The Sands Anderson law firm has encouraged its clients to actively oppose several pro-public access bills, including the two VCOG has asked for. Their statement: “These proposals reflect a continuing legislative focus on expanding transparency requirements, though they may also create new operational and fiscal challenges for local governments. We encourage public bodies to actively participate in the legislative process to help shape these proposals and ensure balanced outcomes. The bills outlined below share several common themes that could materially affect how public bodies respond to FOIA requests, manage staff time, and recover compliance costs.”

Williamsburg agreed to pay a local developer $121,838.78 to cancel a contract selling city land on Strawberry Plains Road for a proposed townhouse development. The city turned over the November 2024 settlement agreement to local resident Robert Lee Wilson, after losing a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit Wilson filed last month in Williamsburg-James City County General District Court. Wilson forwarded a copy of the settlement to Williamsburg Watch, and you can download it at the end of this article. … Wilson asked for a copy of the termination agreement under Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act in December but was turned down by the city. City attorneys said it was exempt from the FOIA law under a clause that protects attorney work compiled specifically for use in litigation. Judge Matthew D. Danielson, a 9th circuit judge sitting in on the case, ruled the city was unable to provide any case law to support its refusal to provide Wilson with the termination agreement. A city spokesperson told Williamsburg Watch the city turned down Wilson’s original request because both parties to the settlement had agreed to maintain it confidential.

More than three years after Norfolk’s City Council passed a resolution requiring Hampton Roads Ventures, a for-profit subsidiary of the city’s housing authority, to make its “best efforts” to invest in the city, its 2025 annual report reveals a $15 million investment in two projects in other states, but none in Norfolk. Some City Council members are losing patience. The report reveals HRV funded $8 million in tax credits for Biltwise Modular Structures, a Roswell, New Mexico, expansion of a South Carolina company, and invested $7 million in the Southeast Texas Food Bank and Resource Center in Jasper during 2024. … The report does not make clear what efforts were made to invest in Norfolk or the region. Sean Washington, Norfolk’s director of economic development, said he met with HRV representatives twice in 2025. He did not reply to a request for details of those meetings. … Jennifer Donohue, HRV’s CEO, did not respond to an email seeking comment. In the past, HRV’s lawyer has denied public records requests despite the company being a subsidiary of NRHA, a public body subject to records requests.

“I don’t understand why we’re late,” said Councilwoman Reva Trammell on Thursday. “This is supposed to be fixed.” In a memo sent from Chief Administrative Officer Odie Donald II to City Council on Dec. 17, obtained by The Times-Dispatch, Donald acknowledged that finance officials had missed their Dec. 15 deadline for completing the city’s annual comprehensive financial report: an audited set of statements that lays out the city’s fiscal position. That deadline is set by both city code and state law. “The delay is attributable to outstanding reconciliation and audit procedures,” Donald wrote in the email, adding that finance officials were also still waiting on “audited financial statements from Richmond Public Schools.” “At this time, the administration anticipates completing the city’s financial audit and finalizing the (report) by Jan. 27,” Donald continued. But Tuesday came and went, and the councilmembers still did not receive the report, according to Trammell, who represents the 8th District.

Greene County supervisors are looking to appoint a new member to their board after Francis McGuigan abruptly resigned without explanation last month. … “Based on the amount of phone calls and emails we’ve all received, there will be a lot of people to interview,” Chairman Steve Catalano said during the board’s Thursday meeting. … The board held its Thursday meeting in public, rather than behind closed doors as planned. It was a moment of transparency for a board known for keeping much of its decision-making private, including a decision last year to suddenly shut down the Ruckersville Volunteer Fire Company, catching residents off guard. “I’m happy to do this in the public forum so people can see how we arrive at our conclusion,” said Catalano at the beginning of Thursday’s meeting.

The Department of Defense launched a sneak attack last month on one of the American military’s proudest legacies — the editorially independent news organization Stars and Stripes. The top leadership of the world’s strongest military is so afraid of Stripes’ long record of truthful reporting to service members that they are blowing up its historic free press mission and dictating what it can publish and not publish. The victims will be the American military community, especially overseas — service members, families, civilian Department of Defense employees, contractors and veterans who benefit from Stripes’ “local” coverage of their special world. In place of impartial news and accountability, they will get the company line — or worse. As Gen. Dwight Eisenhower told brass-hat critics of Stripes in World War II, “It must be kept free of censorship or propaganda. Its purpose is to tell the truth — good or bad — to the men and women who serve.”