Sunshine Week 2015: a sampling of articles and opinion

*Note: VCOG cannot guarantee that the links for the articles, which are all on Virginia newspapers and TV stations, will stay active.

 

STATE/LOCAL NEWS STORIES

An application for funding for a multimodal transportation facility in downtown Roanoke identifies three potential sites for the combination train and bus station, but city officials caution that the information is highly preliminary and based on a cursory review by a consultant. Roanoke’s application to the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation seeks $3.2 million to acquire land for the facility, which would in part serve as a hub for passengers traveling to and from Roanoke on Amtrak when passenger rail service returns to the city in 2017. The Roanoke Times obtained the application from DRPT. The city declined to release it, citing the Virginia Freedom of Information Act’s exemption for making “working papers” public.
Roanoke Times

A construction trailer has been set up at the future home of Stone Brewing Co. in Richmond, but key documents governing the $23 million, publicly funded project remain shrouded in secrecy. Almost five months after the Stone project was announced, Richmond officials say they have not signed a contract with the builder or a lease with the brewery, which is expected to pay back the city investment through rent payments over 25 years. As a result, even though the project is proceeding apace, the fine print laying out each party’s rights and responsibilities cannot be reviewed by the public because of exceptions to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act for contract negotiations.
Times-Dispatch


Norfolk’s mayor gets a 10th-floor City Hall office with a view. He also gets an expensive car. The city provides Mayor Paul Fraim with a vehicle that he drives for both business and personal use, The Virginian-Pilot has learned. No other city in South Hampton Roads has such an arrangement for its mayor. Fraim’s ride – a “tuxedo black” 2010 Ford Expedition – cost $50,879.68 to lease and purchase, according to records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. The city paid as much as $1,454 a month for the car. The city also has covered more than $8,000 in repairs for damage, mostly caused by Fraim.
Virginian-Pilot

Dave Ress’ eight-part series on “The Virginia Way” still has politicians around the state a little nervous, and a little upset. Guided by two decades of experience covering Virginia politics, Ress distilled months of research and boxes of public records into a portrait of our political system’s loopholes and long tradition of accepted back-scratching. It was not easy. Virginia’s tradition of loose campaign and ethics laws has long been buoyed by arguments of transparency: Who cares how generous a lobbyist is, so long as everyone knows about it, and voters can judge you on it? But Ress showed how tangled transparency can be, how much hunting it takes to piece together a full picture. He traveled to local courthouses for property records. He pulled records on some 200 current and former elected officials. 
Daily Press


Reporter Ryan Murphy began 2014 with a tip that Isle of Wight County Schools may have skirted federal regulations in the construction of the new Georgie D. Tyler Middle School. Using the state Freedom of Information Act to access copies of contracts, emails and bid documents, the Daily Press Isle of Wight County beat reporter found that the schools division had omitted from the construction contract wage standards required under the federal Davis-Bacon Act. The effect was to lower the cost of construction by underpaying local workers hundreds of thousands of dollars. “I spent a couple of months digging into the documents and digging into legislation to figure out exactly what had happened,” Murphy said. Murphy worked with school administrators to get the documents he needed. When he realized that he would have to search through administrators’ emails — communications between government officials are public records under state law — he submitted a Freedom of Information Act request that resulted in 430 pages of emails. An additional 110 pages were withheld because they were protected by attorney-client privilege.
Daily Press

Sometimes, the problem isn’t only what the public doesn’t know — it’s what public officials don’t. When Daily Press reporter Travis Fain started digging into the reasons why a never-built road — a public-private partnership for a toll road to replace U.S. 460 between South Hampton Roads and Petersburg — cost $290 million, he found the Hampton Roads representative on the state agency that approved the deal hadn’t read the 773-page contract for the deal. In fact, months later, when Aubrey Layne was named secretary of Transportation, he didn’t realize the contract could be read online, until Fain told him. When Layne started reading, it was to look for a way out of a complicated deal that had already cost the state millions, and that could leave Virginia owing still more money to its private partner for a road it never built. Fain was reading, too. His reading list included a list of contractors on the project and documents received from a standing Freedom of Information Act request for monthly bills for the project. 
Daily Press

Daily Press reporter Robert Brauchle says his coverage of a million-dollar tax delinquency in Hampton happened by accident. When he started covering the city, Brauchle did a quick Google search for “H20 Community Development Authority” — the city of Hampton had put together a couple of publicly funded community development authorities to help developers by providing money for roads, sewers, sidewalks and other infrastructure to encourage local investment. Because public money was involved, many details of the H2O project — the residential development at the east edge of Coliseum Lake — became public records. Public records on file with the Hampton Circuit Court showed that the developer, Cygnus H2O, was hundreds of thousands of dollars behind in paying taxes and special assessments to the city. He calls it “blind luck,” but it helped that he knew where to look and knew which documents were likely to be covered by the state’s Freedom of Information Act.
Daily Press

Virginia residents have a hard time getting information on everything from police records to statistics about apple production. That’s because the Virginia Freedom of Information Act has a long list of exemptions. The state agency that regulates entities from payday lenders to health insurance companies is exempt from public records requests. So are the correspondence and working papers of university presidents. Not to mention dashboard video footage taken from police cruisers. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. “The apple producers. They don’t have to reveal their apple production numbers. Or the subscribers to the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries magazine,” says Megan Rhyne, director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government. “I would like to see fewer of them, and I would like to see them narrowed and tightened up quite a bit.”
WAMU

A B-minus may not be the worst grade to bring home to mom and dad. But when the grade falls from a B-plus on last year’s report card, while classmates continue to improve, things start to look bad. That’s what’s happening in Virginia, according to the latest annual report on state spending transparency online from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund. As states such as Ohio — which soared from a D-minus last year to an A-plus this year — build on their online transparency presence, Virginia is stagnant. “In order to become a leader in state budget transparency, Virginia would need to expand its disclosures about such economic development programs and allow for bulk downloads for all data,” a portion of the report’s Virginia summary reads.
Watchdog.org Virginia Bureau

After eight months of haggling with Virginia Supreme Court staff for a statewide criminal case file database — a document the court once made available as a public record — Daily Press reporter Dave Ress found a way to get directly to the source. More correctly, he found a person who could help him extract the data. Ben Schoenfeld, who works for nonprofit Code for America, offered to help after hearing about the situation at a Virginia Coalition for Open Government conference. Using the data that Schoenfeld scraped together, Ress found that African-American defendants in Virginia had a harder time striking a plea deal for a lesser charge than white defendants.
Daily Press

One day last year, a reader whose mother died from complications from a series of strokes called with a question for Daily Press health care reporter Prue Salasky. The woman’s daughter asked the question: Why did the local ER lack certain kinds of care and equipment? Shouldn’t they all provide similar services? That led Salasky — a veteran reporter who’s covered the health care beat since 2010 — on a quest to learn more about emergency rooms, the state’s oversight of them, the role of localities’ rescue services, and where area residents can find the best care. From the outset, Salasky’s investigation faced challenges because of difficulties in obtaining health care provider information. For one thing, all three local hospital systems are private, nonprofit entities not subject to the state’s open records law. Also, the Virginia Freedom of Information Act allows most records related to the state’s fragmented Emergency Medical Services system to be withheld. That included access to the “Trauma Registry,” which details poor outcomes.
Daily Press

Virginians are realizing the so-called ‘Virginia Way,’ the longstanding tradition of back-room deals and implicit trust in gentlemanly public officials, is failing commonwealth residents. But public records aren’t always as accessible as open government advocates would like. Here’s what you need to know about your rights to accessing public records in the Old Dominion.
Watchdog.org Virginia Bureau

Decisions made by governing bodies affect Virginia residents every day whether they know it or not. Public documents often can be the key to interpreting those choices and their impact. County spending, construction projects, school enrollment, test scores and countless other topics are of interest to many Virginians, but the challenge lies in ferreting out the information. Sometimes asking is all it takes. Government agencies are required to respond to all sunshine requests within five business days and may charge a fee for document printing and labor. “Everything that is done in a community that is not done by a private business is being done by the government,” said Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government. “Whether they are building facilities or making decisions about how property is zoned, all they are doing is generating documents that the public is entitled to see.” Rhyne said an average family has contact with the subjects of public records almost daily. She said parents can find out how many students in the school division receive free and reduced lunches, how many students are considered homeless or what the latest bus inspections turned up. Motorists questioning the safety of bridges and dams can get safety data from the state. Diners can learn if their favorite restaurant received a favorable health inspection. And that’s just a taste of what’s available.
Tidewater Review

 

EDITORIALS/COLUMNS

Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act isn’t just for journalists — it’s for you, the people who live in the commonwealth. It is true that reporters have not shied away from invoking FOIA to gain access to records that public bodies are otherwise reluctant to release — open records requests helped uncover a scandal involving former Gov. Bob McDonnell and a wealthy businessman that ultimately resulted in McDonnell’s conviction on corruption charges. But as we embark on Sunshine Week, the annual celebration of access to public information and what it means to your community, it marks a good time to remember that FOIA (Virginia code section 2.2-3700) is also for the citizens, and they have the power to hold their governments accountable.
Jeremy Slayton, Times-Dispatch

The preamble of Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act states clearly that, “The affairs of government are not intended to be conducted in an atmosphere of secrecy since at all times the public is to be the beneficiary of any action taken at any level of government.” Yet, in the years since the General Assembly last overhauled the statute, lawmakers have diluted its potency by approving more than 100 exemptions that make it more difficult, and in some cases impossible, to access meetings and obtain records.  We believe strongly in the necessity of transparency by public officials and the value of open government laws. And we are concerned that the commonwealth’s FOIA is so riddled with loopholes that it no longer functions effectively.
Daily Press

Our long winter is finally ending. We would be further grateful if the sunshine applied to Virginia’s laws on government transparency. In that respect, we remain a cloudy, dreary commonwealth, no matter the weather. If Hillary Clinton had been a Virginia appointee, rather than a federal one, her emails could all be kept secret. Yes, the commonwealth operates under the Freedom of Information Act, which ensures citizen access to records and meetings of state and local governments. But the General Assembly has granted many generous “working papers” exemptions to FOIA. “Working papers,” as in all correspondence. Sadly, government secrecy at the state and local level matters little to some citizens. As journalists, we are passionate about the topic, not because we expect wrongdoing at every turn, but because we believe open government is good government. Good government attracts leaders with clear consciences, strong backbones and sharp minds. Can we say we have that in Richmond? Does secrecy nurture trust? We think not.
News Leader

The smartphones most Americans carry in their pockets dwarf the computing power of the Apollo spacecraft that ferried astronauts to the moon and back. Email addresses were generally rare until the 1990s; innovation now takes place at a breathtaking pace. Technology should be a powerful tool for strengthening the relationship between citizens and their government. It can bolster access to information, allow more opportunities for public participation and promote a greater understanding of civic affairs. Sunshine Week (March 15-21) affords us an opportunity to examine issues involving government transparency and public access. Technology weighs heavily on those matters now, and is certain to play an influential role in the future. Yet, in order to maximize its potential, Virginia’s open government laws must keep pace with innovation, and more elected officials should capitalize on the chance to use technology as an avenue for educating and engaging the public.
Daily Press

All this week, news organizations across the nation are observing Sunshine Week to remind citizens of the importance of open government and the laws that empower the individual and the media to keep an eye on the doings and goings-on of their government. Sunshine Week, a project of the American Society of News Editors (ASNE), coincides with the birthday of President James Madison and National Freedom of Information Day on March 16. Madison, one of the primary authors of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, was — it’s fair to say — obsessed over the possibility that government could become too big and too unwieldy for citizens to control. In drafting the Constitution, he put in place a myriad of checks and balances between and within the three branches that endure to this day. Over the years, though, it has occasionally been a struggle for the average citizen and the news media, acting on behalf of the public, to get government to live up the levels of openness and transparency Madison and the Founders envisioned. One such incident involved a Nelson County couple — Lee and Paulette Albright — who, literally and figuratively, smelled something fishy in the rationale a state agency was giving for closing the state fish hatchery in Montebello.
News & Advance

Virginians expect government bodies to conduct the people’s business in full view of the public. But there are a limited number of reasons when it may be in citizens’ best interest when elected officials choose to discuss sensitive matters behind closed doors. For instance, a city council can enter closed session to consult with the city attorney about a personnel matter. A board of supervisors intending to purchase land can discourage speculation if it makes those plans behind closed doors. But, time and again on the Peninsula, elected bodies broadly define or vaguely cite reasons for entering closed session, effectively exploiting Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act. Commonwealth lawmakers abet such behavior by amending the statute to include numerous exemptions. While we hope the ongoing review of Virginia’s FOIA will help remove unnecessary loopholes, local officials should always err on the side of openness. And, when circumstances justify going behind closed doors, we expect them to be precise when citing their reasons for doing so.
Daily Press

Regardless of how ridiculous our county government gets at times, Sunshine Week reminds us of the importance of freedom of information and transparent government that provides a measure of accountability. Some may argue the flow of information about the recent behavior and actions of elected county officials damages local economic development efforts. However, should that information be curtailed by stifling freedom of information, democracy would be hurt, and the problem would potentially fester even more. When it’s working as it should, government serves an important function for citizens. When it’s not, the public’s right to know is just as necessary, so officials can be held accountable.
Paula I. Bryant, Gazette-Virginian

Among the reports in this edition of the Gazette that highlight less than transparent governing is Austin Bogues’s front page story on the James City supervisors. Watch them on TV and you’ll notice at times that there seems to be little eye-to-eye contact among our elected leaders. All too often they’re looking down, as if to avoid an unpleasant moment. More likely, they’re busy looking at cell phone screens, in the midst of sending and receiving text messages. Bogues filed a Freedom of Information Act request for usage data on those phones for the month of February. More than $60 later, we got back lists of phone numbers messaged and called, along with dates and times – but not the messages. Those are kept by Verizon, and it takes a subpoena to get them. Elected supervisors sending text messages while a called public meeting is in session are, in effect, speaking in public. Those messages should be kept at a local level since they are part of the public record, and be available for public inspection.
Virginia Gazette

THIS WEEK is Sunshine Week, the 10th year of a national focus on our access to public information. Across the country, an assessment of the state of that access is occurring. First adopted in 1968, The Virginia Freedom of Information Act has been modified numerous times since. At its core, though, is the concept that the people of Virginia have “ready access to public records… and free entry to meetings of public bodies wherein the business of the people is being conducted.” Sounds impressive, right? In practice? Not so much. First, the act has a lot of exclusions. Some make perfectly good sense, like the exemption on disclosing state income tax returns. I can imagine political opponents making hay of each other’s returns if this information were readily available. Medical records are exempt, as are college grades and scores on state licensing exams. But some of the exclusions are big enough to drive a truck through. One is the exemption for working papers and correspondence. Perhaps more disconcerting: It’s often clear that decisions have been made in those closed meetings. Members, required to vote in public, often do so without any public debate.
Vivian Paige, Virginian-Pilot

Recent actions approved by the Hanover County Board of Supervisors and Hanover County School Board are encouraging when it comes to providing access to their public meetings. As we observe Sunshine Week, which started Sunday and continues through Saturday, March 15-21, we join with newspapers across the country, as well as the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, in being ever-mindful of our role in making sure that those elected or appointed to serve are adhering to the laws about how they conduct meetings. Transparency is a word we often hear when it comes to the operations of government. We have a right to expect our officials to live by the definition of that word. When the supervisors agreed to live streaming of meetings, we said “Hooray!” The same holds true for the school board’s audio streaming plan for regular sessions. We are optimistic by these steps and hope that more citizens will become involved by tuning in by means of today’s technology. Please take advantage of what is becoming available to us.
Times-Dispatch