Transparency News 10/25/16

State and Local Stories
 

Official reports released recently reveal that black people accounted for nearly 80 percent of those stopped by Charlottesville police so far this year. Given the high percentage of “investigative detentions” of black people, which often don’t result in an immediate arrest, officials say they will continue to review the stops. Although the information shows city police continue to detain and, in many cases, search, black people more often than white people, Chief Al Thomas said the data should not be used to “divide the community.” But he acknowledged that the data need to be carefully “scrutinized.” On Wednesday, results of a Freedom of Information request revealed that there have been 97 stops this year — as of Oct. 15. Of those stops, 74 involved individuals who were black, while 22 involved people who were white. One individual’s race was listed as “unknown.”
Daily Progress

The City of Virginia Beach on Monday launched an online open data portal, where residents can access information from the city’s datasets. The city is developing an inventory of all its data resources and has opened a public online portal with the first 14 datasets, which are available for searching and downloading.  Among the datasets being offered: Freedom of Information Act requests.

WAVY

Federal officials want to see a long list of documents, including financial records for the past 12 months, from the embattled Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority. They have plans for an in-person review in December.
Virginian-Pilot

Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Monday blamed the political “silly season” for a Wall Street Journal article that connected his in-state political activity to the FBI investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. The story — circulated widely by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and conservative media — centers on $465,700 in donations from McAuliffe’s political action committee last year to Democratic state Senate candidate Jill McCabe. Her husband, Andrew McCabe, was a high-ranking FBI official at the time who was later promoted to deputy director, which gave him oversight over the Clinton email probe. Trump and other Republicans seized on the article, suggesting McAuliffe’s support for Jill McCabe may have led to favorable treatment for Clinton, a close McAuliffe ally who was not charged after the FBI finished its email investigation.
Roanoke Times

National Stories
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As the controversy over Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email system built last year, some of her top aides considered having her express regret for how the arrangement affected the State Department’s handling of Freedom of Information Act requests, according to a hacked email released by WikiLeaks. However, the statement of regret appears to have been edited out of the proposed statements and never issued. 
Politico

Two proposed amendments to the Miami-Dade charter would let cities establish special taxing districts for private neighborhoods and could make it easier for members of the public to copy government records. Florida law requires governments to provide copies of public records, rather than just allow people to inspect them. Miami-Dade governments must follow state law when it comes to records, so county residents already have a right to copy public documents and other materials. But the Citizens’ Bill of Rights in the county charter outlines a narrower requirement for public records, mentioning only that they be “open for inspection” at reasonable times. The proposed charter amendment would add the phrase “and copying, consistent with the requirements of the State of Florida’s public record laws.” County Commissioner Rebeca Sosa, who sponsored the amendment, said the change was recommended by the Miami-Dade Ethics Commission as a way to make it easier for local residents to protest being denied copies of records.
Miami Herald