Transparency News 5/24/16

State and Local Stories

A schedule of meetings of the full FOIA Council, its records subcommittee and its meetings subcommittee

FOIA COUNCIL (all meetings in House Room C of the General Assembly Building)
Wednesday June 22 - 1:30 PM
Monday July 18 - 1:30 PM
Monday September 19 - 1:30 PM
Monday October 17 - 1:30 PM
Monday November 21 - 1:30 PM

RECORDS SUBCOMMITTEE (all meetings in the Speaker's Conference Room, 6th Floor, GAB)
Wednesday June 1 - 10:30 AM
Wednesday June 22 - 10:30 AM
Wednesday July 20 - 10:30 AM

MEETINGS SUBCOMMITTEE (all meetings in the Speaker's Conference Room, 6th Floor, GAB)
Monday June 6 - 1:00 PM
Monday July 18 - 10:30 AM
Thursday August 11 - 1:30 PM


Federal authorities have been investigating whether Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s 2013 campaign accepted improper contributions, a federal law enforcement official said Monday. The official, who is not authorized to comment publicly, said the inquiry has included a review of donations made by Wang Wenliang, a Chinese businessman and politician who has residency status in the U.S. The development was first reported by CNN.
USA Today

The Roanoke Times captured national recognition Friday for its investigation last fall into wrongful death settlements. The newspaper shared top honors for the Associated Press Media Editors’ First Amendment Award for dailies with circulations of 40,000 to 149,999. The Daily Press of Newport News also shared in the award. During routine court checks last year, reporter Laurence Hammack discovered a $1.3 million wrongful death settlement in Botetourt County in a lawsuit filed two years earlier in Roanoke. Nothing in court records indicated where the case had originated. State law calls for wrongful death lawsuits to be settled in the same jurisdiction in which the case originally is filed.
The Roanoke Times

Gov. Terry McAuliffe will be in Manassas on Friday to sign into a law a piece of legistlation dealing with the Freedom of Information Act. SB645, the exempt records concerning critical infrastructure information bill, introduced by freshman Sen. Jeremy McPike defines what exactly is “critical infrastructure” information. The bill comes after several state agencies have asked major corporations, to include railroads, utility companies, and cyber security providers for information about how it plans to respond to national security threats or attacks. Those organizations have been less than forthcoming when it comes to providing that information, a McPike spokeswoman said, because of fears the secure information would appear on a public website, and that information falling, ultimately, into the wrong hands.
Potomac Local

The city of Virginia Beach has been paying to keep the lights on in an office it stopped renting 20 years ago. Since leaving the property in 1995, Virginia Beach has spent nearly $144,000 on electric bills at 397 Little Neck Road, according to an audit released Monday. The service was not disconnected until this February, when city employees discovered the oversight, Auditor Lyndon Remias said. While reviewing building energy reports, the Office of Energy Management discovered the error and asked the auditor to determine whether the city could recoup the overpaid money.
Virginian-Pilot



National Stories
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After years of frustration, proponents of releasing 28 classified pages of a congressional inquiry into the Sept. 11 attacks were seeing real progress in their push for disclosure of findings that are said to show high-level Saudi Arabian support for the hijackers. “We seem to be coming to a point of decision as to whether to release it or not and in what form,” said Bob Graham, the former Democratic senator from Florida, who served as a co-chairman of the 2002 inquiry and has made disclosure of the pages a personal cause since leaving Congress. But last-minute obstacles, often by design, have a way of cropping up in Washington and slowing things down. Mr. Graham hopes he is not seeing an example of that, he said, after suggestions from James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence, that Congress will ultimately be left to decide what to do with the pages once intelligence officials finish a review as early as next month.
New York Times

South Carolina’s Freedom of Information law contains two significant and frequently used exemptions. The first is for lawmakers. Having written the FOIA law, they have exempted themselves, as have lawmakers in many other states. The other exemption is the attorney-client privilege. This has frequently been used to deny FOIA requests simply because an attorney was part of the process of public decision-making. And of course, since attorneys are part of most public decisions, that exemption can cover almost anything.
The Nerve



Editorials/Columns

Virginians have learned that Gov. Terry McAuliffe is being investigated by federal authorities. The probe reportedly focuses on campaign funds. Virginia once prided itself on its ethics. It expected high standards of its elected officials. McAuliffe is the second governor in succession to confront questions regarding conduct. Gov. Bob McDonnell was convicted of misdeeds. He has appealed. Investigations are not convictions. Formal charges have not been filed against McAuliffe. Still, this is something Virginia does not need. Virginians do not want their state likened to Louisiana.
Richmond Times-Dispatch

Does it happen often? Probably not, but the fact that a sitting Virginia judge asked the question is enough to raise red flags. We’re talking about state legislators or their staff members making phone calls to judges on behalf of constituents about pending cases those constituents have before a specific judge. We think it’s time Virginia seriously studied whether to go to some form of merit selection of judges. Despite the “good intentions” and belief of the judge quoted earlier, these calls should not occur. Obviously, there is an expectation for some influence or consideration, or the call would not occur. Our judges and legislators do not need to be in this situation. The selection and retention of judges should not be subject to the raw politics of the legislature, just as they shouldn’t be on either partisan or “non-partisan” ballots. The dispensation of justice must be seen as above the partisan fray at all levels.
News & Advance