Transparency News, 8/28/20
Friday
August 28, 2020
August 28, 2020
state & local news stories
A bill that would require disclosure of how individual members of the Virginia Parole Board vote received bipartisan support from a Senate panel on Thursday. “This is a sunshine initiative,” said Sen. David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke County, the bill’s patron. The Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology backed Senate Bill 5012 on a vote of 8-6, with Sens. Monty Mason, D-Williamsburg, and George Barker, D-Fairfax, joining Republicans to advance the measure. Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, testified to the committee that while she would like to see even more of the parole board’s business be subject to the Freedom of Information Act, Suetterlein’s proposal was a good step forward. “The recent heavy redaction of the inspector general’s report laid bare the problems that can be masked when you give an entity near total confidentially of its operations,” Rhyne said. Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax, said she spoke with the Northam administration about the proposal, and she listed various concerns: how parole board members receive threats and could be put in danger and how the public lacks information to understand the nuances of a member’s decision.
If the full Senate approves the bill, it will head to the Democratic-controlled House of Delegates for consideration. Del. Nick Rush, R-Christiansburg, introduced a companion bill in the House, but Democrats didn’t schedule it for a hearing, instead sending it to the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council for review.
The Roanoke Times
When police in Virginia shoot or use a taser on a suspect, there’s no requirement that the body camera footage of the incident be released. A bill from Del. Sam Rasoul (D-Roanoke) seeks to change that. Rasoul said he was inspired to put the proposal forward following the police killing of high school student Kionte Spencer. Spencer was reportedly walking along the road with a BB-gun in hand and not responding to orders when he was shot and killed by Roanoke County Police. That was in 2016, and Spencer’s family still hasn’t received the body camera footage from that night. Rasoul’s bill would require that law enforcement agencies put out unedited body camera footage within 15 days of a shooting.
VPM
The Breeze received an email from Caitlyn Read, university spokesperson and director of communications, Wednesday saying that parts of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed repetitively by The Breeze on Aug. 20, 24 and 25 had been denied. The FOIA request asked directly about daily COVID-19 numbers from the university. In the university’s response to the FOIA request, Read said that while numbers of tests administered, positive student tests, negative student tests, positive faculty and staff tests, and negative faculty and staff tests are available on JMU’s COVID-19 dashboard, the university is unable to break down the numbers of positive student tests by on-campus residency or off-campus classification because “per federal patient privacy law (HIPAA) [the university] cannot release personally identifiable health information, including demographic information.” However, Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for an Open Government, denied the validity of the school’s denial, saying that because the sample size of a dormitory or an off-campus designation is too large for case numbers to identify certain individuals, she doesn’t agree with the school’s use of the healthcare privacy law as a deterrent to releasing locational data for on-campus positive cases. Additionally, Rhyne said, because the university as a whole may not qualify as a healthcare provider, the use of HIPAA to deny The Breeze’s FOIA request at all is on questionable grounds.
The Breeze
As the six-month search for a new city manager drags on, city leaders must now decide if they will stay with the consulting firm that already has cost $17,000 in fees and led to the shortest city manager tenure in Lynchburg history. According to the city’s contract with the consulting firm hired in March to recruit a new city manager, Strategic Government Resources will “repeat the process at no additional professional fee” if the candidate selected resigns or is fired within 18 months. Lynchburg Mayor MaryJane Dolan said council has not yet made a decision on whether it will work with the firm moving forward and at this time it would be “doubtful.” The firm made them aware of the other allegations against him, and noted his proximity to a 2019 embezzlement scandal in Warren County. Both the firm and the city found he had no oversight or involvement in the scandal. Dolan said the decision to select Stanley was a “unanimous council decision.” If council had access to those emails prior to Aug. 12, she said they likely would have moved in another direction.
The News & Advance
The human resources office at Southern Virginia Mental Health Institute in Danville expressed concerns about making employees who tested positive for the coronavirus show up for work if they were asymptomatic, according to emails between officials at the facility. An Aug. 4 email from SVMHI Chief Operating Officer Robin Crews told those employees to continue their work routine, incorrectly citing recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, if they had the disease but were asymptomatic. But in emails on Aug. 5, a person in the human resources office corrected Crews. "I am concerned about the referenced CDC recommendation for known asymptomatic positive cases to remain at work using PPE," human resource officer Donna Donahue wrote in an email to Crews. "If we knowingly require asymptomatic positive persons to work and they spread the virus [think breakroom], then we have OSHA responsibilities to consider." But it wasn't until nearly two weeks later — on Aug. 17 — that SVMHI reversed itself and told employees who test positive but are asymptomatic not to return to work. The Danville Register & Bee obtained the emails through a Freedom of Information Act request to the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, which oversees SVMHI.
Danville Register & Bee
After hearing arguments in a lawsuit over private messages between Prince William schools Superintendent Steve Walts and students, Circuit Court Judge Kimberly Irving said Thursday afternoon she wanted time to review the messages before making a ruling. The lawsuit is calling for Prince William County Public Schools to release, either whole or redacted, 20,000 private messages on Twitter between Walts and students. John Conrad of The Conrad Firm, who represents the division in the lawsuit, provided the court with a log of the Twitter messages that had general descriptions of the content of the message. Sawyers' attorney, Evan Mayo with Tremblay & Smith PLLC, argued that a general overview of the messages is not adequate for the court to determine if the messages can be withheld under FOIAexemptions.
InsideNoVa
If the full Senate approves the bill, it will head to the Democratic-controlled House of Delegates for consideration. Del. Nick Rush, R-Christiansburg, introduced a companion bill in the House, but Democrats didn’t schedule it for a hearing, instead sending it to the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council for review.
The Roanoke Times
When police in Virginia shoot or use a taser on a suspect, there’s no requirement that the body camera footage of the incident be released. A bill from Del. Sam Rasoul (D-Roanoke) seeks to change that. Rasoul said he was inspired to put the proposal forward following the police killing of high school student Kionte Spencer. Spencer was reportedly walking along the road with a BB-gun in hand and not responding to orders when he was shot and killed by Roanoke County Police. That was in 2016, and Spencer’s family still hasn’t received the body camera footage from that night. Rasoul’s bill would require that law enforcement agencies put out unedited body camera footage within 15 days of a shooting.
VPM
The Breeze received an email from Caitlyn Read, university spokesperson and director of communications, Wednesday saying that parts of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed repetitively by The Breeze on Aug. 20, 24 and 25 had been denied. The FOIA request asked directly about daily COVID-19 numbers from the university. In the university’s response to the FOIA request, Read said that while numbers of tests administered, positive student tests, negative student tests, positive faculty and staff tests, and negative faculty and staff tests are available on JMU’s COVID-19 dashboard, the university is unable to break down the numbers of positive student tests by on-campus residency or off-campus classification because “per federal patient privacy law (HIPAA) [the university] cannot release personally identifiable health information, including demographic information.” However, Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for an Open Government, denied the validity of the school’s denial, saying that because the sample size of a dormitory or an off-campus designation is too large for case numbers to identify certain individuals, she doesn’t agree with the school’s use of the healthcare privacy law as a deterrent to releasing locational data for on-campus positive cases. Additionally, Rhyne said, because the university as a whole may not qualify as a healthcare provider, the use of HIPAA to deny The Breeze’s FOIA request at all is on questionable grounds.
The Breeze
As the six-month search for a new city manager drags on, city leaders must now decide if they will stay with the consulting firm that already has cost $17,000 in fees and led to the shortest city manager tenure in Lynchburg history. According to the city’s contract with the consulting firm hired in March to recruit a new city manager, Strategic Government Resources will “repeat the process at no additional professional fee” if the candidate selected resigns or is fired within 18 months. Lynchburg Mayor MaryJane Dolan said council has not yet made a decision on whether it will work with the firm moving forward and at this time it would be “doubtful.” The firm made them aware of the other allegations against him, and noted his proximity to a 2019 embezzlement scandal in Warren County. Both the firm and the city found he had no oversight or involvement in the scandal. Dolan said the decision to select Stanley was a “unanimous council decision.” If council had access to those emails prior to Aug. 12, she said they likely would have moved in another direction.
The News & Advance
The human resources office at Southern Virginia Mental Health Institute in Danville expressed concerns about making employees who tested positive for the coronavirus show up for work if they were asymptomatic, according to emails between officials at the facility. An Aug. 4 email from SVMHI Chief Operating Officer Robin Crews told those employees to continue their work routine, incorrectly citing recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, if they had the disease but were asymptomatic. But in emails on Aug. 5, a person in the human resources office corrected Crews. "I am concerned about the referenced CDC recommendation for known asymptomatic positive cases to remain at work using PPE," human resource officer Donna Donahue wrote in an email to Crews. "If we knowingly require asymptomatic positive persons to work and they spread the virus [think breakroom], then we have OSHA responsibilities to consider." But it wasn't until nearly two weeks later — on Aug. 17 — that SVMHI reversed itself and told employees who test positive but are asymptomatic not to return to work. The Danville Register & Bee obtained the emails through a Freedom of Information Act request to the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, which oversees SVMHI.
Danville Register & Bee
After hearing arguments in a lawsuit over private messages between Prince William schools Superintendent Steve Walts and students, Circuit Court Judge Kimberly Irving said Thursday afternoon she wanted time to review the messages before making a ruling. The lawsuit is calling for Prince William County Public Schools to release, either whole or redacted, 20,000 private messages on Twitter between Walts and students. John Conrad of The Conrad Firm, who represents the division in the lawsuit, provided the court with a log of the Twitter messages that had general descriptions of the content of the message. Sawyers' attorney, Evan Mayo with Tremblay & Smith PLLC, argued that a general overview of the messages is not adequate for the court to determine if the messages can be withheld under FOIAexemptions.
InsideNoVa
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