Transparency News 5/18/15
Monday, May 18, 2015
State and Local Stories
A statewide database of circuit court cases includes information that judges ordered to be removed from court record collections, the Virginia Supreme Court's Office of the Executive Secretary has told the Daily Press in explaining why it is again refusing to release the database as it has in years past. In an 11-page letter, the office said it also would reject the Daily Press request for a copy of its database because the state Freedom of Information Act can't be enforced against it. "We do recognize the importance of the information you request," Assistant Executive Secretary Edward Macon wrote. But, he said, subjecting the office to the Freedom of Information Act "would violate the principle of separation of powers." Macon said removing confidential information from the database the Daily Press has sought for the past year — including case records that had been ordered expunged — would involve more than 250,000 hours of staff time to review all 7.5 million cases in the database.
Daily Press
Portsmouth City Council members' relationship might be described as a bad marriage. suggested "divorcing" the mayor. Such a separation has precedent: Residents successfully recalled former Mayor James Holley. Twice. "It sounds like the system in place is 'If we don't like you, Mayor, we are going to recall you, and we have a history of doing it, so we will do it all over again,' " said Brian Setness, a director at NTL Institute, a nonprofit that provides "human interaction" training for organizations ranging from the United Nations to community groups. But that's a short-term fix to a long-term problem, experts say, and for Portsmouth's sake, council members must work through their differences. The experts say the answer could lie with training in "group dynamics" - what some call "group therapy." Council members must first gain self-awareness, Setness said.
Virginian-Pilot
University of Virginia students will get a unique chance to comment at a Board of Visitors meeting next month, but some wonder whether the initiative goes far enough. Two video comments selected by students along with one chosen by the Student Council are to be screened at the board’s June 11 meeting. “The idea here is to demonstrate to the board that whoever is speaking is representing a lot of people,” said Student Council President Abraham Axler. It’s a new step for UVa’s board, which typically does not allow public comment at its meetings. Colleges and universities decide on a case-by-case basis, but boards at the state’s largest institutions — including William & Mary, James Madison, Virginia Commonwealth, Virginia Tech and George Mason — do not allow public comment at their meetings.
Daily Progress
Pittsylvania County will sponsor a free program on the Virginia Freedom of Information ActMonday, May 18, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Olde Dominion Agricultural Complex in Chatham. The meeting was originally set up for the Pittsylvania County Agricultural Development Board, which is appointed by the Board of Supervisors. The public is welcome to attend, county officials said. The speaker will be Maria J.K. Everett, executive director of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council.
Star-Tribune
A state review of the Shenandoah Valley Social Services office, from top to bottom, has been requested today by a board vote. The move follows Thursday's News Leader investigative report about more than 200 ignored, deleted voice mails on a child abuse intake line.Friday's request to the state, which would perform the deep audit, came out of a special meeting that was hosted in the Staunton city manager's office. On Thursday, the Augusta County commonwealth's attorney called for an independent investigation by the Virginia State Police.
News Leader
During the past two months, Strasburg officials have been discussing a possible conflict of interest concerning town donations to the Strasburg Chamber of Commerce. Councilman Seth Newman noted that he felt Councilman Rich Orndorff, as chamber president, had a conflict of interest regarding an $8,000 donation from the town to the chamber in the town budget for the 2016 fiscal year. Newman said he was concerned about the donation because of Orndorff’s position as well as his relationship with the chamber’s executive director Angie Herman. “There’s a perceived conflict of interest there and I think it’s a misappropriation of … taxpayer funds,” Newman said. Orndorff said, “If the council donates to the chamber and the chamber executive director is in my household, there is no direct conflict, there is no ethical violation.”
Northern Virginia Daily
Fairfax County’s decision to hire outside lawyers to handle matters related to the 2013 police killing of John Geer has now cost Fairfax taxpayers more than $225,000, after county officials revealed Thursday that a second letter prepared by a Richmond-based law firm cost at least $85,000. Also Thursday, the Fairfax County prosecutor said he hopes a special grand jury in the case will hear evidence on the case in July. In November 2014, as the delay [in releasing information] stretched on, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) sent letters to the police and the Justice Department, asking why the case was taking so long. Fairfax County officials said their lawyers had no experience dealing with congressional inquiries, so they hired Mark Bierbower of Richmond’s Hunton & Williams law firm to answer Grassley’s inquiry. Bierbower previously represented baseball slugger Mark McGwire in his appearance before Congress during hearings on steroids in baseball. Bierbower helped craft a six-page letter to Grassley on behalf of Fairfax police Chief Edwin C. Roessler. Fairfax officials later said they paid Hunton & Williams $130,000 for their assistance on the letter. Then in February Grassley sent another letter seeking answers from Fairfax police about the case. Hunton & Williams was enlisted again to help with the response, and county spokesman Tony Castrilli said the bill for the firm’s legal services was $85,261.73, but that “there may be additional outside counsel bills” from the law firm.
Washington Post
The Historic Triangle’s Regional Issues Committee voted itself out of existence last month. Williamsburg City Council went along with that plan at its meeting Thursday, but not without reservations. Those reservations mostly center on the fact that the load previously carried by the RIC — a public body — has largely fallen on the Historic Triangle Collaborative, which is a private, invitation-only group and meets behind closed doors. The Historic Triangle Collaborative is made up of 11 members, one elected officials from each of the three localities, the chief administrative official of each locality and the chief executive officers of Colonial Williamsburg, the College of William and Mary, the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, Busch Gardens Williamsburg and the Greater Williamsburg Chamber & Tourism Alliance. While there is input from many of the area's prime stakeholders, there is no mechanism for public input. While the meetings are closed, the minutes are published on the Collaborative's website.
Virginia Gazette
National Stories
The South Carolina House gave its final approval Thursday to a bill to require all law enforcement officers to wear body cameras, but the video from those cameras would be kept secret. The video would not be subject to the state's Freedom of Information Act. The original Senate bill would allow the video to be released. Rep. Tommy Pope, R-York, the sponsor of the amendment in the House, says the concern is over the privacy of victims and children who would appear in those police videos, along with police informants. "I don't know that I believe that the purpose for body cameras is for the public to see every incident that law enforcement has. I think the purpose is evidence gathering and accountability," he says. Pope is a former prosecutor. He says even if the public doesn't see the video from body cams, it would still be used to prosecute or clear officers accused of wrongdoing, as well as prosecute or clear people accused of crimes whose actions might be caught on the body cams.
News2
The Federal Trade Commission last week was sued for refusing to turn over information about how the agency decides to bring data security cases. The Freedom of Information Act suit by Philip Reitinger, a former Department of Homeland Security official who is now president of a cybersecurity company, comes as the FTC defends its role as data security cop in two ongoing cases. “The FTC’s data security activity has increased in recent years and is likely to continue to do so,” wrote Reitinger’s lawyers, Steptoe & Johnson LLP partners Michael Baratz and Stewart Baker, in the complaint. “In light of this increased activity, it is important for the public, including entities subject to the FTC’s data and cybersecurity enforcement, to understand the FTC’s expectations for data security practices and the reasoning for its actions.” Baker declined to comment, saying that “the complaint speaks for itself.” A Federal Trade Commission spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
National Law Journal
Defense authorization bills winding their way through Congress are prompting alarm among transparency advocates over a series of proposals that would roll back the scope of decades-old sunshine laws, like the Freedom of Information Act. One measure open government activists reacted to with deep concern over the weekend would effectively overturn a 2011 Supreme Court ruling that broadened access to federal records. It would do so by rejecting a longstanding interpretation of FOIA allowing agencies to withhold information whose release could undermine government operations. The proposed revision appears in a draft of the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act posted online. However, congressional aides said the draft consists of Pentagon-requested language and has not been formally introduced.
Politico
A federal anti-SLAPP bill with bipartisan co-sponsors was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives last week. The SPEAK FREE Act, introduced Wednesday by Reps. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, and Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., is seen as an important step toward nationwide protection against meritless suits that chill speech. A federal anti-SLAPP bill would fill current gaps in protection by providing a uniform defense against SLAPP suits nationwide, addressing the problems of some courts not applying state anti-SLAPP laws in federal court and other states not having anti-SLAPP legislation at all. The SPEAK FREE Act is largely based on the strong anti-SLAPP laws of Texas and California. While some worry that the ease with which defendants can remove actions to federal court would be a burden on the federal court system, proponents of the law argue that the burden will be minimal and that the removal provision is critical to the law’s effectiveness. The bill's other co-sponsors are Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., Trent Franks, R-Ariz., and Jared Polis, D-Colo.
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Editorials/Columns
The debate over the National Security Agency's ongoing effort to collect and store Americans' phone data is taking on new urgency in Congress. Members have barely two weeks to reach an agreement, given that a relevant section of the Patriot Act is set to expire.
Virginian-Pilot
Last week, we learned that the cost of Pittsylvania County’s legal battle with the American Civil Liberties Union is approaching $75,000. That’s how much the county will have to pay if the ACLU prevails in its federal lawsuit. The longer the case drags on, the more the legal costs — and bills — increase. Of course, if the county wins, it won’t have to pay a dime because it’s represented by Bill Stanley, the Franklin County lawyer who also represents portions of Pittsylvania County in the Virginia Senate. Stanley is representing the county free of charge. Over the years, we’ve been sympathetic to the feelings that a lot of county residents have about this issue. We really do believe that the members of the Board of Supervisors prayed — and would still be praying, if not for the lawsuit — because they really believe that those prayers underscored their own personal relationship with God. That said, the legal case doesn’t look good. If — and more likely when — the courts rule that members of the Board of Supervisors can’t lead sectarian Christian prayers at board meetings, supervisors will most likely use pastors and lay people to give the invocation at board meetings on a permanent basis. That’s also when someone in Chatham will have to write the big check to the ACLU. We believe it’s inevitable based on current case law. But the question we keep coming back to is this: Why is the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors the only local government board in the Dan River Region that is having this kind of legal fight?
Register & Bee
Trying to get information out of the government can feel like standing in a Soviet bread line. Except that the bread has gone stale and inedibly hard by the time you reach the front of the queue. That’s often what happens when you file public records requests with federal, state and local agencies. The length of time government takes to hand it over, whether intentional or not, can make the data so old that it’s next to useless. To cannibalize the adage about justice: Access delayed is access denied. It’s especially true with the rise of the open data movement, the effort by civic-minded computer programmers to create wondrous apps from underutilized government databases. These are people who can make society better by harnessing real-time data flows of bus arrival times, snowplowing schedules, 911 calls and other information that government typically keeps for its own use. Open record laws have failed to keep up with the push for open data.
(Minneapolis) Star Tribune
Since the first modern-day computer systems arrived in our city halls, we've been hearing about how technology was about to make our communities better places to live, work and play. But for the most part, information technology hasn't yet lived up to this promise. That's because the many millions of dollars we have poured into IT have gone, by and large, into internally focused systems that have little of no direct impact on the lives of residents. This isn't to suggest that well intentioned IT professionals haven't been successful in leveraging technology to improve processes inside government. Most cities couldn't function as well as they do today without the modern management tools and systems, such as those for payroll, billing and human resources, that most now have in place. The problem, however is that to the residents of our cities this technology is invisible, providing few benefits that they can see from day to day. What's needed is a stronger emphasis on visible technology - the kind that residents can see, touch and feel. Cities don't have far to look to see examples abound of innovative, smart, visible technologies, including mobile apps and global information systems data.
John Spencer, Governing
State and Local Stories
A statewide database of circuit court cases includes information that judges ordered to be removed from court record collections, the Virginia Supreme Court's Office of the Executive Secretary has told the Daily Press in explaining why it is again refusing to release the database as it has in years past. In an 11-page letter, the office said it also would reject the Daily Press request for a copy of its database because the state Freedom of Information Act can't be enforced against it. "We do recognize the importance of the information you request," Assistant Executive Secretary Edward Macon wrote. But, he said, subjecting the office to the Freedom of Information Act "would violate the principle of separation of powers." Macon said removing confidential information from the database the Daily Press has sought for the past year — including case records that had been ordered expunged — would involve more than 250,000 hours of staff time to review all 7.5 million cases in the database.
Daily Press
Portsmouth City Council members' relationship might be described as a bad marriage. suggested "divorcing" the mayor. Such a separation has precedent: Residents successfully recalled former Mayor James Holley. Twice. "It sounds like the system in place is 'If we don't like you, Mayor, we are going to recall you, and we have a history of doing it, so we will do it all over again,' " said Brian Setness, a director at NTL Institute, a nonprofit that provides "human interaction" training for organizations ranging from the United Nations to community groups. But that's a short-term fix to a long-term problem, experts say, and for Portsmouth's sake, council members must work through their differences. The experts say the answer could lie with training in "group dynamics" - what some call "group therapy." Council members must first gain self-awareness, Setness said.
Virginian-Pilot
University of Virginia students will get a unique chance to comment at a Board of Visitors meeting next month, but some wonder whether the initiative goes far enough. Two video comments selected by students along with one chosen by the Student Council are to be screened at the board’s June 11 meeting. “The idea here is to demonstrate to the board that whoever is speaking is representing a lot of people,” said Student Council President Abraham Axler. It’s a new step for UVa’s board, which typically does not allow public comment at its meetings. Colleges and universities decide on a case-by-case basis, but boards at the state’s largest institutions — including William & Mary, James Madison, Virginia Commonwealth, Virginia Tech and George Mason — do not allow public comment at their meetings.
Daily Progress
Pittsylvania County will sponsor a free program on the Virginia Freedom of Information ActMonday, May 18, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Olde Dominion Agricultural Complex in Chatham. The meeting was originally set up for the Pittsylvania County Agricultural Development Board, which is appointed by the Board of Supervisors. The public is welcome to attend, county officials said. The speaker will be Maria J.K. Everett, executive director of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council.
Star-Tribune
A state review of the Shenandoah Valley Social Services office, from top to bottom, has been requested today by a board vote. The move follows Thursday's News Leader investigative report about more than 200 ignored, deleted voice mails on a child abuse intake line.Friday's request to the state, which would perform the deep audit, came out of a special meeting that was hosted in the Staunton city manager's office. On Thursday, the Augusta County commonwealth's attorney called for an independent investigation by the Virginia State Police.
News Leader
During the past two months, Strasburg officials have been discussing a possible conflict of interest concerning town donations to the Strasburg Chamber of Commerce. Councilman Seth Newman noted that he felt Councilman Rich Orndorff, as chamber president, had a conflict of interest regarding an $8,000 donation from the town to the chamber in the town budget for the 2016 fiscal year. Newman said he was concerned about the donation because of Orndorff’s position as well as his relationship with the chamber’s executive director Angie Herman. “There’s a perceived conflict of interest there and I think it’s a misappropriation of … taxpayer funds,” Newman said. Orndorff said, “If the council donates to the chamber and the chamber executive director is in my household, there is no direct conflict, there is no ethical violation.”
Northern Virginia Daily
Fairfax County’s decision to hire outside lawyers to handle matters related to the 2013 police killing of John Geer has now cost Fairfax taxpayers more than $225,000, after county officials revealed Thursday that a second letter prepared by a Richmond-based law firm cost at least $85,000. Also Thursday, the Fairfax County prosecutor said he hopes a special grand jury in the case will hear evidence on the case in July. In November 2014, as the delay [in releasing information] stretched on, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) sent letters to the police and the Justice Department, asking why the case was taking so long. Fairfax County officials said their lawyers had no experience dealing with congressional inquiries, so they hired Mark Bierbower of Richmond’s Hunton & Williams law firm to answer Grassley’s inquiry. Bierbower previously represented baseball slugger Mark McGwire in his appearance before Congress during hearings on steroids in baseball. Bierbower helped craft a six-page letter to Grassley on behalf of Fairfax police Chief Edwin C. Roessler. Fairfax officials later said they paid Hunton & Williams $130,000 for their assistance on the letter. Then in February Grassley sent another letter seeking answers from Fairfax police about the case. Hunton & Williams was enlisted again to help with the response, and county spokesman Tony Castrilli said the bill for the firm’s legal services was $85,261.73, but that “there may be additional outside counsel bills” from the law firm.
Washington Post
The Historic Triangle’s Regional Issues Committee voted itself out of existence last month. Williamsburg City Council went along with that plan at its meeting Thursday, but not without reservations. Those reservations mostly center on the fact that the load previously carried by the RIC — a public body — has largely fallen on the Historic Triangle Collaborative, which is a private, invitation-only group and meets behind closed doors. The Historic Triangle Collaborative is made up of 11 members, one elected officials from each of the three localities, the chief administrative official of each locality and the chief executive officers of Colonial Williamsburg, the College of William and Mary, the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, Busch Gardens Williamsburg and the Greater Williamsburg Chamber & Tourism Alliance. While there is input from many of the area's prime stakeholders, there is no mechanism for public input. While the meetings are closed, the minutes are published on the Collaborative's website.
Virginia Gazette
National Stories
The South Carolina House gave its final approval Thursday to a bill to require all law enforcement officers to wear body cameras, but the video from those cameras would be kept secret. The video would not be subject to the state's Freedom of Information Act. The original Senate bill would allow the video to be released. Rep. Tommy Pope, R-York, the sponsor of the amendment in the House, says the concern is over the privacy of victims and children who would appear in those police videos, along with police informants. "I don't know that I believe that the purpose for body cameras is for the public to see every incident that law enforcement has. I think the purpose is evidence gathering and accountability," he says. Pope is a former prosecutor. He says even if the public doesn't see the video from body cams, it would still be used to prosecute or clear officers accused of wrongdoing, as well as prosecute or clear people accused of crimes whose actions might be caught on the body cams.
News2
The Federal Trade Commission last week was sued for refusing to turn over information about how the agency decides to bring data security cases. The Freedom of Information Act suit by Philip Reitinger, a former Department of Homeland Security official who is now president of a cybersecurity company, comes as the FTC defends its role as data security cop in two ongoing cases. “The FTC’s data security activity has increased in recent years and is likely to continue to do so,” wrote Reitinger’s lawyers, Steptoe & Johnson LLP partners Michael Baratz and Stewart Baker, in the complaint. “In light of this increased activity, it is important for the public, including entities subject to the FTC’s data and cybersecurity enforcement, to understand the FTC’s expectations for data security practices and the reasoning for its actions.” Baker declined to comment, saying that “the complaint speaks for itself.” A Federal Trade Commission spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
National Law Journal
Defense authorization bills winding their way through Congress are prompting alarm among transparency advocates over a series of proposals that would roll back the scope of decades-old sunshine laws, like the Freedom of Information Act. One measure open government activists reacted to with deep concern over the weekend would effectively overturn a 2011 Supreme Court ruling that broadened access to federal records. It would do so by rejecting a longstanding interpretation of FOIA allowing agencies to withhold information whose release could undermine government operations. The proposed revision appears in a draft of the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act posted online. However, congressional aides said the draft consists of Pentagon-requested language and has not been formally introduced.
Politico
A federal anti-SLAPP bill with bipartisan co-sponsors was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives last week. The SPEAK FREE Act, introduced Wednesday by Reps. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, and Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., is seen as an important step toward nationwide protection against meritless suits that chill speech. A federal anti-SLAPP bill would fill current gaps in protection by providing a uniform defense against SLAPP suits nationwide, addressing the problems of some courts not applying state anti-SLAPP laws in federal court and other states not having anti-SLAPP legislation at all. The SPEAK FREE Act is largely based on the strong anti-SLAPP laws of Texas and California. While some worry that the ease with which defendants can remove actions to federal court would be a burden on the federal court system, proponents of the law argue that the burden will be minimal and that the removal provision is critical to the law’s effectiveness. The bill's other co-sponsors are Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., Trent Franks, R-Ariz., and Jared Polis, D-Colo.
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Editorials/Columns
The debate over the National Security Agency's ongoing effort to collect and store Americans' phone data is taking on new urgency in Congress. Members have barely two weeks to reach an agreement, given that a relevant section of the Patriot Act is set to expire.
Virginian-Pilot
Last week, we learned that the cost of Pittsylvania County’s legal battle with the American Civil Liberties Union is approaching $75,000. That’s how much the county will have to pay if the ACLU prevails in its federal lawsuit. The longer the case drags on, the more the legal costs — and bills — increase. Of course, if the county wins, it won’t have to pay a dime because it’s represented by Bill Stanley, the Franklin County lawyer who also represents portions of Pittsylvania County in the Virginia Senate. Stanley is representing the county free of charge. Over the years, we’ve been sympathetic to the feelings that a lot of county residents have about this issue. We really do believe that the members of the Board of Supervisors prayed — and would still be praying, if not for the lawsuit — because they really believe that those prayers underscored their own personal relationship with God. That said, the legal case doesn’t look good. If — and more likely when — the courts rule that members of the Board of Supervisors can’t lead sectarian Christian prayers at board meetings, supervisors will most likely use pastors and lay people to give the invocation at board meetings on a permanent basis. That’s also when someone in Chatham will have to write the big check to the ACLU. We believe it’s inevitable based on current case law. But the question we keep coming back to is this: Why is the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors the only local government board in the Dan River Region that is having this kind of legal fight?
Register & Bee
Trying to get information out of the government can feel like standing in a Soviet bread line. Except that the bread has gone stale and inedibly hard by the time you reach the front of the queue. That’s often what happens when you file public records requests with federal, state and local agencies. The length of time government takes to hand it over, whether intentional or not, can make the data so old that it’s next to useless. To cannibalize the adage about justice: Access delayed is access denied. It’s especially true with the rise of the open data movement, the effort by civic-minded computer programmers to create wondrous apps from underutilized government databases. These are people who can make society better by harnessing real-time data flows of bus arrival times, snowplowing schedules, 911 calls and other information that government typically keeps for its own use. Open record laws have failed to keep up with the push for open data.
(Minneapolis) Star Tribune
Since the first modern-day computer systems arrived in our city halls, we've been hearing about how technology was about to make our communities better places to live, work and play. But for the most part, information technology hasn't yet lived up to this promise. That's because the many millions of dollars we have poured into IT have gone, by and large, into internally focused systems that have little of no direct impact on the lives of residents. This isn't to suggest that well intentioned IT professionals haven't been successful in leveraging technology to improve processes inside government. Most cities couldn't function as well as they do today without the modern management tools and systems, such as those for payroll, billing and human resources, that most now have in place. The problem, however is that to the residents of our cities this technology is invisible, providing few benefits that they can see from day to day. What's needed is a stronger emphasis on visible technology - the kind that residents can see, touch and feel. Cities don't have far to look to see examples abound of innovative, smart, visible technologies, including mobile apps and global information systems data.
John Spencer, Governing
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