar’s office. “There was terrible confusion after the scandal was exposed,” Electoral Board Chairwoman Joan Schatzman said Wednesday. “No one knew what to do about anything. It was the first time something like this happened ever.”
Daily Progress
Pastures District Supervisor Tracy Pyles offered a statement to open Wednesday’s Augusta County Supervisors meeting, explaining a racially offensive comment he made to a reporter on Monday, and providing a defense of both his character and of Augusta County. On Monday, Pyles offered a lengthy criticism of a report of a previous supervisors’ closed session meeting by Staunton News Leader reporter Calvin Trice. And during his diatribe, the veteran supervisor referred to Trice, an African American man, as “boy’’ and then corrected his characterization by saying son. The subsequent report of what Pyles said attracted national publicity, and ample criticism of his comments. And while Pyles apologized to Trice on Tuesday, he was still feeling the sting of the criticism on Wednesday night. “I am obnoxious. I am a guy who speaks up, and it gets under people’s skin,’’ Pyles said. “A lot of people are glad I’m getting smacked down. But I’m not happy about what is happening to Augusta County and my fellow supervisors.” Pyles said his comment was “stupid,’’ and said his guard had not gone up soon enough. But the supervisor defended his inherent fairness, and said if there was one person who knew of any racist behavior ever exhibited by him they should come forward.
News Virginian
National Stories
Women, including those who work outside the home, still do a large majority of housework and child-rearing (not to mention child-bearing). That should make it harder for them to incur the many costs of running for office. But studies of political ambition have often struggled to show that responsibilities at home affect women’s decisions about whether to run. For example, some research finds little correlation between household or child-care responsibilities and political ambition in their surveys of men and women in occupations, such as the law, that regularly feed into political careers. Now, a forthcoming paper by Yale doctoral student Rachel Silbermann provides some interesting evidence of how women’s family responsibilities might matter. Silbermann uncovered a striking correlation: The farther away a state legislative district is from the state capital, the less likely it is that there will be at least one female candidate in that district or a woman serving as state legislator. Notably, these districts are no less likely to have women serving in local office, suggesting that these more remote districts aren’t simply lacking women who are interested in running for office, period.Governing
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence said Tuesday he soon will be "clarifying" what his Just IN news site will be doing and called reports on the plan an "understandable misunderstanding." "Each weekday, up to six press releases will be featured in the 'Top Stories' section of the website. All other press releases for the day will appear further down on the Just IN homepage, separated by category. Members of the media will continue to receive press releases via email," according to a news release issued Tuesday afternoon. Documents obtained by The Indianapolis Star -- first reported on IndyStar.com late Monday -- show a detailed plan to have state press secretaries write news stories and distribute them through the Just IN site. By noon Tuesday, Pence was playing down his administration's plans to start a news site.
Governing
National security secrecy can be an impediment to veterans who are seeking treatment for traumas suffered during military service yet who are technically prohibited from disclosing classified information related to their experience to uncleared physicians or therapists. The problem was epitomized by the case of U.S. Army Sgt. Daniel Somers, who participated in classified Special Operations missions in Iraq. He returned with significant physical, mental and psychological damage. He killed himself in June 2013. Secrecy, among other factors, appears to have exacerbated his condition, according to Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ). "One of the struggles Daniel faced was as an individual who had served in classified service," Rep. Sinema said at a hearing last July. "He was unable to participate in group therapy because he was not able to share [what] he experienced while in service."
Secrecy News
Editorials/Columns
Roger Chesley, Virginian-Pilot
In the past week, my colleagues have had to call out the city of Chesapeake and the Portsmouth School Board for their insufficient answers to legitimate inquiries. In the first case, Chesapeake's city attorney declined to say how much the government paid to settle a lawsuit filed by a 70-year-old woman against two police officers. Ruth Davenport claimed the officers, including one no longer with the department, violated her constitutional rights during an arrest at her home in March. The officers had misdemeanor warrants against the woman's son, and they'd come to serve them at 5:40 a.m. City Attorney Jan Proctor at first declined to reveal the settlement amount. The suit had been filed in federal court and sought half-a-million smackers. She said the settlement was confidential. After The Pilot's Scott Daugherty began phoning City Council members, Proctor relented, and informed us - and you, readers - the suit was settled for $50,000. The state's Freedom of Information Advisory Council had told The Pilot that the amount should be disclosed. When I interviewed Proctor on Tuesday, she said The Pilot had asked several questions by email, and her first response focused on the confidentiality clause. She told me she had to re-check FOIA laws before realizing she had to give us the payout. I asked Proctor, who has 26 years in the City Attorney's Office, shouldn't she have known FOIA stipulations? She said she erred at first, then turned over what had to be released.
Virginian-Pilot
A bill passed in Ohio would shield the identity of and public records pertaining to other medical and non-medical personnel who furnish supplies or administer the drugs used in executions. The effect is to impose a gag order on potentially adverse reports that could inform the public debate over capital punishment. By making much relevant information secret, the law gives government accountability a black eye. More than a dozen states have adopted similar laws and policies, and others are considering measures that are wildly overbroad. A notable case is Virginia, where Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s (D) administration has submitted a bill to the legislature that goes well beyond the Ohio law. The legislation, sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax), would make practically everything about executions in Virginia a state secret — even the building in which they take place. The information would be exempt from the state’s Freedom of Information Act and even off-limits to plaintiffs in most civil lawsuits.
Washington Post
(NOTE: The committee hearing this bill -- SB1393) -- meets today at 3:00)
On Monday, the Virginia Senate did the right thing. The House of Delegates appears poised to undo the good work. A bipartisan majority in the Senate approved a proposal to transfer responsibility for redistricting to an independent commission. The process would end the gerrymandering that distorts — and subverts — legislative elections in the commonwealth. House Republicans might block the resolution from receiving a vote in the full chamber. Subterfuge could hold sway. House Republicans do not want to go on the record opposing a concept the citizenry endorses. The Senate has established itself as a chamber of reform. Will the House — led by its Republicans — take a stand for progress or will it embrace the tactics of the clubhouse and the machine?
Times-Dispatch
THERE WAS mixed news in the gift disclosure reports recently filed by state lawmakers. The good news is that in the wake of former Gov. Bob McDonnell’s indictment and conviction on federal corruption charges, state legislators took fewer gifts from lobbyists and special interests. The bad news is, some still haven’t gotten the memo on trips and entertainment.
Free Lance-Star
The Virginia Senate this week passed not just one, but two major reform bills that could vastly improve governance in Virginia. The Daily Progress long has labored for both these reforms. Each requires an amendment to the state Constitution. More prominent currently is the push to end gerrymandering: the practice of drawing political districts for partisan purposes rather than for the benefit of voters and fair elections.
Daily Progress
