Transparency News 12/20/19

Friday
December 20, 2019

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state & local news stories

"They had a potential logistical nightmare on their hands once they realized a large number of people planned to attend."

Sen. Richard Stuart, R-Montross, will be carrying 4 bills recommended by the FOIA Council, which he chairs.
 

SB 138: Adds regional public bodies to the types of public bodies that must designate a FOIA officer.
SB 139: Adds the option for in-person training sessions in addition to the current requirement of online training sessions for local elected officials provided by the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council or a local government attorney.
SB 140: Provides that no discretionary exclusion in FOIA shall apply to protect information relating to the amount, date, purpose, and terms of a pledge or donation made to a public institution of higher education.
SB 153: Provides that if a requester asks for a cost estimate in advance of a Virginia Freedom of Information Act request, the time to respond is tolled for the amount of time that elapses between notice of the cost estimate and the response from the requester, and that if the public body receives no response from the requester within 30 days of sending the cost estimate, the request shall be deemed to be withdrawn.

All have been referred to the Senate General Laws and Technology Committee

An effort to resolve who will pay for a failed attempt to petition Strasburg Mayor Richard Orndorff Jr. out of office will continue to the new year. On Wednesday, Strasburg Town Attorney Nathan Miller participated in a hearing over the phone with Judge Alexander Iden. Miller presented his case that the town should be allowed to participate in the proceedings determining who will pay Orndorff’s legal fees he accrued defending himself in the petition. Miller submitted a motion to the court on Nov. 14 to request the town be allowed to participate as an interested party and moved on Dec. 11 to request a hearing for the motion. In a separate motion on Dec. 11, Phillip S. Griffin II, Orndorff’s attorney, filed a motion for summary judgment and requested the county pay his fees.
The Northern Virginia Daily

During public comment at [earlier this month's] meeting of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, there was overwhelming audience support for declaring Orange County a “Second Amendment Sanctuary,” but that doesn’t mean everybody in the county thinks it’s a good idea. “I’m pretty appalled at the way the board of supervisors handled this thing,” Terry Anderson, chair of the Orange County Democratic Committee, said, pointing out that the board made its resolution during public comment rather than making the sanctuary matter an item on the published agenda. To that point, board chair Jim White responded that the board didn’t place the item on the agenda because until public comment on Dec. 3, the matter hadn’t come up. Both White and County Administrator Bryan David emphasized that public comment is open to all constituents who want to address any topic. They had a potential logistical nightmare on their hands once they realized a large number of people planned to attend and bring up the issue that has rolled across the state in recent weeks, with more than 40 counties, mostly in rural areas, declaring themselves “sanctuaries.” For county officials, it was a matter of finding space for a crowd at short notice, not just dealing with a controversial topic.
Orange County Review

stories of national interest

An Atlanta jury on Thursday found a press secretary for former Mayor Kasim Reed guilty of two counts of violating the state’s open records law, encouraging a press corps that had felt stymied in its attempts to investigate local politicians. It was the first time a public official had been prosecuted under Georgia’s Open Records Act. The charges against the press secretary, Jenna Garland, were misdemeanors, and Judge Jane Morrison of Fulton County State Court set the fines at $750 per violation. State prosecutors had alleged that Ms. Garland, 35, frustrated requests filed by a WSB-TV reporter for city water department documents that were potentially embarrassing to city officials. In one text message that became public, Ms. Garland advised a water department spokesperson to be “as unhelpful as possible” about a request. In another, she told the spokesperson to “hold all” requested documents pertaining to certain members of the City Council until the reporter “asks for an update.”
The New York Times
 

"Ms. Garland advised a water department spokesperson to be 'as unhelpful as possible' about a request."

editorials & columns

"Reporters make those inquiries on behalf of the people — families with kids in public schools, for teachers and administrators who work in public schools, for taxpayers who pay for public schools — and in the interest of accountability."

An incident at Maury High School in Norfolk last week should alarm residents of the region, not only because of what happened but because of the haphazard manner in which information was released to the public. What we now know is that a 17-year-old student suffered a gunshot wound to the hand when the firearm he had in class apparently discharged. The school was placed in lockdown and the student was taken to Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters for treatment. Pilot reporters Saleen Martin and Sara Gregory, in their story about the incident, credited law enforcement for providing those facts, but pointed out that the information provided by the Norfolk Police Department and the Norfolk Public School were very different. Give those working in public affairs roles the benefit of the doubt here. Surely they were trying to provide the most accurate information in the most timely manner possible. As any journalist knows, getting it right is always more important than getting it first. However, it is a constant source of frustration that those official conduits for information are oftentimes reluctant to provide it, to the point of not responding to legitimate requests. Reporters make those inquiries on behalf of the people — families with kids in public schools, for teachers and administrators who work in public schools, for taxpayers who pay for public schools — and in the interest of accountability.
The Virginian-Pilot