Transparency News 10/30/17

Monday, October 30, 2017


State and Local Stories

A progressive political group obtained personal information of more than 30,000 VCU students through a records request, a university spokesperson confirmed. The group was given the names, emails and phone numbers of students in September, after asking the university for it via a Freedom of Information Act request. That information is considered public in Virginia, but students who opted out of disclosure were not included in the list. Although directory data falls in the category of public records, Virginia’s FOIA laws allow universities to withhold the information, according to Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government. That’s why some universities did not release the information while others did. “Twenty-five years ago, we had campus phone books with student names, addresses and landline numbers.” Rhyne said. “So, it’s not a new thing for commercial or political groups to ask for student directory information and use it for their own purposes.” A spokesperson for VCU said the university is reviewing its current practices for similar requests, but did not give additional details.
The Commonwealth Times

Like most localities in Virginia, the city of Richmond elects a treasurer every four years. Unlike most localities, in Richmond the office has no tax collection authority or other financial oversight, meaning whoever’s elected to the $90,000-a-year job basically gets to decide for themselves what — if anything — to do all day. In the case of Eunice Wilder, a certified public accountant who’s held the position for over 25 years, that’s meant providing a free public notary service and preparing federal and state tax filings for anyone who knows to come in and ask for her help. But Wilder isn’t running for re-election this year, leaving the three candidates vying Nov. 7 to replace her an opportunity to essentially write their own job descriptions.
Richmond Times-Dispatch

The Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office responded to an incident at the home of the man accused of planting a bomb at Colonial Williamsburg five days before the blast, the sheriff’s office told the Daily Press in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. Stephen Powers, 30, of Gloucester, is charged with possessing and using an explosive device and committing an act of terrorism in connection with an explosion in a Merchants Square parking lot on Oct. 19, according to Williamsburg Police Department spokesman Maj. Greg Riley. No one was injured in the blast. The Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office responded to Powers’ home that same day, according to the FOIA response. The office declined to provide specific details about the incident because “it may be involved in Williamsburg Police Department’s ongoing investigation,” FOIA officer Kyrstin Shackelford wrote in her response.
Daily Press



National Stories
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President Donald Trump on Thursday delayed the release of some documents relating to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy, while allowing the National Archives to post 2,800 other pages that had yet to be made public. Trump is holding back an unspecific number of documents at the request mainly of the FBI and CIA, according to a White House official, and has directed federal agencies to re-review the remaining files, giving them 180 days to do so. The documents being held back include redacted information, and are not being immediately released due to national security concerns.
Politico

What could be more public than a public records request? City of San Diego officials are refusing to release information about who is filing the hundreds of requests it receives each month on NextRequest, the city’s online records request portal, even though the information has previously been released. When filing a request under the California Public Records Act, people usually provide their name and contact information so government agencies can notify them when records become available. That typically makes their name subject to release — along with the information they requested. This fall, the city has taken another course, declining to identify requesters. City communications director Katie Keach said the information was withheld under California Government Code section 6255, which says that records can be withheld when the public interest in not disclosing information outweighs the public interest in releasing it.
San Diego Union-Tribune

Austin (Texas) can’t allow the public to know who might become its next city manager because it’s in competition with Watauga, Sachse and other small Texas cities for the best candidates, an assistant city attorney argues in a letter to the Texas attorney general. Austin begins interviews Tuesday in its nationwide search to replace former City Manager Marc Ott, who resigned more than a year ago. In March, City Council members voted unanimously to try to keep candidates for the job — even finalists — secret until they make a final decision. The council hired executive search firm Russell Reynolds to recruit candidates and keep documents that would otherwise be public out of the public eye. But under Texas law, a city cannot hide the candidates for public positions by hiring a consultant to collect the applications on its behalf. The American-Statesman and other entities formally requested documents naming the applicants under the Texas Public Information Act.
Austin American-Statesman

The South Carolina Supreme Court is considering making local Chambers of Commerce, including the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, subject to the Freedom of Information Act as it hears a lawsuit against the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce. One question the justices will consider is how deeply the public will be able to see into chamber business. FOIA allows the public to request detailed information from government bodies, including emails, financial records and anything else related to government business.
Myrtle Beach Sun News

BuzzFeed is suing Kris Kobach. The website filed a lawsuit in Shawnee County District Court last Friday over an open records request the media organization made regarding the Kansas secretary of state’s emails. BuzzFeed alleges in the lawsuit that it requested emails from Kobach and in violation of the open records act, the secretary of state’s office “first attempted to impose unreasonable charges, then, in response to BuzzFeed’s appeal of those charges, refused to release any records, claiming they were not public records or were exempt from disclosure.”
Kansas City Star

Uncooperative political committee leaders, bureaucratic bumbling and flaccid fine enforcement efforts all contribute to election law breakers outrunning penaltiesduring a time when campaign shenanigans — from Russian advertisements to government contractors bankrolling super PACs — are increasingly brazen and sophisticated.
Politico