Transparency News, 5/18/21

Reminder: The FOIA Council subcommittee on records meets TODAY at 12:00.
Submit written comments
Watch the meeting

On the agenda:
HB 2000: FOIA fees 
HB 2196: access to police disciplinary records

VCOG has shared this informational paper on FOIA fees with the FOIA Council (it is also posted on the council's subcommittee website, along with comments from others people and groups). The paper lists the impacts of high, inconsistent fees on requesters and government, it notes the many different ways requesters have been charged for records (taken from questions and anecdotes received by VCOG), and it includes a chart of the many different approaches other states have taken.
 

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As Virginia and the rest of the nation continue to loosen pandemic restrictions, the state’s House of Delegates plans to meet in person at the Capitol when the governing body next convenes. “With infection rates falling and our Commonwealth’s vaccination rollout program among the best in the country, it is time our body returns where it belongs, in the Capitol, in the People’s Chamber,” Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn tweeted Monday. The decision came three days after Gov. Ralph Northam announced fully vaccinated Virginians can stop wearing masks indoors “in most situations.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had eased federal guidelines the day before.
The Virginian-Pilot

The Roanoke City Council has named Mark Cathey, Diane Casola and Michael Cherry II to the Roanoke City School Board effective July 1. The names were announced Monday night after a council meeting that was closed to the public. Roanoke is one of a handful of Virginia localities that appoint a school board. During each appointment cycle, the city council solicits applications from the public, publicly identifies applicants’ names and whittles down the list during a closed session. Those finalists are publicly interviewed by council members, and members of the public may provide comments during a subsequent public hearing. The council then deliberates in private and votes in public to select the appointee or appointees. Council member Stephanie Moon Reynolds briefly commented on the council’s private deliberations, saying discussions were “healthy.”
The Roanoke Times

The largest crowd in recent memory showed up at the most recent meeting of the Pulaski County School Board, with several citizens expressing concern over a potential policy expected to be sent down from Richmond concerning transgender students and the recently approved Equity Statement. At times, the conversation became heated. The issue was never on the agenda, which was pointed out before and during the public comment section of the meeting. Dr. Kevin Siers, Pulaski County Superintendent of Schools, read a prepared statement regarding what he deemed “misinformation” concerning the school systems and the issues related to what the school system has and has not done or planned to this point.
The Southwest Times

The commonwealth's attorney's office has sent a letter to a member of Petersburg City Council demanding that he either prove he still lives in the district he represents on council or resign his seat. And if John A. Hart Sr. fails to do either, then the city would go to court to have him removed. In a letter dated May 4 — a copy of which was obtained by The Progress-Index — the office said it investigated a complaint "from a concerned citizen" alleging Hart was not living at the duplex on North Valor Drive that he lists as his permanent residence in Ward 7. That investigation confirmed the complaint, according to the letter.  Online city land records indicate the duplex's owner lives in Prince George County.
The Progress-Index