Transparency News 7/21/16
Thursday, July 21, 2016
State and Local Stories
Upcoming meetings of the FOIA Council, it's Subcommittees, and Work Group
Personnel Records Work Group
10:00 AM on Thursday, August 4, 2016 in the House Redistricting Room, 2nd Floor, General Assembly Building (GAB) , 201 N. 9th Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219
Meetings Subcommittee
1:30 PM on Thursday, August 11, 2016 in House Room C of the GAB
10:00 AM on Monday, September 19, 2016 in House Room C of the GAB
Records Subcommittee
10:00 AM on Thursday, August 18, 2016 in House Room C of the GAB
10:00 AM on Thursday, September 8, 2016 in House Room C of the GAB
FOIA Council
1:30 PM on Monday, September 19, 2016 in House Room C of the GAB
1:30 PM on Monday, October 17, 2016 in House Room D of the GAB
1:30 PM on Monday, November 21, 2016 in House Room C of the GAB
Two and a half years may not prove enough time to coalesce Virginia's ideas of what constitutes a trade secret into a single code section that clarifies what documents companies that do business with the government can shield from public view. Five meetings of a working group dedicated to the issue have failed to reach consensus between state agencies that currently have their own varying ideas of what constitutes a proprietary record not subject to release under the state's Freedom of Information Act. Now the study subcommittee that tasked this working group to the issue will take one more stab at the matter before abandoning it to move on to other still-pending questions in a three-year review of the open records laws that is slated to wrap this year.
Daily Press
A county prosecutor is suing Gov. Terry McAuliffe to force him to release the names of the felons whose civil rights have been restored. Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Plowman filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Loudoun Circuit Court. Plowman and media organizations have filed public records requests for a list of the names. McAuliffe’s administration denied them under a “working papers” exemption in state law.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Patrick D. Hogan, chief operating officer at UVa, supplied records from a Board of Visitors subcommittee showing that members had discussed using investment earnings to invest in improvement projects approved as a part of the school’s long-term plan in 2014. On Tuesday, Hogan pushed back against accusations about a lack of transparency surrounding the fund, now worth $2.3 billion. Several members of the General Assembly are asking state agencies to investigate allegations that the university secretly sat on huge cash reserves for several years. But the records show UVa officials speaking about it in a public meeting as far back as September 2014, during a finance subcommittee meeting.
Daily Progress
Norfolk could begin releasing footage from police body cameras, nearly all of which is now kept secret, and Norfolk’s top prosecutor supports the change. Talk of a new policy began after the June 2 fatal shooting of a mentally ill man, Willie D. James, which was caught on video. Police said James lunged at officers with a knife, but the city has refused to release the footage. Commonwealth’s Attorney Greg Underwood said Wednesday that he supports releasing videos of police shootings once criminal investigations are complete and his office has either prosecuted or cleared the officers.
Virginian-Pilot
The board that oversees social services in Rockbridge County sought new leadership Wednesday amid growing concerns that the agency ignored reports of child abuse and neglect. Following a closed session, board Chairman Duaine Fitzgerald said an interim director has been identified for the Rockbridge Area Department of Social Services. The board withheld an announcement until the person officially accepts the position. As the department’s board of directors began to deal with the fallout of a scathing internal review — which recently found that a former department supervisor shredded documents rather than have them investigated — a state legislator called for an outside investigation.
Roanoke Times
Next Wednesday will be the first opportunity for a wide range of Charlottesville residents to address the new Blue Ribbon Commission on Race, Memorials and Public Spaces. The commission was created earlier this year to explore how the city reveals its local history and provide more opportunities to tell stories that are not as well known or memorialized prominently. Although the panel already has had four meetings that included brief public comment periods, next week’s meeting will include an extended comment period for residents to speak about anything the commission will be tasked to do. “We’re looking forward to lots of input and engagement from the community,” said Don Gathers, commission chairman. “I can’t stress how important it is the community actually come out and make their voices heard so we can know exactly what they’re thinking and feeling about the commission.”
Daily Progress
National Stories
Cook County judge on Tuesday ordered the Emanuel administration to turn over email chains sought by the Chicago Tribune related to the multimillion-dollar no-bid Chicago Public Schools contract that led to a federal criminal investigation and the resignation of schools chief Barbara Byrd-Bennett. Judge Anna Demacopoulos ruled that the city must turn over email chains the Tribune sought in a 2015 Freedom of Information Act request. The Tribune had sought 25 email chains that contained correspondence to or from Mayor Rahm Emanuel and two of his senior aides between Sept. 1, 2011, and Aug. 31, 2013. The city had withheld six email chains entirely, and it redacted portions of the remaining 19.
Chicago Tribune
Editorials/Columns
JAMYCHEAL MITCHELL died alone at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail nearly one year ago. In the time since, the public has learned something about the circumstances that landed him in that cell, the mistakes that allowed him to languish there and the medical cause for the 24-year-old’s death. The account has been neither a complete nor satisfying record of events. That is largely due to the jail’s refusal to disclose what it knows about Mitchell’s time there. Jail officials conducted an investigation but have rejected calls to release their report. It is a choice afforded them through an exemption in Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act — one made out of convenience rather than necessity. They have also spurned FOIA requests made for video taken by security cameras located outside Mitchell’s cell.
Virginian-Pilot
More scrutiny is needed. I urge the General Assembly to reconsider its position regarding Freedom of Information Act exemptions for those who lead Virginia’s colleges and universities. All university business should be conducted in public — presidents of Virginia public universities should not be treated differently than leaders of other public institutions just because of their friendships with some members of the General Assembly. Further, I urge the General Assembly to create an ombudsman position at each of our public colleges and universities. By hiding a $2.3 billion —remember with a “B” — fund and then covering it up via discussions at closed board meetings, which could be illegal; it is evident that the taxpayers’ interests have been violated at UVA. Virginians need advocates at our schools —especially those universities that have forgotten that they are owned by the taxpayers and instead operate as if they are private institutions.
David Ramadan, Roanoke Times
We live in an age of distrust, especially when government is involved. The media is also high on the least-trusted list. Sometimes the distrust is earned; other times it is fueled by anger or misinformation. Either way, it is a fact of 2016 life in the United States, something for government officials and journalists to be aware of and to dispel whenever possible. It is easy to follow the letter of the law and still breed mistrust. We believe that has happened recently with the Staunton School Board and Augusta County Board of Supervisors. Sometimes government officials have to make unpopular decisions and deal with the fallout. With more deliberate openness and greater care, the recent unfortunate fallout in Staunton and Verona could have been smoothed, if not avoided altogether.
News Leader
State and Local Stories
Upcoming meetings of the FOIA Council, it's Subcommittees, and Work Group
Personnel Records Work Group
10:00 AM on Thursday, August 4, 2016 in the House Redistricting Room, 2nd Floor, General Assembly Building (GAB) , 201 N. 9th Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219
Meetings Subcommittee
1:30 PM on Thursday, August 11, 2016 in House Room C of the GAB
10:00 AM on Monday, September 19, 2016 in House Room C of the GAB
Records Subcommittee
10:00 AM on Thursday, August 18, 2016 in House Room C of the GAB
10:00 AM on Thursday, September 8, 2016 in House Room C of the GAB
FOIA Council
1:30 PM on Monday, September 19, 2016 in House Room C of the GAB
1:30 PM on Monday, October 17, 2016 in House Room D of the GAB
1:30 PM on Monday, November 21, 2016 in House Room C of the GAB
Two and a half years may not prove enough time to coalesce Virginia's ideas of what constitutes a trade secret into a single code section that clarifies what documents companies that do business with the government can shield from public view. Five meetings of a working group dedicated to the issue have failed to reach consensus between state agencies that currently have their own varying ideas of what constitutes a proprietary record not subject to release under the state's Freedom of Information Act. Now the study subcommittee that tasked this working group to the issue will take one more stab at the matter before abandoning it to move on to other still-pending questions in a three-year review of the open records laws that is slated to wrap this year.
Daily Press
A county prosecutor is suing Gov. Terry McAuliffe to force him to release the names of the felons whose civil rights have been restored. Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Plowman filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Loudoun Circuit Court. Plowman and media organizations have filed public records requests for a list of the names. McAuliffe’s administration denied them under a “working papers” exemption in state law.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Patrick D. Hogan, chief operating officer at UVa, supplied records from a Board of Visitors subcommittee showing that members had discussed using investment earnings to invest in improvement projects approved as a part of the school’s long-term plan in 2014. On Tuesday, Hogan pushed back against accusations about a lack of transparency surrounding the fund, now worth $2.3 billion. Several members of the General Assembly are asking state agencies to investigate allegations that the university secretly sat on huge cash reserves for several years. But the records show UVa officials speaking about it in a public meeting as far back as September 2014, during a finance subcommittee meeting.
Daily Progress
Norfolk could begin releasing footage from police body cameras, nearly all of which is now kept secret, and Norfolk’s top prosecutor supports the change. Talk of a new policy began after the June 2 fatal shooting of a mentally ill man, Willie D. James, which was caught on video. Police said James lunged at officers with a knife, but the city has refused to release the footage. Commonwealth’s Attorney Greg Underwood said Wednesday that he supports releasing videos of police shootings once criminal investigations are complete and his office has either prosecuted or cleared the officers.
Virginian-Pilot
The board that oversees social services in Rockbridge County sought new leadership Wednesday amid growing concerns that the agency ignored reports of child abuse and neglect. Following a closed session, board Chairman Duaine Fitzgerald said an interim director has been identified for the Rockbridge Area Department of Social Services. The board withheld an announcement until the person officially accepts the position. As the department’s board of directors began to deal with the fallout of a scathing internal review — which recently found that a former department supervisor shredded documents rather than have them investigated — a state legislator called for an outside investigation.
Roanoke Times
Next Wednesday will be the first opportunity for a wide range of Charlottesville residents to address the new Blue Ribbon Commission on Race, Memorials and Public Spaces. The commission was created earlier this year to explore how the city reveals its local history and provide more opportunities to tell stories that are not as well known or memorialized prominently. Although the panel already has had four meetings that included brief public comment periods, next week’s meeting will include an extended comment period for residents to speak about anything the commission will be tasked to do. “We’re looking forward to lots of input and engagement from the community,” said Don Gathers, commission chairman. “I can’t stress how important it is the community actually come out and make their voices heard so we can know exactly what they’re thinking and feeling about the commission.”
Daily Progress
National Stories
Cook County judge on Tuesday ordered the Emanuel administration to turn over email chains sought by the Chicago Tribune related to the multimillion-dollar no-bid Chicago Public Schools contract that led to a federal criminal investigation and the resignation of schools chief Barbara Byrd-Bennett. Judge Anna Demacopoulos ruled that the city must turn over email chains the Tribune sought in a 2015 Freedom of Information Act request. The Tribune had sought 25 email chains that contained correspondence to or from Mayor Rahm Emanuel and two of his senior aides between Sept. 1, 2011, and Aug. 31, 2013. The city had withheld six email chains entirely, and it redacted portions of the remaining 19.
Chicago Tribune
Editorials/Columns
JAMYCHEAL MITCHELL died alone at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail nearly one year ago. In the time since, the public has learned something about the circumstances that landed him in that cell, the mistakes that allowed him to languish there and the medical cause for the 24-year-old’s death. The account has been neither a complete nor satisfying record of events. That is largely due to the jail’s refusal to disclose what it knows about Mitchell’s time there. Jail officials conducted an investigation but have rejected calls to release their report. It is a choice afforded them through an exemption in Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act — one made out of convenience rather than necessity. They have also spurned FOIA requests made for video taken by security cameras located outside Mitchell’s cell.
Virginian-Pilot
More scrutiny is needed. I urge the General Assembly to reconsider its position regarding Freedom of Information Act exemptions for those who lead Virginia’s colleges and universities. All university business should be conducted in public — presidents of Virginia public universities should not be treated differently than leaders of other public institutions just because of their friendships with some members of the General Assembly. Further, I urge the General Assembly to create an ombudsman position at each of our public colleges and universities. By hiding a $2.3 billion —remember with a “B” — fund and then covering it up via discussions at closed board meetings, which could be illegal; it is evident that the taxpayers’ interests have been violated at UVA. Virginians need advocates at our schools —especially those universities that have forgotten that they are owned by the taxpayers and instead operate as if they are private institutions.
David Ramadan, Roanoke Times
We live in an age of distrust, especially when government is involved. The media is also high on the least-trusted list. Sometimes the distrust is earned; other times it is fueled by anger or misinformation. Either way, it is a fact of 2016 life in the United States, something for government officials and journalists to be aware of and to dispel whenever possible. It is easy to follow the letter of the law and still breed mistrust. We believe that has happened recently with the Staunton School Board and Augusta County Board of Supervisors. Sometimes government officials have to make unpopular decisions and deal with the fallout. With more deliberate openness and greater care, the recent unfortunate fallout in Staunton and Verona could have been smoothed, if not avoided altogether.
News Leader
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