Transparency News 2/6/17
Monday, February 6, 2017
State and Local Stories
State and Local Stories
A state lawmaker has agreed to drop his effort to pass a bill that would prevent law enforcement agencies from quickly identifying police officers involved in shootings, according to the Virginia NAACP. Robert Barnette, who represents the NAACP at the General Assembly, said in an email Saturday that Del. Jackson H. Miller, R-Manassas, told the group he plans to drop his pursuit of legislation that would make it a crime to identify a police officer before six months have passed since a shooting incident or an investigation can be completed, whichever comes first. Miller was unavailable for comment Saturday. Miller had said the bill would help protect police officers and their families in tense situations that often involve misinformation. The NAACP and government transparency advocates opposed it, saying it would supersede local discretion and erode community trust.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Legislation that would carve out trade-secret protections in Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act for chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, commonly called “fracking,” has been amended to require disclosure of the chemical name and identifying abstract number, a concession from the oil and gas industry amid opposition to the exemptions from some local government officials and environmental groups. “We wanted to disclose as much as possible without disclosing valuable trade secret information. Truly with this we have one of the most strict chemical disclosure requirements of any state except for California.” But opponents say it doesn’t go far enough and want state health and environmental agencies to have access to the exact “recipe” of chemicals used in wells.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
While almost every other state and the federal government have figured out a way to make it illegal for politicians to use campaign funds for personal use, Virginia lawmakers said Thursday the issue remains too complex for them to find a consensus. A Republican-controlled House panel voted down the last remaining piece of legislation that would put new limits on how lawmakers use their largely unregulated campaign accounts. Similar pieces of legislation have already been defeated this year, as they were the year before.
Daily Press
National Stories
On the campaign trail, President Trump was a dogged advocate for accountability and disclosure. Where were Hillary Clinton's speeches behind closed doors to Wall Street financiers, he asked? Why had she used private email servers instead of ones maintained by the government? What had Clinton done as secretary of state for her foundation's donors? Once elected, Trump has shown little inclination to embrace transparency for his own administration. "I think we're going to be seeing some real out-of-the-box moves here," said Lucy Dalglish, dean of the University of Maryland's Merrill College of Journalism and former executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. "It'll be more along the lines of the president's standing up at a rally somewhere and saying, 'Who needs this information? It's the evil media that wants to know this information, you don't need it. No!' And I think he's going to try to persuade the public, overtly, that they're better off ignorant."
NPR
The U.S. military failed to disclose thousands of airstrikes over the last several years in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the Military Times. An investigation revealed Sunday that the U.S. conducted at least 456 airstrikes in Afghanistan last year that were not recorded in the open-source database kept by the U.S. Air Force. The airstrikes were conducted my several U.S. aircraft – including helicopters and drones. Military officials told the Military Times they were unable to determine how far back some information was excluded in reports. “It is really weird. We don’t track the number of strikes from Apaches, for example,” an official from U.S. Central Command said.
Fox News
The Delaware attorney general's office says the city of Dover violated the Freedom of Information Act in refusing to release details of a settlement involving a man who suffered a broken jaw when he was kicked by a police officer. The ruling was released Friday after The Associated Press notified Attorney General Matt Denn this week that the matter has languished in his office for more than a year. State law requires a determination on a FOIA petition within 20 days.
Herald Courier
Editorials/Columns
Sometimes you have to wonder if members of the General Assembly want to keep the public in the dark about the work they’re conducting on behalf of and for that same public. Our stance in the past has been consistent: Virginians should be able to follow the actions of their elected leaders as easily as possible. They should know how legislators vote at all levels of the legislative process. It’s simply a matter of good government, as an informed public is essential to a healthy democracy. But leaders of the House of Delegates, the lower chamber of the General Assembly, seem[] intent on making it as difficult as they can for Virginians to follow the votes of their elected officials. Sadly, it doesn’t look as though that’s about to change anytime soon. Here’s how they do it.
News & Advance
"We did nothing wrong," was the take of Peninsula Airport Commission board members and executive director Ken Spirito at last week's special meeting in response to blowback because of the $4.5 million of taxpayer money the airport spent to make TowneBank whole on its loan to the defunct People Express. That misses the point. We count on bodies such as the airport commission board to do the right thing, rather than merely pursue a convenient path seen as "not wrong." To not do wrong is why so many public bodies, like the commission, hold critical discussions behind closed doors.
Daily Press
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Legislation that would carve out trade-secret protections in Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act for chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, commonly called “fracking,” has been amended to require disclosure of the chemical name and identifying abstract number, a concession from the oil and gas industry amid opposition to the exemptions from some local government officials and environmental groups. “We wanted to disclose as much as possible without disclosing valuable trade secret information. Truly with this we have one of the most strict chemical disclosure requirements of any state except for California.” But opponents say it doesn’t go far enough and want state health and environmental agencies to have access to the exact “recipe” of chemicals used in wells.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
While almost every other state and the federal government have figured out a way to make it illegal for politicians to use campaign funds for personal use, Virginia lawmakers said Thursday the issue remains too complex for them to find a consensus. A Republican-controlled House panel voted down the last remaining piece of legislation that would put new limits on how lawmakers use their largely unregulated campaign accounts. Similar pieces of legislation have already been defeated this year, as they were the year before.
Daily Press
National Stories
On the campaign trail, President Trump was a dogged advocate for accountability and disclosure. Where were Hillary Clinton's speeches behind closed doors to Wall Street financiers, he asked? Why had she used private email servers instead of ones maintained by the government? What had Clinton done as secretary of state for her foundation's donors? Once elected, Trump has shown little inclination to embrace transparency for his own administration. "I think we're going to be seeing some real out-of-the-box moves here," said Lucy Dalglish, dean of the University of Maryland's Merrill College of Journalism and former executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. "It'll be more along the lines of the president's standing up at a rally somewhere and saying, 'Who needs this information? It's the evil media that wants to know this information, you don't need it. No!' And I think he's going to try to persuade the public, overtly, that they're better off ignorant."
NPR
The U.S. military failed to disclose thousands of airstrikes over the last several years in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the Military Times. An investigation revealed Sunday that the U.S. conducted at least 456 airstrikes in Afghanistan last year that were not recorded in the open-source database kept by the U.S. Air Force. The airstrikes were conducted my several U.S. aircraft – including helicopters and drones. Military officials told the Military Times they were unable to determine how far back some information was excluded in reports. “It is really weird. We don’t track the number of strikes from Apaches, for example,” an official from U.S. Central Command said.
Fox News
The Delaware attorney general's office says the city of Dover violated the Freedom of Information Act in refusing to release details of a settlement involving a man who suffered a broken jaw when he was kicked by a police officer. The ruling was released Friday after The Associated Press notified Attorney General Matt Denn this week that the matter has languished in his office for more than a year. State law requires a determination on a FOIA petition within 20 days.
Herald Courier
Editorials/Columns
Sometimes you have to wonder if members of the General Assembly want to keep the public in the dark about the work they’re conducting on behalf of and for that same public. Our stance in the past has been consistent: Virginians should be able to follow the actions of their elected leaders as easily as possible. They should know how legislators vote at all levels of the legislative process. It’s simply a matter of good government, as an informed public is essential to a healthy democracy. But leaders of the House of Delegates, the lower chamber of the General Assembly, seem[] intent on making it as difficult as they can for Virginians to follow the votes of their elected officials. Sadly, it doesn’t look as though that’s about to change anytime soon. Here’s how they do it.
News & Advance
"We did nothing wrong," was the take of Peninsula Airport Commission board members and executive director Ken Spirito at last week's special meeting in response to blowback because of the $4.5 million of taxpayer money the airport spent to make TowneBank whole on its loan to the defunct People Express. That misses the point. We count on bodies such as the airport commission board to do the right thing, rather than merely pursue a convenient path seen as "not wrong." To not do wrong is why so many public bodies, like the commission, hold critical discussions behind closed doors.
Daily Press
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