Transparency News 11/6/15

Friday, November 6, 2015

State and Local Stories


Former Culpeper Planning Commissioner Tom Letts, who was not reappointed to the commission last month, never shies away from telling the Culpeper Town Council what he thinks. Last Wednesday was no exception as he voiced his opinion and opposition to new rules being considered by the Personnel and Ordinance Committee that will govern how the town council handles public commentperiods during both committee and council meetings.
Culpeper Times

Suffolk City Council members hashed out issues of trust and communication during their first day of a two-day retreat on Thursday. In a departure from the format of past retreats, which have focused on past accomplishments and future projects and been led by city staff, this year’s retreat is led by Tyler St. Clair, a faculty member of the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, and focuses on how City Council members like to receive information and make decisions, the vision of the city and how to get there. In an introductory session led by St. Clair, council members were asked how they like to provide leadership on the elected body. Several mentioned communication as a strength or as a sticking point. “Everybody talked about communication,” Councilman Roger Fawcett observed. “Communication among this group is weak at best.”
Suffolk News-Herald


National Stories

Concerns about legal opinions being made public under the Freedom of Information Act are leading various parts of the federal government to stop asking for written advice from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, a top Obama administration lawyer said Thursday. "I think that has served as a deterrent to some in terms of coming to the office to ask for a formal opinion," said Central Intelligence Agency General Counsel Caroline Krass, who spent more than a decade at the Justice Department office that issues legal advice for the executive branch. Lists of unclassified Office of Legal Counsel opinions issued in recent years do appear to show a significant decline in the issuance of formal legal opinions. Heavily redacted compilations released to Ryan Reilly of the Huffington Post show 28 opinions in 2009, 19 in 2010, 12 in 2011, 16 in 2012, 10 in 2013 and just three in 2014.
Politico

A federal judge Tuesday rejected the remaining claims from an attorney who sought CIA records on the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert. Anthony Bothwell sued the CIA in November 2013 for denying his Freedom of Information Act request for materials relating to five people he believes may have been involved in the Kennedy assassinations in 1963 and '68. Bothwell is a San Francisco attorney who graduated from the John F. Kennedy University School of Law near Oakland and later taught there. U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Corley dismissed most of Bothwell's claims in October 2014. She found that the CIA properly denied his request for records on Jean Souetre, a French sniper rumored to have been involved in the attempted assassination of Gen. Charles De Gaulle and who was reportedly in Dallas in November 1963.
Courthouse News Service

A pair of ethics complaints that a liberal advocacy group filed against North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory earlier this year have been dismissed. The governor disclosed the state Ethics Commission's decision on Wednesday, saying it vindicated him in the face of a politically motivated "smear campaign." The complaints in January and March by Progress N.C. Action alleged a pattern of omissions and discrepancies in the economic interest disclosure forms that the governor is required to submit. The issues included his stock holdings from Duke Energy, his former employer; and Tree.com., where he served on the board of directors; as well as his role in his brother's sales consulting firm. Ethics Commission investigations into complaints are confidential under state law. However, the person who is the subject of a complaint can authorize the release of that information, which includes written responses to the allegations. The governor's office on Wednesday did not respond to requests to provide a copy of the commission's decision or other information from the investigation. After McCrory made the decision public, Progress N.C. Action provided a copy of the dismissal letter, which was dated Oct. 14, to The News & Observer.
Governing

District of Columbia Deputy Mayor for Education Jennifer Niles plans to open up meetings to the public for a task force that is being created to improve planning between the District’s traditional and charter schools, reversing an earlier decision to hold the meetings behind closed doors. The task force, which will grapple with such contentious issues as how the city’s public schools can collaborate won the location and type of new schools that will open, was announced in August. According to the plan, task force meetings would occur monthly over the next two years and be closed to the public. Meeting minutes and materials would be published, and community meetings, focus groups and surveys would be scheduled to allow for public participation.
Washington Post