Transparency News, 5/26/21
Wednesday
May 26, 2021
May 26, 2021
state & local news stories
The FOIA Council subcommittee on meetings will meet today at 1 p.m. Click here for supplemental materials and the agenda. The agenda has a link for accessing the meeting online.
Reminder of the two items on the agenda:
Reminder of the two items on the agenda:
- a proposal to increase the number of members of a public body who can talk about public business together without triggering FOIA's rules for meetings.
- a proposal to counter a general district court ruling that "official website" in FOIA (for posting notices) only applies to .gov websites.
Staunton residents could see council public hearings open up for them to call-in over the phone and participate again, but it won't come without a tradeoff. If the proposal goes through, citizens will have to get in line to speak - quickly, though, because that line could be short. Included in the proposal: Each speaker during public hearings and Matters from the Public will have three minutes to speak. Only 10 individuals will be able to speak in Matters from the Public. Five in person and five via electronic communications. Individuals who did not speak at Matters from the Public during the first regular meeting of the month will be given priority over individuals who did. Each council member will be given two minutes at the end of each council meeting where members may address any comment made during the Matters from the Public portion of the meeting. Mayor Andrea Oakes responded that she felt concerned that the decision was rushed and that council members may not be prepared to make a decision so quickly on the means of electronic communication.
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