Transparency News 9/10/15
Thursday, September 10, 2015
State and Local Stories
In opinion letter to Del. Chris Jones, Attorney General Mark Herring confirms that the Suffolk Wetlands Board does not have to take public comment during meetings where public comment isn’t statutorily required, but “because of the overarching importance of open government and free discussion with citizens,” the board may choose to do so.
VCOG website
The Governor’s Task Force for Local Government Mandate Reviewrecommends amending FOIA change for access to police body cam footage. Specifically: “Localities support legislation to amend the Freedom of Information Act, as necessary, to assure that law enforcement agencies are not required to release video and audio recorded by body worn cameras that would disclose the identities and personal information of private citizens and to assure that agencies do not incur burdensome costs in responding to requests. The Task Force also supports exempting the data captured by body worn cameras from the Records Retention Schedule of the Library of Virginia. Given the large amount of digital data being captured by these cameras and the costs of storage, law enforcement agencies should not be required to retain this data unless it serves a law enforcement, internal affairs investigation or training purpose.”
(no link)
Upset by Gov. Terry McAuliffe's refusal to release a report on the bloody arrest of a University of Virginia student, state Sen. Frank Wagner said he plans to call an oversight hearing into conduct of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control in the March incident. Wagner, a Virginia Beach Republican, wrote to Public Safety Secretary Brian Moran on Tuesday asking for an unredacted copy of a state police report on the arrest of Martese Johnson by Virginia ABC police. Wagner said Moran told him Tuesday he would give him the report. A day later, Moran sent Wagner a letter saying he couldn't release it, writing that "civil litigation is anticipated." Wagner said he was not happy with the response and planned to move forward with a hearing before the Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee, which has jurisdiction over ABC laws.
Virginian-Pilot
Sen. Frank W. Wagner (R-Virginia Beach) and Del. C. Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah), who are chairmen of legislative committees that oversee ABC, said the report would help them evaluate whether to change the way the agency operates. “If they did something wrong, we can fix it without throwing the baby out with the bath water,” Gilbert said. “I would not want to change the entire way they do business based on one incident or make a poor judgment, but without knowing exactly what happened, we’re sort of flying blind.”
Washington Post
Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Wednesday said his friend and Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton should not have used a private email account for government business while serving as secretary of state. “I’m glad she came out yesterday and today and said it was a mistake and she shouldn’t have done it, and I agree with that,” the governor said in an interview following a speech at the Commonwealth of Virginia Information Technology Summit in Short Pump on Wednesday morning in which he addressed cybersecurity and technology issues. “She shouldn’t have done it — she should have had two separate systems, as most people do,” McAuliffe continued. “I think you should always have separate accounts. I have separate accounts. I carry two phones — one has my state information on it, then I have a phone for my personal,” he added. “I think it’s important that you do that. You’ve got to keep them both separated.”
Richmond Times-Dispatch
A Petersburg police officer who is a candidate for sheriff in Charles City County has been charged with election fraud, according to the Virginia State Police. Vance R. Richards, 46, of the town of West Point in King William County, turned himself in to state police Tuesday and was released on bond. In June, the Charles City commonwealth’s attorney contacted state police to investigate an allegation that the addresses Richards used to file his application for elected office in Charles City were not valid.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Last week members of the Franklin County Board of Supervisors and representatives from Mountain Valley Pipeline had a series of private meetings to discuss erosion and sediment control. Three separate meetings were held that included supervisors and staff members from the planning and public works departments, said County Administrator Brent Robertson, who attended all three meetings. The meetings were held with two supervisors at a time to avoid the public meeting requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. Under the act, meetings of only two members of a public body do not need to be held publicly unless this constitutes a quorum or committee. Two of the board’s seven supervisors were unable to attend the meetings.
Roanoke Times
National Stories
Struggling to answer a growing backlog of Freedom of Information Act requests as it continues to sift through thousands of pages of Hillary Clinton e-mails, the State Department has hired a former diplomat to oversee the operation. But apparently no one at State knew that Ambassador Janice Jacobs in her retirement had made the max individual donation of $2,700 to Clinton’s presidential campaign. “We were not aware of the contribution,” State spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday during a daily press briefing. “But I would tell you that it bears no relevance on her selection.” Pressed on whether it was appropriate to have a Clinton supporter running the State’s transparency efforts, Kirby was adamant that there was no conflict of interest, though he did concede that she would play some role in the process of the monthly release of Clinton e-mails. Additionally, State plans to pull 50 employees from other departments to help with FOIA backlogs as other previously-designated employees slog through the more than 25,000 e-mails from her private account left to go through. Kirby could not say how much these new assignments would cost taxpayers or how the other departments will fare being short-staffed.
Washington Post
An Arkansas judge ruled Tuesday that Tontitown police records related to a 911 call at the Jim Bob Duggar residence are not subject to disclosure under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. Circuit Judge Beth Storey Bryan of Fayetteville determined the records were exempt because police were assisting a state Department of Human Services case worker who was investigating the welfare of a minor May 27. That department and Arkansas State Police child welfare investigations are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
The VA illegally fired a disabled Army vet who’d complained to Congress about the department’s bungling treatment of his case, the government’s own whistleblower watchdog said in a new report Tuesday that highlights the department’s questionable treatment of those who seek to expose its problems. Bradie Frink faced a series of retaliations, including eventually being fired from his job as a time clerk at the Baltimore Veterans Affairs office, after he complained to Sen. Barbara Mikulski that the office had lost his claim folder.
Washington Times
Look out, DMV, IRS and TSA. Yelp, the popular review website that's best known for its rants or cheers regarding restaurants and retailers, is about to make it easier to review and rank government services. Last month, Yelp and the General Services Administration (GSA), which manages the basic functions of the federal government, announced that government workers will soon be able to read and respond to their agencies' Yelp reviews -- and, hopefully, incorporate the feedback into service improvements. At first glance, the news might not seem so special. There already are Yelp pages for government agencies like Departments of Motor Vehicles, which have been particularly popular. San Francisco's DMV office, for example, has received more than 450 reviews and has a three-star rating. But federal agencies and workers haven't been allowed to respond to the reviewers nor could they collect data from the pages because Yelp hadn't been approved by the GSA. The agreement changes that situation, also making it possible for agencies to set up new Yelp pages. "I think government is looking to become far more innovative when it comes to social media," said Laurent Crenshaw, head of public policy for Yelp. "This agreement provides a new way to connect with citizens and improve services."
Governing
Emails released Tuesday from former Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber's official Gmail account deepened the record of how the former governor brought Cylvia Hayes into his administration early on and pushed staff to involve her in core state policies. Gov. Kate Brown's office released 5,000 emails from that account and continues to review another 12,000. Instead of using a state-issued account, Kitzhaber used a Gmail account for his work as early as March 2011, the newly released emails show. The Oregonian/OregonLive sought the emails in a public records request filed with the governor's office last October, when Kitzhaber was still in office. That request also covered a personal account Kitzhaber used that inadvertently was stored on state computers. Brown's office isn't releasing any of those because of efforts by Kitzhaber's attorneys to keep them private.
The Oregonian
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser said Wednesday that she would allow police officials to withhold some footage captured by body cameras, a move that members of the D.C. Council said backtracked from a proposal she made last month that would have given the public more access to videos. In August, Bowser (D) said a series of police-involved shootings caught on camera in recent months had led her to favor greater disclosure of video captured by body cameras that thousands of D.C. police officers could soon wear, a decision that encouraged members of the council who favor more transparency. But legislation that the mayor submitted to the council Wednesday added broad exemptions to the plan she laid out last month, including footage of all assaults.
Washington Post
Editorials/Columns
Today we will say something profoundly controversial: We like politicians. We don’t like them all, of course. But we don’t categorically consider them all undesirable characters worthy of public disdain. And neither should you — especially if you want good government. The occasion for saying this is something that several readers said recently that got us thinking. We understand that we live in more cynical times now — and there’s often very good reason for such cynicism — but we’re not so jaundiced as to start calling these people who stand for and serve in local office “professional politicians.” Here’s a reality: We need more people to offer themselves for what used to be called “public service.”
Roanoke Times
State and Local Stories
In opinion letter to Del. Chris Jones, Attorney General Mark Herring confirms that the Suffolk Wetlands Board does not have to take public comment during meetings where public comment isn’t statutorily required, but “because of the overarching importance of open government and free discussion with citizens,” the board may choose to do so.
VCOG website
The Governor’s Task Force for Local Government Mandate Reviewrecommends amending FOIA change for access to police body cam footage. Specifically: “Localities support legislation to amend the Freedom of Information Act, as necessary, to assure that law enforcement agencies are not required to release video and audio recorded by body worn cameras that would disclose the identities and personal information of private citizens and to assure that agencies do not incur burdensome costs in responding to requests. The Task Force also supports exempting the data captured by body worn cameras from the Records Retention Schedule of the Library of Virginia. Given the large amount of digital data being captured by these cameras and the costs of storage, law enforcement agencies should not be required to retain this data unless it serves a law enforcement, internal affairs investigation or training purpose.”
(no link)
Upset by Gov. Terry McAuliffe's refusal to release a report on the bloody arrest of a University of Virginia student, state Sen. Frank Wagner said he plans to call an oversight hearing into conduct of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control in the March incident. Wagner, a Virginia Beach Republican, wrote to Public Safety Secretary Brian Moran on Tuesday asking for an unredacted copy of a state police report on the arrest of Martese Johnson by Virginia ABC police. Wagner said Moran told him Tuesday he would give him the report. A day later, Moran sent Wagner a letter saying he couldn't release it, writing that "civil litigation is anticipated." Wagner said he was not happy with the response and planned to move forward with a hearing before the Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee, which has jurisdiction over ABC laws.
Virginian-Pilot
Sen. Frank W. Wagner (R-Virginia Beach) and Del. C. Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah), who are chairmen of legislative committees that oversee ABC, said the report would help them evaluate whether to change the way the agency operates. “If they did something wrong, we can fix it without throwing the baby out with the bath water,” Gilbert said. “I would not want to change the entire way they do business based on one incident or make a poor judgment, but without knowing exactly what happened, we’re sort of flying blind.”
Washington Post
Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Wednesday said his friend and Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton should not have used a private email account for government business while serving as secretary of state. “I’m glad she came out yesterday and today and said it was a mistake and she shouldn’t have done it, and I agree with that,” the governor said in an interview following a speech at the Commonwealth of Virginia Information Technology Summit in Short Pump on Wednesday morning in which he addressed cybersecurity and technology issues. “She shouldn’t have done it — she should have had two separate systems, as most people do,” McAuliffe continued. “I think you should always have separate accounts. I have separate accounts. I carry two phones — one has my state information on it, then I have a phone for my personal,” he added. “I think it’s important that you do that. You’ve got to keep them both separated.”
Richmond Times-Dispatch
A Petersburg police officer who is a candidate for sheriff in Charles City County has been charged with election fraud, according to the Virginia State Police. Vance R. Richards, 46, of the town of West Point in King William County, turned himself in to state police Tuesday and was released on bond. In June, the Charles City commonwealth’s attorney contacted state police to investigate an allegation that the addresses Richards used to file his application for elected office in Charles City were not valid.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Last week members of the Franklin County Board of Supervisors and representatives from Mountain Valley Pipeline had a series of private meetings to discuss erosion and sediment control. Three separate meetings were held that included supervisors and staff members from the planning and public works departments, said County Administrator Brent Robertson, who attended all three meetings. The meetings were held with two supervisors at a time to avoid the public meeting requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. Under the act, meetings of only two members of a public body do not need to be held publicly unless this constitutes a quorum or committee. Two of the board’s seven supervisors were unable to attend the meetings.
Roanoke Times
National Stories
Struggling to answer a growing backlog of Freedom of Information Act requests as it continues to sift through thousands of pages of Hillary Clinton e-mails, the State Department has hired a former diplomat to oversee the operation. But apparently no one at State knew that Ambassador Janice Jacobs in her retirement had made the max individual donation of $2,700 to Clinton’s presidential campaign. “We were not aware of the contribution,” State spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday during a daily press briefing. “But I would tell you that it bears no relevance on her selection.” Pressed on whether it was appropriate to have a Clinton supporter running the State’s transparency efforts, Kirby was adamant that there was no conflict of interest, though he did concede that she would play some role in the process of the monthly release of Clinton e-mails. Additionally, State plans to pull 50 employees from other departments to help with FOIA backlogs as other previously-designated employees slog through the more than 25,000 e-mails from her private account left to go through. Kirby could not say how much these new assignments would cost taxpayers or how the other departments will fare being short-staffed.
Washington Post
An Arkansas judge ruled Tuesday that Tontitown police records related to a 911 call at the Jim Bob Duggar residence are not subject to disclosure under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. Circuit Judge Beth Storey Bryan of Fayetteville determined the records were exempt because police were assisting a state Department of Human Services case worker who was investigating the welfare of a minor May 27. That department and Arkansas State Police child welfare investigations are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
The VA illegally fired a disabled Army vet who’d complained to Congress about the department’s bungling treatment of his case, the government’s own whistleblower watchdog said in a new report Tuesday that highlights the department’s questionable treatment of those who seek to expose its problems. Bradie Frink faced a series of retaliations, including eventually being fired from his job as a time clerk at the Baltimore Veterans Affairs office, after he complained to Sen. Barbara Mikulski that the office had lost his claim folder.
Washington Times
Look out, DMV, IRS and TSA. Yelp, the popular review website that's best known for its rants or cheers regarding restaurants and retailers, is about to make it easier to review and rank government services. Last month, Yelp and the General Services Administration (GSA), which manages the basic functions of the federal government, announced that government workers will soon be able to read and respond to their agencies' Yelp reviews -- and, hopefully, incorporate the feedback into service improvements. At first glance, the news might not seem so special. There already are Yelp pages for government agencies like Departments of Motor Vehicles, which have been particularly popular. San Francisco's DMV office, for example, has received more than 450 reviews and has a three-star rating. But federal agencies and workers haven't been allowed to respond to the reviewers nor could they collect data from the pages because Yelp hadn't been approved by the GSA. The agreement changes that situation, also making it possible for agencies to set up new Yelp pages. "I think government is looking to become far more innovative when it comes to social media," said Laurent Crenshaw, head of public policy for Yelp. "This agreement provides a new way to connect with citizens and improve services."
Governing
Emails released Tuesday from former Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber's official Gmail account deepened the record of how the former governor brought Cylvia Hayes into his administration early on and pushed staff to involve her in core state policies. Gov. Kate Brown's office released 5,000 emails from that account and continues to review another 12,000. Instead of using a state-issued account, Kitzhaber used a Gmail account for his work as early as March 2011, the newly released emails show. The Oregonian/OregonLive sought the emails in a public records request filed with the governor's office last October, when Kitzhaber was still in office. That request also covered a personal account Kitzhaber used that inadvertently was stored on state computers. Brown's office isn't releasing any of those because of efforts by Kitzhaber's attorneys to keep them private.
The Oregonian
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser said Wednesday that she would allow police officials to withhold some footage captured by body cameras, a move that members of the D.C. Council said backtracked from a proposal she made last month that would have given the public more access to videos. In August, Bowser (D) said a series of police-involved shootings caught on camera in recent months had led her to favor greater disclosure of video captured by body cameras that thousands of D.C. police officers could soon wear, a decision that encouraged members of the council who favor more transparency. But legislation that the mayor submitted to the council Wednesday added broad exemptions to the plan she laid out last month, including footage of all assaults.
Washington Post
Editorials/Columns
Today we will say something profoundly controversial: We like politicians. We don’t like them all, of course. But we don’t categorically consider them all undesirable characters worthy of public disdain. And neither should you — especially if you want good government. The occasion for saying this is something that several readers said recently that got us thinking. We understand that we live in more cynical times now — and there’s often very good reason for such cynicism — but we’re not so jaundiced as to start calling these people who stand for and serve in local office “professional politicians.” Here’s a reality: We need more people to offer themselves for what used to be called “public service.”
Roanoke Times
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