Transparency News, 11/1/2022

THERE WAS NO NEWSLETTER FRIDAY, OCT. 28, OR MONDAY, OCT. 31.

Tuesday
November 1, 2022

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state & local news stories

"The argument carried into the last part of the work session, with Oakes ending the session abruptly following another argument which included an outburst from Mead yelling, 'Goddamn it, let me speak!'"

The Virginia NAACP said it paid nearly $20,000 for access to public records concerning the "Election Integrity Unit" created by Attorney General Jason Miyares. The Freedom of Information Act request by the Virginia NAACP, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the NAACP's general counsel office and the law firm Hogan Lovells US asked for all public records related to the unit's establishment, organization, staffing, activities, spending. The groups also requested information on how many instances of voter fraud or "election cheating" Virginia has seen in recent years. The Virginia NAACP said Monday that the attorney general's office responded that complying with the request would cost almost $20,000, a fee the group described as "exorbitant" but said they agreed to pay. “The Virginia NAACP will not allow the Attorney General’s Office to escape public scrutiny, and we will not be bullied,” Robert Barnette, president of the Virginia NAACP, said in a statement Monday.
WRIC

A recent Virginia Supreme Court ruling narrows the scope of information government bodies can exempt from disclosure under public records laws — a decision legal experts say will provide greater public access to information on government employees. The court handed down the unanimous opinion, finding government officials should only consider personnel information exempt from disclosure under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act if that information “is tied to the employment of the individual in some way, and which otherwise would not be disclosed to the employer.” Open government advocates and attorneys who specialize in FOIA law characterized the ruling as a win for the average citizen. It narrows the previous interpretation of the exemption, which they say has been used as a blanket exemption often applied too liberally.
The Virginian-Pilot

Northern Virginia school systems grant fewer than 1 percent of requests from parents of children with disabilities seeking enrollment in schools that better accommodate their needs, according to data submitted in a civil rights lawsuit. Plaintiffs allege the state’s education department has “curated” officials who almost always decide cases in its favor, according to the class-action lawsuit filed in federal court last month by parents of an autistic student. Although a social worker warned the plaintiffs that they would lose the appeal of their placement request denial, the suit said, they appealed anyway — and did lose in 2015. During a second appeal in 2021, they filed Freedom of Information Act requests to determine how often parents like them won when challenging decisions about their disabled children’s care.
The Washington Post

Until about a year and a half ago, Chesapeake’s city council members seemed to get along just fine. Votes on the governing body, which has a 7-2 Republican majority, almost always were unanimous. In fact, a review conducted by The Virginian-Pilot in November 2020 showed that in the previous two years, 94% of the council’s votes had been undivided. While the election is nonpartisan, the majority of the City Council identifies as Republican and the fissures have divided longtime allies — and Republicans across Chesapeake — into two distinct political factions. Candidate Amanda Newins was sued in Chesapeake Circuit Court by her great aunt, who accused Newins of mistreating her and her husband[.] Stoking the flames even further: Some of Newins’ supporters learned Alan Krasnoff — who served as mayor of Chesapeake from 2008 until he was elected Clerk of the Circuit Court in 2017 — delivered a copy of the lawsuit, with some of the attached medical records, to Vice Mayor John de Triquet’s medical office a few days after it was filed. The vice mayor, however, said once he saw medical records pertaining to Newins’ great uncle had been included, he immediately mailed the documents back to Krasnoff’s office, along with a letter stating his reasons for returning them. When the packet from the vice mayor arrived at Circuit Court, it was stamped by a clerk, added to the file for the Newins’ case, and then later removed. 
The Virginian-Pilot

Criminal charges filed against the elected treasurer of Covington were taken under advisement Monday by an Alleghany County Circuit judge. Theresa Ann Harrison, 61, of Covington was charged in July with three felony counts of possession of a Schedule I or II drug and one misdemeanor count of divulging confidential tax documents. Harrison’s tax-related case has been continued for 12 months and will be reviewed again in October 2023. Between now and then, Harrison has agreed to complete six hours of study of the “ethical and statutory responsibilities of treasurers.”
The Roanoke Times

Staunton City Council held a public hearing during their regular business meeting Thursday night on the city’s legislative agenda, and tempers flared amongst the council during its work session prior to the meeting after it was proposed by councilor Brenda Mead to add two items that deal with national hot-button issues. Mayor Andrea Oakes pushed back on the additions, believing that those topics were not within the jurisdiction of city council. This led to arguing and shouting matches, with councilors talking over one another. The argument carried into the last part of the work session, with Oakes ending the session abruptly following another argument which included an outburst from Mead yelling, “Goddamn it, let me speak!”
News Leader
 

stories of national interest

It’s been 534 days since climate czar John Kerry was asked to share his staff payroll. A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by the Herald May 13, 2021, continues to be ignored by Kerry. The State Department says the records are available, but they add: “The Office of Information Programs and Services’ electronic records system indicates this request is in process and has an estimated date of completion (EDC) of Oct. 1, 2024.
Boston Herald

editorials & columns

"The integrity of our government certainly does matter. These issues of transparency and what actually happened should be shared with the public."

Lincoln Saunders, the city’s chief administrative officer, and Mayor Levar Stoney’s former chief of staff, was the mayor’s pick as CAO, despite no prior experience running a municipal government. He serves at the pleasure of Stoney. It’s ludicrous to think he would handle the police chief’s resignation without input from his boss, who also happens to be the city’s chief executive officer. He said in a statement last week that he wanted to “stop the rumor mill.” But that mill is of City Hall’s construction. Saunders did not answer the question of whether Chief Gerald Smith was asked to resign by the CAO or on orders from Stoney. “When they first announced this, my first thought was, ‘Did he really resign?’” said Angela Fontaine, former co-chair of a city task force set up to establish civilian oversight of the police department. “I don’t know if it matters one way or another now. But the integrity of our government certainly does matter. These issues of transparency and what actually happened should be shared with the public.”
Michael Paul Williams, Richmond Times-Dispatch

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and public records requests are tools reporters use in their information gathering and fact-checking processes. However, there are many threats to these freedoms, including a lack of understanding about how the process works, censorship and delayed response times, and the government’s ability to suppress information and investigations through legal means. Andrea Gallo knows these FOIA frustrations firsthand. She’s battled for a public records request in the legal arena. Gallo is an investigative reporter for The Advocate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry sued Gallo over the request in February 2021.  Although Gallo’s story is an extreme example of what can be an adversarial relationship between reporters and government officials, there are more sinister ways in which access to public records is being challenged. Public records laws vary state by state, but requests processed at the federal level (FOIA) are uniform. According to News/Media Alliance, about 8% of FOIA requests never receive a response. There are no consequences for the agency if they fail to respond.
Victoria Holmes, Editor & Publisher