Transparency News 1/3/2017
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
State and Local Stories
State and Local Stories
This bill would eliminate college and university presidents from the list of officials who can use the working papers exemption.
SB931
This bill would make engineering and construction plans for a single-family dwelling submitted in compliance with the state building or fire code confidential and not subject to FOIA.
HB1587
VCOG’s annual bill chart: http://www.opengovva.org/2017-legsislative-chart
Virginia regulators are drafting rules that would require school districts to red-flag objectionable teaching material and make it easier for parents to control what books their children see in the classroom, though a similar bill was vetoed last year by Gov. Terry McAuliffe.
Washington Post
When Petersburg’s incoming City Council convenes Tuesday to select a leader from among its ranks, many residents will be at work and unable to attend. The meeting, which comes at a watershed moment for the beleaguered city, is scheduled to begin at noon. Critics of the schedule say the council should move the meeting to later in the day, ahead of the council’s 6:30 p.m. regular meeting.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
The city’s incoming mayor said he’d fight to make Portsmouth more transparent and pointed to a “new, bright future” with better schools, safer neighborhoods and more accessible city leaders. “I pledge to you that in no way, shape or form will we hide our business from you,” Rowe said, drawing applause from a crowd of 500 who watched him and other council members take the oath of office Friday night. “It’s a new day.”
Virginian-Pilot
A series of public hearings are planned on the state budget Wednesday, including one at Christopher Newport University in Newport News. The CNU hearing begins at noon in the David Student Union on campus. State budget writers will be on hand to hear from people interested in weighing in on the state budget. Gov. Terry McAuliffe proposed his amendments to the budget last month. Speakers are typically given three minutes each. They are asked to arrive no earlier than an hour before the event begins to register, and they will be heard in order of registration.
Daily Press
House Republicans have voted to eviscerate the Office of Congressional Ethics, the independent body created in 2008 to investigate allegations of misconduct by lawmakers after several bribery and corruption scandals sent members to prison.The ethics change, which prompted an outcry from Democrats and government watchdog groups, is part of a rules package that the full House will vote on Tuesday.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
After two Prince William County School Board members issued a call for a special meeting last week, school board chairman Ryan Sawyers said no special meeting will be held. Prince William School Board Members Shawn Brann (Acting Member, Brentsville District) and Alyson Satterwhite (Gainesville District) Friday issued a call for a special meeting of the School Board on Wednesday, Jan. 4 to discuss the Board of Supervisors resolution for new school construction, they announced in a news release. But in an email to Satterwhite Saturday, Sawyers said the call for the meeting was "out of order both procedurally and substantively, and I will not gavel the opening of any such meeting."
InsideNOVA
National Stories
West Virginia's public agencies have reported receiving more than 5,000 records requests to the state's Freedom of Information Act database during its first year. The database maintained by the Secretary of State's Office has been available for public use since Jan. 1. Government agencies are required to submit information requests to the database. They include state agencies, county and city governments, governing boards and commissions and school boards and departments.
WVAH
The city of Chicago paid out about $670,000 last year to plaintiffs in lawsuits alleging that officials violated open records law — nearly five times what the city paid in the previous eight years combined. Experts and attorneys said the mounting payouts in Freedom of Information Act cases raise concerns about Mayor Rahm Emanuel's pledge to run "the most open, accountable and transparent government that the city of Chicago has ever seen." They said the increase may be attributable to a broader awareness of the public's right to records spurred by high-profile cases such as the Laquan McDonald shooting. The Emanuel administration, which still faces 54 lawsuits alleging open records violations, says it has added resources to provide public information more efficiently.
Chicago Tribune
Not a single email is stored in the state archives, even though Montana leaders have used them to conduct state business for decades and state law requires emails of importance to be preserved. The mass and routine deletion of emails gained attention in campaigns nationwide this fall. In Montana, Republicans centered attacks on the realization that no emails existed from Democrat Gov. Steve Bullock’s term as attorney general. But the problem is more widespread. “It’s all over the place,” Senate Majority Leader Fred Thomas, R-Stevensville, said of the way the state currently manages records. “State law is being violated.”
The Missoulian
Editorials/Columns
It takes less than a second for Google to recommend more than a dozen apps that will enable a user to live-stream an event — i.e., to send a video feed from a cellphone camera to the internet. It is taking Virginia far longer than that to catch up with the times.The Daily Press relates that 41 states — not to mention Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands — stream video from legislative committees. The commonwealth is not among them. Lawmakers no doubt like it that way.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
The Daily Press newspaper of Hampton Roads recently completed an examination of 10 years’ worth of legislators’ campaign reports. What the paper’s reporters learned suggests the public needs to be very vigilant when it comes to politicians and campaign dollars. Nothing the newspaper reported indicates any legislators have done anything wrong, and that’s an important point to make in this day and age when so many people have so little faith in politicians. But the point the report implicitly drives home is that Virginia’s legislators simply do not have the resources to perform what is essentially a full-time job. One could argue the commonwealth’s well-deserved reputation for frugality is putting its elected leaders in a no-win situation, forced to choose between using campaign funds for non-election purposes or providing sub-par constituent service because of low state allowances.
Free Lance-Star
Scholars consider James Madison the father of the Constitution, playing a seminal role in the convention that produced the miracle at Philadelphia. Virginia made him do it. In the chapter about Madison in “Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different,” Gordon Wood writes of Madison’s four sessions in the Virginia legislature. “Really for the first time Madison discovered what democracy in America might mean. Not all the legislators were going to be like him or Jefferson; many of them did not even appear to be gentlemen, never mind enlightened. The Virginia legislators seemed to be parochial, illiberal, small-minded, and most of them seemed to have only ‘a particular interest to serve.’ They had no regard for public honor or honesty. They often made a travesty of the legislative process and were reluctant to do anything that might appear unpopular.” Madison is not here to judge either today’s Assembly or the greater public’s attitudes and behavior. Let us count our blessings.
Daily Progress
What is the role of the Commonwealth in protecting the public welfare? It’s a question that goes to the compact between voters and elected officials, between taxpayers and people who spend our public funds, between citizens and private individuals who provide services for the common good. If you talk to regular people, a typical answer (although we hesitate to say there is a majority opinion on anything in this current climate) might be: the state has a responsibility to protect us from things that could have inherent, unseen dangers if not done responsibly. And they might add that regulatory oversight is most necessary for common, everyday activities that extend commerce or support the well-being of the community. If you buy into oversight of these concerns, the same sentiment seems doubly important to us in the field of medicine. When it comes to eating out, we have an easy way to know what the most recent restaurant inspection yielded. Was the dishwasher functioning? Is there a roach problem? Was food kept at temperature? As that regulatory system works through its process, the data is quickly and readily available. When restaurant operators fix mistakes, that is noted, too. We demand the same transparency in our pharmacies. If a pharmacist has an active complaint under investigation, that should be information the public can discover. If it’s resolved or dismissed, we should know that, too.
News Leader
SB931
This bill would make engineering and construction plans for a single-family dwelling submitted in compliance with the state building or fire code confidential and not subject to FOIA.
HB1587
VCOG’s annual bill chart: http://www.opengovva.org/2017-legsislative-chart
Virginia regulators are drafting rules that would require school districts to red-flag objectionable teaching material and make it easier for parents to control what books their children see in the classroom, though a similar bill was vetoed last year by Gov. Terry McAuliffe.
Washington Post
When Petersburg’s incoming City Council convenes Tuesday to select a leader from among its ranks, many residents will be at work and unable to attend. The meeting, which comes at a watershed moment for the beleaguered city, is scheduled to begin at noon. Critics of the schedule say the council should move the meeting to later in the day, ahead of the council’s 6:30 p.m. regular meeting.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
The city’s incoming mayor said he’d fight to make Portsmouth more transparent and pointed to a “new, bright future” with better schools, safer neighborhoods and more accessible city leaders. “I pledge to you that in no way, shape or form will we hide our business from you,” Rowe said, drawing applause from a crowd of 500 who watched him and other council members take the oath of office Friday night. “It’s a new day.”
Virginian-Pilot
A series of public hearings are planned on the state budget Wednesday, including one at Christopher Newport University in Newport News. The CNU hearing begins at noon in the David Student Union on campus. State budget writers will be on hand to hear from people interested in weighing in on the state budget. Gov. Terry McAuliffe proposed his amendments to the budget last month. Speakers are typically given three minutes each. They are asked to arrive no earlier than an hour before the event begins to register, and they will be heard in order of registration.
Daily Press
House Republicans have voted to eviscerate the Office of Congressional Ethics, the independent body created in 2008 to investigate allegations of misconduct by lawmakers after several bribery and corruption scandals sent members to prison.The ethics change, which prompted an outcry from Democrats and government watchdog groups, is part of a rules package that the full House will vote on Tuesday.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
After two Prince William County School Board members issued a call for a special meeting last week, school board chairman Ryan Sawyers said no special meeting will be held. Prince William School Board Members Shawn Brann (Acting Member, Brentsville District) and Alyson Satterwhite (Gainesville District) Friday issued a call for a special meeting of the School Board on Wednesday, Jan. 4 to discuss the Board of Supervisors resolution for new school construction, they announced in a news release. But in an email to Satterwhite Saturday, Sawyers said the call for the meeting was "out of order both procedurally and substantively, and I will not gavel the opening of any such meeting."
InsideNOVA
National Stories
West Virginia's public agencies have reported receiving more than 5,000 records requests to the state's Freedom of Information Act database during its first year. The database maintained by the Secretary of State's Office has been available for public use since Jan. 1. Government agencies are required to submit information requests to the database. They include state agencies, county and city governments, governing boards and commissions and school boards and departments.
WVAH
The city of Chicago paid out about $670,000 last year to plaintiffs in lawsuits alleging that officials violated open records law — nearly five times what the city paid in the previous eight years combined. Experts and attorneys said the mounting payouts in Freedom of Information Act cases raise concerns about Mayor Rahm Emanuel's pledge to run "the most open, accountable and transparent government that the city of Chicago has ever seen." They said the increase may be attributable to a broader awareness of the public's right to records spurred by high-profile cases such as the Laquan McDonald shooting. The Emanuel administration, which still faces 54 lawsuits alleging open records violations, says it has added resources to provide public information more efficiently.
Chicago Tribune
Not a single email is stored in the state archives, even though Montana leaders have used them to conduct state business for decades and state law requires emails of importance to be preserved. The mass and routine deletion of emails gained attention in campaigns nationwide this fall. In Montana, Republicans centered attacks on the realization that no emails existed from Democrat Gov. Steve Bullock’s term as attorney general. But the problem is more widespread. “It’s all over the place,” Senate Majority Leader Fred Thomas, R-Stevensville, said of the way the state currently manages records. “State law is being violated.”
The Missoulian
Editorials/Columns
It takes less than a second for Google to recommend more than a dozen apps that will enable a user to live-stream an event — i.e., to send a video feed from a cellphone camera to the internet. It is taking Virginia far longer than that to catch up with the times.The Daily Press relates that 41 states — not to mention Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands — stream video from legislative committees. The commonwealth is not among them. Lawmakers no doubt like it that way.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
The Daily Press newspaper of Hampton Roads recently completed an examination of 10 years’ worth of legislators’ campaign reports. What the paper’s reporters learned suggests the public needs to be very vigilant when it comes to politicians and campaign dollars. Nothing the newspaper reported indicates any legislators have done anything wrong, and that’s an important point to make in this day and age when so many people have so little faith in politicians. But the point the report implicitly drives home is that Virginia’s legislators simply do not have the resources to perform what is essentially a full-time job. One could argue the commonwealth’s well-deserved reputation for frugality is putting its elected leaders in a no-win situation, forced to choose between using campaign funds for non-election purposes or providing sub-par constituent service because of low state allowances.
Free Lance-Star
Scholars consider James Madison the father of the Constitution, playing a seminal role in the convention that produced the miracle at Philadelphia. Virginia made him do it. In the chapter about Madison in “Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different,” Gordon Wood writes of Madison’s four sessions in the Virginia legislature. “Really for the first time Madison discovered what democracy in America might mean. Not all the legislators were going to be like him or Jefferson; many of them did not even appear to be gentlemen, never mind enlightened. The Virginia legislators seemed to be parochial, illiberal, small-minded, and most of them seemed to have only ‘a particular interest to serve.’ They had no regard for public honor or honesty. They often made a travesty of the legislative process and were reluctant to do anything that might appear unpopular.” Madison is not here to judge either today’s Assembly or the greater public’s attitudes and behavior. Let us count our blessings.
Daily Progress
What is the role of the Commonwealth in protecting the public welfare? It’s a question that goes to the compact between voters and elected officials, between taxpayers and people who spend our public funds, between citizens and private individuals who provide services for the common good. If you talk to regular people, a typical answer (although we hesitate to say there is a majority opinion on anything in this current climate) might be: the state has a responsibility to protect us from things that could have inherent, unseen dangers if not done responsibly. And they might add that regulatory oversight is most necessary for common, everyday activities that extend commerce or support the well-being of the community. If you buy into oversight of these concerns, the same sentiment seems doubly important to us in the field of medicine. When it comes to eating out, we have an easy way to know what the most recent restaurant inspection yielded. Was the dishwasher functioning? Is there a roach problem? Was food kept at temperature? As that regulatory system works through its process, the data is quickly and readily available. When restaurant operators fix mistakes, that is noted, too. We demand the same transparency in our pharmacies. If a pharmacist has an active complaint under investigation, that should be information the public can discover. If it’s resolved or dismissed, we should know that, too.
News Leader
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