Transparency News 1/20/16

State and Local Stories

SB 667 (Sen. Black)
Prohibits the Division of Legislative Automated Systems from publishing or posting the Governor's report to the General Assembly at each regular session pursuant to Article V, Section 12 of the Constitution of Virginia that communicates the particulars of fines or penalties remitted, reprieves or pardons granted, and punishments commuted.
http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?161+sum+SB667

The public notice for Tuesday's nearly six-hour Newport News City Council "retreat" was not posted to the city website as council meeting notices are, it was posted to a board in the city clerk's office – the minimum required by Virginia's open meetings law. Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, said the city should have done more to get the word out to the public about the meeting, although it was not legally required to. "There isn't a requirement (in the Virginia open meetings law) that notice be posted on the website," said Rhyne. "Nonetheless it is the type of information all local and state government should be pushing out in as many ways as possible to reach the most number of people." The city posts notices to the website for City Council regular meetings, the work sessions that precede them, and "special meetings," which are closed to the public.
Daily Press


National Stories
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Intelligence officials reviewing emails on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private computer server have found information they consider to be of a higher level of classification than “top secret,” according to a letter sent to lawmakers last week by the intelligence agencies’ inspector general. The letter, dated last Thursday, says that some of the information in Mrs. Clinton’s emails has been determined to be “top secret/SAP.” That designation is usually given to information about “special access programs” — often intelligence-gathering programs and other secret programs run by the Pentagon and the C.I.A. — that are among the government’s most closely guarded secrets.
New York Times

A South Carolina lawmaker has proposed legislation that would require all journalists who wish to work for a news outlet in the state to sign up for a "responsible journalism registry."According to a summary of the bill, which was introduced Tuesday, the registry would include requirements that all South Carolina journalists must meet. Fees could be charged to be listed in the registry, which would be operated by the Secretary of State's Office. The bill also would authorize "fines and criminal penalties" for violating the law. Republican State Rep. Mike Pitts, who sponsored the bill, told the Post and Courier newspaper that the legislation is linked to press coverage of gun issues. 
Fox News

D.C. Council members David Grosso (I-At Large) and Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) on Tuesday introduced a bill that would attempt to streamline public access to government actions, meetings and information that might otherwise be hard to find. Under the Strengthening Transparency and Open Access to Government Act of 2016, all information yielded by individual Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requests would be “published to the District of Columbia online FOIA public access library.” It would also expand the public reporting requirements for District agencies, and the Office of Open Government would handle all appeals for rejected FOIA requests.
Washington Post

Editorials/Columns

Tommy Norment, the Republican majority leader of the state Senate, had no reason except the venting of his spleen to kick reporters off the floor of the chamber and confine them to an upper balcony. Fortunately, Republican Sen. Thomas Garrett has introduced a resolution to reverse the decision. Garrett thinks putting senators on the record will encourage them to do the right thing. We’d like to think so, too — although experience has offered abundant examples to the contrary. Hope springs eternal.
Richmond Times-Dispatch

By refusing to talk to the press, a politician or government official should only expect the worst. If you’re not participating in the narrative, you risk becoming it, having led reporters and, by extension, the public to believe you have something to hide. This needlessly elevates tensions. Reporters push harder. Subjects go to ground. What could be happy symbiosis becomes bitter paralysis. It doesn’t have to be that way. Before talking with the press, establish the conditions under which you are talking. Sometimes, this has to be negotiated. There’s nothing wrong with that. It can go a long way toward minimizing misunderstandings and laying the foundation for a productive working relationship. Reporters and the people they cover don’t have to be friends. They can be friendly. It can make a big difference in a difficult situation downrange.
Jeff Schapiro, Richmond Times-Dispatch

The media serve as the public’s eyes and ears inside government. Reporters represent voters who can’t personally attend meetings of the Senate. So Mr. Norment’s excision of the media has emblematic as well as practical implications: It symbolizes a disregard for the public’s right to know, and ability to know. That should worry every Virginian.
Daily Progress

This spiteful parlor game has its roots in an ordinance passed in September, when a majority on the Portsmouth council – obsessed with secrecy and no doubt embarrassed by their appalling inability to govern – agreed to punish anyone who blabbed about secret meetings. “Any Council member or person violating the confidentiality of a closed session or using a recording device during a closed session shall be subject to censure, a fine of not less than $1,500 and/or reprimand by a majority vote of the City Council,” reads the rule. This is probably illegal. We’ll know for sure if Council member Bill Moody takes action against the city. He’s already contacted the American Civil Liberties Union and a private attorney. Beyond that, the council’s Mensa members forgot to specify where the fines go once assessed. How did Moody know to bring cash with him last week? Moody said the decision to fine him had taken place behind closed doors, and a letter telling him to pay up was handed to him in a similar meeting by the mayor.
Virginian-Pilot

Why is the clerk an elected position in the first place? The same question might apply to the other “constitutional offices” as well – treasurer, commissioner of the revenue, sheriff and commonwealth’s attorney. None of these are policy-making positions. Treasurers and commissioners of the revenue don’t set tax rates; sheriffs and prosecutors don’t make the laws. So why aren’t these simply appointed positions? That’s a simple question with a complicated – but we find fascinating – answer. The basic tradition around the country has been to elect as many local offices as possible, whether they were policy-making ones or not. Yes, some localities really did once elect dogcatchers. Over time, there have been campaigns to “professionalize” some of those offices by making them appointed positions.
Roanoke Times