Transparency News, 11/8/21

The FOIA Council is meeting Wednesday at 1 p.m. The meeting will be hybrid: the council will meet in-person in Senate Room A of the Pocahontas Building, where the public can attend and provide comment. The meeting will also be live-streamed, and anyone can sign up to deliver comments via Zoom.

On the agenda is a concept draft VCOG has been working on with the vice mayor of Alexandria, the Virginia Press Association, the Virginia Municipal League and the Virginia Association of Counties. It gives further allowances for all public bodies to meet electronically, but it also includes many guardrails to ensure the public has adequate notice and access. The new bill maintains a preference for in-person meetings, which is far more conducive to policymaking than teleconferences.

Also on the agenda are rewrites of the bill on FOIA fees and on access to police disciplinary records.

Here's the link to the agenda, and within that agenda are links to watch the meeting and to register to give comment.
 

* * *

The Suffolk school board will appeal a lawsuit claiming the board violated open meeting laws to the Virginia Supreme Court. In July the board held a retreat that plaintiff Deborah Wahlstrom attempted to observe. She said she was told to leave by School Board Chair Judith Brooks-Buck and Superintendent John Gordon III. The board had a live stream of the event, which could be viewed elsewhere in the building. But they would not let Wahlstrom or a journalist from the Suffolk News-Herald watch the proceedings in the room, citing COVID-19 concerns. When Wahlstrom refused to leave, the board called police, who escorted her out. Suffolk Circuit Court Judge Matthew Glassman found the board violated Virginia's Freedom of Information Act. Megan Rhyne, the executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, says the distinction between a live meeting and a video feed is important -- even during the era of COVID. "I think most of us realized during the pandemic that it's great that we are now able to communicate with each other electronically," she said. "But it is very different to be viewing things through a screen than it is from being in the room with the people who are conducting business."
WHRO

The City of Portsmouth is paying out thousands of dollars to 10 people who claim their rights were violated when they were arrested in connection with the vandalism and destruction of the city’s Confederate monument in 2020. The checks for $15,000 each were cut on Oct. 20 and 21, according to copies obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. Among those who received one included Portsmouth Judge Brenda Spry, school board Vice-Chair LaKeesha Atkinson, and James Boyd, president of the Portsmouth chapter of the NAACP. The settlements were given the go-ahead in a closed-door session of Portsmouth City Council last month, according to Interim City Attorney Burle Stromberg. He said it’s not uncommon for cities to routinely try to settle claims of wrongdoing outside of the courtroom.
WAVY

A local advocacy group founded by parents and concerned residents called C.A.R.E.—Citizens Advocating for Responsible Education—used a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to obtain county school division email data amid frustration over interactions with county staff. C.A.R.E. members say the data shows “communication failures” in the recent community engagement process surrounding a new student policy passed in August.  “The content of the policy is not relevant to the assessment, but it is noted since it was a controversial policy with record numbers of community members engaging,” said Nicki Athey, a systems engineer and C.A.R.E. member who analyzed the FOIA data along with several other members. The C.A.R.E. analysis concluded that (1) many citizen questions were not answered, (2) ‘All’ questions and answers were never posted as promised, and (3) substantive questions were not addressed. “Albemarle County Public Schools (ACPS) misrepresented the truth in a protracted way,” said Athey. “It is emblematic of every other community engagement this summer and before, and it is an outrage.”
The Crozet Gazette

Richmond’s outdated sewer system floods dozens of times each year, sending sewage into the James River and making it unsafe for swimmers and tubers. The state has given the city a deadline of 2035 for overhauling the sewer system, but Mayor Levar Stoney has asked for help from the state, saying it will cost nearly $900 million. Until then, residents can use a new map from the city’s Department of Public Utilities to determine in real time whether any pipes have overflowed and which parts of the river are mixed with human waste and bacteria.
Richmond Times-Dispatch

Martinsville City Council pushed the reversion process another step Thursday night with the adoption of an ordinance on first reading, approving the voluntary settlement agreement (VSA) with Henry County and authorizing the filing of a petition to have the the city become a town within Henry County. The vote was 4-1 with newest council member, Tammy Pearson, casting the only dissenting vote. “As I’ve said before, I am not against the consolidation of some services with the county which could take place without reversion and again, I do not believe we should vote on the VSA at this time,” said Pearson at the meeting. “We have 180 days from the time the Commission on Local Government (COLG) report was issued last month on Oct. 15,” she said. “Let’s use these days to gain citizen and subject matter expertise input into reversion as well as the memorandum of understanding and VSA. We’ve already heard form some citizens during the public hearings. Did we really listen? Did the council do anything differently based upon the citizens feedback and concerns? Not that I have seen.”
Martinsville Bulletin

 

 

 

Nothing in the Ethics Act or Open Meetings Act prohibits a city council member or other public official from recording executive sessions they attend, the West Virginia Ethics Commission concluded Thursday, while raising concerns that the tapes of those sessions could be subject to Freedom of Information Act requests. The request for an advisory opinion came from a Westover City Council member who, according to the request, wants to have a recording to confirm exactly what transpired in the closed-to-the-public meetings, contending that the city attorney’s public and private accounts of those meetings have been inaccurate. Ethics Commission attorney Andy Herrick said nothing in the Ethics Act or the Open Meetings Act prohibits public officials from making audio recordings of executive sessions, nor is there anything in either act that prohibits public bodies from adopting rules prohibiting people from taping executive sessions.
West Virginia Gazette

The city of Moline, Illinois, paid $421,000 to scammers nearly a year ago, yet city leaders kept the information quiet, leaving taxpayers in the dark.  The city's liability insurance covers most of the loss, with the city responsible for $10,000 to $20,000, City Administrator Bob Vitas wrote in an email in response to questions from a reporter. Finalization of a settlement and an investigation by the Moline Police Department and federal agencies remain underway, Vitas wrote. When asked in a Freedom of Information Act request for city emails and an insurance claim related to the theft, Moline’s legal department responded with several reasons for keeping all information private. Returned were 187 pages of emails with nearly everything redacted except dates, greetings, recipients and signatures.
Quad-City Times

Under rules proposed by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee's administration, the authority overseeing the $5.6 billion Ford investment in West Tennessee could shield otherwise-open information from the public's eye, a public records expert warns. The legislation, carried by House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, establishes the structure and regulations for the Megasite Authority of West Tennessee. The authority, governed by a seven-member board appointed by state officials and leadership in the legislature, would oversee the development of Ford's proposed electric vehicle and battery plant. But proposed regulations could allow authority officials to keep confidential contracts, agreements, and whatever information they deem "sensitive" in nature, warned Deborah Fisher, executive director of Tennessee Coalition of Open Government.
Tennesseean