Transparency News 1/21/20
Tuesday
January 21, 2020
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Contact us at vcog@opengovva.org
state & local news stories
FOLLOW THE BILLS WE FOLLOW WITH VCOG'S
BILL TRACKING CHART
The House General Laws subcommittee on Open Government meets this afternoon -- hard to tell exactly when because it meets after the full committee adjourns, but that committee doesn't start until "1/2 hour after adjournment" of the House floor session. Lots of the bills VCOG is interested in will be heard. You can watch the meeting on Progress Virginia's https://eyesonrichmond.org/ (Stream 2) and you can view the agenda from this link. VCOG's bills to put the Supreme Court's administrative agency (the OES) under FOIA (HB 609 and HB 671) will be heard. If you can, express your support to these subcommittee members.
A General Assembly committee unanimously backed a bill from Sen. David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke County, to give residents more chances to address their local elected officials. Suetterlein’s Senate Bill 977 would require local governing bodies to provide the public with the opportunity for public comment during at least half of the regular meetings held each fiscal year. The Senate Local Government Committee sent the bill to the Senate floor for a vote. Most city councils or boards of supervisors provide opportunities for public comment, but a few don’t. Suetterlein mentioned that all but one of the seven localities in his Senate district allow for public comment. Salem does not have a public comment period during its city council meetings.
The Roanoke Times
A transparency bill for local government – requiring lobbyists who are paid to influence city and county governments tell the public who they are and whose interests they push – died in a state Senate Committee Monday. The bill, proposed by state Sen. Jeremy McPike, D-Prince William, would have required lobbyists who deal with local government officials and agencies file a disclosure form with county, city or town clerks and pay a $25 fee to cover the clerks’ costs. “We think we’re pretty important in Richmond, but local governments make big decisions too,” McPike said, adding that he was simply proposing lobbyists who work with local government follow the same rules as those who are paid to influence state officials and legislators. But state Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant, R-Henrico, said she felt McPike was setting up a cumbersome process, while state Sen. Lionel Spruill, D-Chesapeake, said the measure would interfere with citizens and nonprofit agencies when they deal with local governments.
Daily Press
stories of national interest
A judge in a South Carolina Freedom of Information Act case has ruled a two-thirds vote isn't enough for city and county councils in South Carolina to change an agenda during a meeting. The North Augusta City Council was sued after it added work on a dam to a list of items to be covered by the extension of a sales tax at a May 2018 meeting. Justice Clifton Newman said the two-thirds vote was proper, but the council failed to show an “emergency or an exigent circumstance" for making the change that was also required by law.
ABC4
editorials & columns
"Megan Rhyne of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government took a dim view of the RRHA speaker policy."
When King Salim Khalfani approached the mic to speak on plans to demolish Creighton Court, the chair of the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority cut him off. Khalfani, policy and advocacy director for Nexus Services, had run afoul of a rule that limits those who would address the board to one public comment within a three-month period. As tools to muzzle dissent go, it’s effective. No Creighton residents spoke to the board. The board’s tenant member, Marilyn Olds, was not at the meeting. Duncan said that the housing authority met with Creighton residents Tuesday night. RRHA spokeswoman Angela Fountain said the meeting notice was posted Jan. 6 and met open meeting laws requiring the housing authority to advertise the “date, time, and location” of a public meeting at least three working days prior. However, the agenda for the meeting was not posted on the RRHA website until 2:30 p.m. Tuesday — 27 hours before the meeting began. That’s precious little notice. Thursday in Creighton Court, two residents who declined to give their names for fear of reprisal said few residents knew about the scheduled vote, and those who did found out through social media. Megan Rhyne of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government took a dim view of the RRHA speaker policy in an email Thursday.
Michael Paul Williams, Richmond Times-Dispatch
