Wednesday
February 15, 2023
There was no newsletter yesterday, Feb. 14.
state & local news stories
VCOG’s annual legislative chart of FOIA and access-related bills
Yesterday, a House subcommittee voted on a party-line basis to kill a bill that was brought at VCOG’s request. SB 813, carried by Sen. Scott Surovell, passed the Senate 40-0 without any opposition. As I suspected, though, there was behind-the-scenes opposition and it found its audience in the subcommittee. As I heard from various sources, the bill — which says that employee names are not to be redacted from credit card statements requested under FOIA — was seen as directed at the current administration, even though the state agency practice of removing names began when Ralph Northam was governor.
You can watch the testimony on the bill here (~ 7 minutes long)
Legislation in the news…An exemption for various financial dataof the developers (specifically at Fort Monroe) is about to become law from bills sailing through the House and Senate. This article puts into context (perhaps unwittingly) why the exemption was sought.
Virginia Business
Two bills aimed at enhancing how Freedom of Information Act requests take place in Virginia have cleared the House of Delegates and the Senate. The next step is for Gov. Glenn Youngkin to review them and decide whether or not to sign them into law. Carried by Del. Danica Roem, D-Prince William, House Bill 2006 would allow localities that already accept electronic payments to also do so for FOIA requests. Roem’s House Bill 2007 would require localities to post FOIA fee policies on their websites. During a subcommittee meeting last month, an association expressed concern over House Bill 2006. “This bill tells a locality how they can or cannot accept financial payments,” said Phyllis Errico, counsel for the Virginia Association of Counties. But Roem said the bill applies to localities that already accept electronic payments for other things. As the measure went through the House and Senate, Roem reached a compromise on the wording so that localities “may” accept electronic payments, not that they “shall.” “Compromise sucks sometimes, but you have to do it,” she said.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Citizens for Fauquier County announced Monday it intends to appeal Judge Alfred Swersky’s “informal ruling” rejecting the environmental nonprofit’s request for disclosure of thousands of withheld emails related to the proposed Amazon data center, according to a press release. “In recognition of the broader threat to transparency that the ruling poses, CFFC, at the encouragement and with the assistance of its law firm, will seek support from other organizations likely affected by this decision, including various organizations that advocate for government transparency and accountability,” said Kevin Ramundo, the nonprofit’s president. Last week, Swersky told the town of Warrenton and the nonprofit’s lawyers in an email he was siding with the town and would issue a formal opinion at a later date. Ramundo said his group would wait to file its appeal until Swersky gives an official ruling.
Fauquier Now
Oscar-winning actor and Fauquier County resident Robert Duvall was one of hundreds of town and county residents voiced their opposition to the data center proposal during the Warrenton Town Council meeting at the Fauquier High School auditorium on Tuesday. Dozens of other speakers at the meeting reinforced this sentiment and pressed the Town Council to vote against the proposal, which was later approved by council in a 4-3 decision. Duvall said preserving Fauquier’s unique character requires the collective effort of the community but noted the town’s reputation is threatened by the potential for more data centers. If built, Amazon would be the third data center in the county.
Inside NoVa
In a 6-3 vote the Loudoun County School Board on Tuesday voted not to release an independent report into how the school division handled the sexual assault of two students at different high schools in 2021. The assaults spurred a special grand jury investigation that resulted in criminal charges against the division superintendent and public information officer. Denise Corbo (At-Large) said it was incumbent upon her and the entire board to take the recommendations made in the special grand jury report on the scandal into consideration. Those recommendations included greater transparency and that “the School Board should limit the degree to which legitimate matters and information of public concern are shielded from the public under the cloak of attorney-client privilege.” Erika Ogedegbe (Leesburg) reversed her position, saying although as a candidate she supported releasing the report, she would now vote against doing so. There were audible gasps form the crowd when she announced she no longer supported making the information public. She said to be compliant with federal law a significant portion of the report would need to be redacted, which she said would leave more questions about what was left out. She said the facts of the case are largely in line with what was published in the grand jury report.
Loudoun Now
A judge has thrown out many of the claims brought by a police lieutenant accusing Roanoke Police Department officials of sex discrimination, harassment and retaliation. Lt. Susanna Beth Camp sued the city in 2021 alleging police brass had sidelined her and denied her promotions because she complained about harassment within the department. Strelka Employment Law is also representing Jeffrey Otis Newman, a former lieutenant, who claims in his own lawsuit that he faced retaliation when in 2017 he reported a female officer’s complaint of “predatory behavior” from another lieutenant. Newman said the lieutenant threatened the female officer when he found out and later undermined Newman’s bid to be promoted. Newman’s case continues to wind through the court system, but records are sealed, as were those in Camp’s case previously. Carson ordered court records in Camp’s case to be unsealed last month at the request of The Rambler. Carson said neither he nor the attorneys knew why the records were sealed initially.
The Roanoke Rambler
Public comments on any matter, agenda-related or not, will return to the start of each Isle of Wight County School Board meeting under new bylaws written by Board Chairman John Collick. The board voted 3-2 on Feb. 9 to adopt the bylaws. The now 15-page document, which will replace the School Board’s ethics policy and board protocols for the remainder of the calendar year, moves non-agenda-related comments to immediately after the approval of the meeting’s agenda.
The Smithfield Times
More than likely, the newest member of the Clarke County School Board has attended his last meeting. Russell District member Andrew MacDonald submitted his resignation, effective Feb. 24, at the end of a budget work session/public hearing Monday night. MacDonald announced that he’s been appointed as an assistant state attorney general. Remaining on the board would be a conflict of interest, he said.Regarding his service on the School Board, MacDonald said, “I wish I could say this has been fun, but it has singularly been one of the most frustrating things I’ve ever done.” MacDonald and other members sometimes have been at odds over their stances on educational issues and how the board conducts its business. For example, Monday night he indicated the schools’ proposed fiscal 2024 budget doesn’t contain as many in-depth details about expenditures as he would like.
The Winchester Star
stories of national interest
EPA will shutter FOIAonline, the public records web portal it manages, ending what was once a promising stride toward transparency taken more than 10 years ago. The website tracks Freedom of Information Act requests across multiple federal agencies and posts records online for all to see. Heralded as a step for open government when it launched, FOIAonline has since faced departing user agencies and rising costs that could have saddled EPA alone with an expensive web application that was increasingly difficult to use.
Green Wire
editorials & columns
Two years ago, in a rare show of bipartisan unanimity, the General Assembly created a joint subcommittee to study comprehensive campaign finance reform. Finally lawmakers showed a willingness to take a long, hard look at the rules which govern elections with an eye toward making substantive and needed changes. However, Virginia has a bad habit of assigning tricky subjects to examination and discussion in lieu of legislative action. And so it was with the campaign finance subcommittee, which didn’t meet in 2022 and failed in January to deliver a report prior to the start of the session. Virginia takes a different approach to campaign finance than its peers by emphasizing disclosure over limits on contributions. The thinking is that by requiring candidates to report who gave them money and the purposes that money is used for it will deter bad behavior and foster the transparency that the public deserves. A study of campaign finance laws wouldn’t commit lawmakers to making changes, but it would make clearer what can be done to improve the democratic process. Unfortunately, even that was too much to expect from officials who, from their perches in the capital, appear just fine with the way things are.
The Virginian-Pilot