Transparency News 12/7/16
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
State and Local Stories
Rappahannock County’s supervisors, who’ve been spending three to six hours at a stretch in the county courthouse since early summer for their own public meetings, were free to go Monday after just 18 minutes. The supervisors were merely present in the courtroom, four of the five being respondents in a circuit court suit filed against the board in September by attorney David Konick on behalf of Sperryville llama farmer Marian Bragg. Bragg claims the board repeatedly violated Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act in its closed-door discussions (and alleged decisions) on hiring a replacement for county attorney Peter Luke.
Rappahannock News
For the last three years, leaders from across Virginia have been looking at improving the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. But now that they’re done, critics say the final result won’t do much to improve transparency. Want to see the police report for the robbery that happened on your block? Forget about it. What about an email from your university president? Nope. How about internal memos from your state senator? That’s secret too. Adam Marshall at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press points out another big exemption to the state's FOIA law -- people who don’t live in Virginia can be denied any public record.
WVTF
Norfolk Treasurer Anthony Burfoot on Tuesday defended his dealings with developers working in the city, even when they paid him money before and after City Council votes. Testifying in his own defense against public-corruption charges, Burfoot said he never tried to hide that he had his own development firm and he listed it on public disclosure forms. He said his business dealings with developers, including Kenny Bullock, Gian Petersen and Dwight Etheridge, were public record. “I have a right to earn a living,” the city’s former vice mayor said in federal court. “I have a right to do business.”
Virginian-Pilot
After a gay pride assembly at Virginia Beach’s Cox High School was postponed, the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia on Tuesday requested documents from the school division about student assembly requests at Virginia Beach high schools. According to a news release from the ACLU, the request was sent to Superintendent Aaron Spence and asks for access to or copies of records on speakers at school assemblies at the 12 high schools in the city. The request seeks documents between Sept. 1, 2014, and the present. The letter to Spence specifically mentioned documents related to Monday's canceled assembly.
Virginian-Pilot
Virginia’s largest jurisdiction moved forward Tuesday with creating a civilian board to review allegations of police abuse, joining the District, New York and other major U.S. cities that have taken steps to improve police accountability. Concerns over police misconduct have spread across the country after a spate of fatal shootings by officers sparked protests and became part of the debates in the presidential election. Fairfax County, whose Board of Supervisors approved the new civilian panel in a 9-to-1 vote, was motivated to act in the face of sharp criticism over how the county handled the fatal police shooting of an unarmed resident, John B. Geer, in 2013.
Washington Post
National Stories
For years, they operated with presumed immunity from public disclosure laws — longtime friends and advisers to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio who took no public salary yet enjoyed a direct line to City Hall’s corridors of power. But now the advisers, known as agents of the city, have effectively been asked to turn in their badges. In an about-face, the de Blasio administration announced Monday that starting immediately, city lawyers and officials would no longer challenge the disclosure of new emails between his administration and a handful of unpaid outside advisers who were designated as city agents.
New York Times
State and local governments collect data in amounts that almost defy description -- everything from health outcomes and marriage records to crime statistics and Head Start enrollments. Much of this data collection is required by federal or state law, and some is compiled at the initiative of individual agencies. But collecting data is not the same as harnessing data, a fact that is gaining acceptance among state and local decision-makers as they move toward a more robust vision for what data can accomplish -- specifically, toward the idea that data is a strategic asset that can help policy-makers and officials manage programs more effectively and inexpensively.
Governing
Indiana Public Access Counselor Luke H. Britt sent a letter to the City of South Bend's legal department advising that any public business conducted in writing, irrespective of medium, is considered public record. The department inquired for Britt's advice clarifying Indiana's Access to Public Records Act as it pertains to text messages.
State of Indiana
The enduring problem of overclassification and the challenge of effective declassification are the subject of two public events this week. The House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform, chaired by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), will hold a hearing on Wednesday, December 7 on "examining the costs of overclassification on transparency and security." The witnesses include former Information Security Oversight Director Bill Leonard, National Security Archive director Tom Blanton, Scott Amey of the Project on Government Oversight, and myself.
Secrecy News
Rappahannock News
For the last three years, leaders from across Virginia have been looking at improving the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. But now that they’re done, critics say the final result won’t do much to improve transparency. Want to see the police report for the robbery that happened on your block? Forget about it. What about an email from your university president? Nope. How about internal memos from your state senator? That’s secret too. Adam Marshall at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press points out another big exemption to the state's FOIA law -- people who don’t live in Virginia can be denied any public record.
WVTF
Norfolk Treasurer Anthony Burfoot on Tuesday defended his dealings with developers working in the city, even when they paid him money before and after City Council votes. Testifying in his own defense against public-corruption charges, Burfoot said he never tried to hide that he had his own development firm and he listed it on public disclosure forms. He said his business dealings with developers, including Kenny Bullock, Gian Petersen and Dwight Etheridge, were public record. “I have a right to earn a living,” the city’s former vice mayor said in federal court. “I have a right to do business.”
Virginian-Pilot
After a gay pride assembly at Virginia Beach’s Cox High School was postponed, the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia on Tuesday requested documents from the school division about student assembly requests at Virginia Beach high schools. According to a news release from the ACLU, the request was sent to Superintendent Aaron Spence and asks for access to or copies of records on speakers at school assemblies at the 12 high schools in the city. The request seeks documents between Sept. 1, 2014, and the present. The letter to Spence specifically mentioned documents related to Monday's canceled assembly.
Virginian-Pilot
Virginia’s largest jurisdiction moved forward Tuesday with creating a civilian board to review allegations of police abuse, joining the District, New York and other major U.S. cities that have taken steps to improve police accountability. Concerns over police misconduct have spread across the country after a spate of fatal shootings by officers sparked protests and became part of the debates in the presidential election. Fairfax County, whose Board of Supervisors approved the new civilian panel in a 9-to-1 vote, was motivated to act in the face of sharp criticism over how the county handled the fatal police shooting of an unarmed resident, John B. Geer, in 2013.
Washington Post
National Stories
For years, they operated with presumed immunity from public disclosure laws — longtime friends and advisers to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio who took no public salary yet enjoyed a direct line to City Hall’s corridors of power. But now the advisers, known as agents of the city, have effectively been asked to turn in their badges. In an about-face, the de Blasio administration announced Monday that starting immediately, city lawyers and officials would no longer challenge the disclosure of new emails between his administration and a handful of unpaid outside advisers who were designated as city agents.
New York Times
State and local governments collect data in amounts that almost defy description -- everything from health outcomes and marriage records to crime statistics and Head Start enrollments. Much of this data collection is required by federal or state law, and some is compiled at the initiative of individual agencies. But collecting data is not the same as harnessing data, a fact that is gaining acceptance among state and local decision-makers as they move toward a more robust vision for what data can accomplish -- specifically, toward the idea that data is a strategic asset that can help policy-makers and officials manage programs more effectively and inexpensively.
Governing
Indiana Public Access Counselor Luke H. Britt sent a letter to the City of South Bend's legal department advising that any public business conducted in writing, irrespective of medium, is considered public record. The department inquired for Britt's advice clarifying Indiana's Access to Public Records Act as it pertains to text messages.
State of Indiana
The enduring problem of overclassification and the challenge of effective declassification are the subject of two public events this week. The House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform, chaired by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), will hold a hearing on Wednesday, December 7 on "examining the costs of overclassification on transparency and security." The witnesses include former Information Security Oversight Director Bill Leonard, National Security Archive director Tom Blanton, Scott Amey of the Project on Government Oversight, and myself.
Secrecy News
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