Transparency News 12/18/18

 

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Tuesday
December 18, 2018

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state & local news stories

 

 

 

Against Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney’s wishes, the Richmond City Council established a commission to comb through the $1.4 billion plans centering on a new Richmond Coliseum and a valuable swath of downtown real estate.  The council's 8-1 vote on the commission came on the same day that the Stoney administration said it was still negotiating the massive proposal and would not formally unveil it — a fact that frustrated residents and council members alike at Monday's meeting. The Stoney administration has spent the past 10 months and more than $500,000 reviewing and negotiating the plans.
Richmond Times-Dispatch

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stories of national interest

In his first state of the state address, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey declared, "Our government needs to operate at the speed of business." Two years ago, his office highlighted the progress of government agencies "working more productively, more efficiently, and doing so at a lesser cost to taxpayers." But Ducey's office hasn't adopted the brisk speed and efficiency of the private sector when responding to requests for public documents, as required by Arizona law. Of the 76 public records requests processed by the governor's office in 2017, the average wait time was 3.6 months, according to a Phoenix New Times analysis of a log of records requests. The median wait time was 72 days. A handful of requests lingered in the governor's office for around a year before the records were finally turned over to the person who asked for them.
Phoenix New Times

Kansas drivers who renew their licenses, registration or K-TAGs online are giving permission for their personal information to be stored outside the United States, even though Kansas forbids the practice. The state contractor that powers the online renewals says all data is stored in the United States, despite a page on its website that says the company can store personal information in foreign countries. Where data is stored is important because it helps determine who can access it. Digital law and privacy experts say storing data outside the United States increases the chances that other countries will access the data, either through their intelligence channels or by coercing companies into handing it over.
Governing
 

 

 

 

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editorials & columns

 

 

Virginia Republican lawmakers are pushing legislation to require the Library of Virginia to make the records of previous Virginia governors open to the public. Last week, House Majority Leader Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, filed House Bill 1702 for the 2019 session. The bill would require the records of an outgoing governor to be made public within one year of their delivery to the library. Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, says her organization supports the concept of Gilbert’s bill. We do, too. We have long supported open government. The commonwealth’s governor works for the citizens of Virginia. Access to an administration’s records should be made available to the public as quickly as possible — especially if a former governor is pursuing higher office.

Richmond Times-Dispatch

 

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