Transparency News, 11/30/21

Five bills have been filed in the Democratic-majority state Senate so far ahead of the 2022 legislative session in Richmond, including SB 5 Virginia Freedom of Information Act; Virginia Parole Board member votes.  Sponsor: Senator David Suetterlein (R) Provides that individual votes of the members of the Virginia Parole Board are public records and subject to the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
VA Scope

For the first time since June 22, the Loudoun County School Board will reopen its meeting room to spectators during the public comment portion of its meeting. The School Board meeting will begin at 4 p.m. with a work session on elementary school attendance zone boundaries. The opportunity to address the board during public comment will still be restricted to students or parents of Loudoun County Public Schools students, Loudoun County residents, or owners of businesses in Loudoun County.
Loudoun Now

In addition to her high school classes, Jaiden Scott is dually enrolled at Central Virginia Community College, president of the Student Council Association at the high school and a member of the teen advisory board at the Lynchburg Public Library. At Heritage High School, senior Eujine Kim also balances a full plate — from classes at Heritage and the Central Virginia Governor’s School for Science and Technology to serving as president of the high school’s environmental club and concert master of its orchestra and editing various publications. Topping off Scott and Kim’s to-do lists is one more role: student representative on the Lynchburg City School Board. Student representatives have served on the school board since January 1973, and this year’s students are no different than their predecessors: busy, bright and working to bridge the gap between the school board and the student body.
The News & Advance

Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney Buta Biberaj (D) said her office will seek the certification of petition signatures against School Board Chair Brenda Sheridan (Sterling District) amid calls for her removal, according to a Nov. 24 release. On Nov. 23, Biberaj appeared in the Loudoun County Circuit Court on behalf of the Citizens of the Sterling District that filed the petition for Sheridan’s removal. The group that filed the petition, which collected 1,217 signatures, claims that Sheridan committed neglect of duty, misuse of office, and incompetence in the performance of her duties in their petition. “As the petition was initiated and filed without consultation with our office, we need to ensure that there is strict compliance with the law,” Biberaj said in a prepared statement. The filing includes allegations that Sheridan limited the First Amendment rights of speakers and listeners by shutting down public comments at board meetings and implementing rules to curb speakers based on their viewpoint.
Loudoun Times-Mirror

 

 

 

During the past five years, the Maryland State Police found that two of its officers used excessive force in interactions with citizens, data from the agency shows. One officer resigned. The other was suspended without pay. Neither made headlines, at least in part because journalists and the public had no access to records documenting alleged misconduct.  That’s changing under a new state law that opens many such records to public view. The law has ushered in uncertain times for departments and officers concerned about what complaints or missteps could stain their reputations. But it also begins a process of accountability that activists have long called for, and that many experts say ultimately is good for both the public’s perception of policing and for officers themselves.
The Washington Post

A federal appeals court Tuesday morning will weigh whether a House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot can have access to former president Donald Trump’s White House records in a legal challenge testing whether a sitting president can waive a predecessor’s claim to executive privilege. A House investigative committee on Aug. 25 requested documents of Trump’s official communications and activities leading up to lawmakers’ certification of the electoral college results the day violent riots by Trump supporters — angered by his unfounded claims that the election was stolen — forced the evacuation of the Capitol. Trump sued, demanding hundreds of pages of his White House call and visitor logs, emails, draft speeches and notes be kept secret. He argued he had residual rights to executive privilege as former president despite President Biden agreeing to the release of the material.
The Washington Post

 

Margaret Kwoka, a University of Denver professor who specializes in government transparency litigation, said there is “a real danger that we’ll hit a tipping point, where the cost and burden of open records laws will overcome the benefits and we’ll have a retrenchment of transparency rights. This kind of abuse fuels the political will to do that.” Put more simply, when too many school districts, city governments and state agencies are buried under and financially burdened by massive data requests, the state and/or federal government might feel compelled to change the rules. Those changes would almost certainly mean less transparency and less accountability at every level of government.
Litchfield (Minnesota) Independent Review

As we think about changing public meetings, this seems like the moment to take stock of how we structure our meetings in general. Is the way that we have historically held public meetings the best way? Are we truly engaging the public? Perhaps some of us feel compelled to update antiquated meeting structures with more contemporary ways to engage, ways that are more participatory and less dry than the standard Robert’s Rules of Order style of meeting. However, in an era of volatile public meetings, deviating from the norm in any way can feel frightening. And where would you even start? Communities across the United States are starting to experiment with more modern styles of public meetings that are participatory and collaborative. For instance, the city of Austin, Texas, has an entire public participation wing of its government. The cities of Chicago and Boston have experimented with the public’s participation in deciding budget priorities. In 2017, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, voted to change its City Council rules to allow more public dialogue in public meetings.
Quixada Moore-Vissing and Jennifer Orellana, Richmond Times-Dispatch