Transparency News 2/21/17
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
State and Local Stories
State and Local Stories
A bill that would make deliberately ignoring citizens' Freedom of Information Act requests a firing offense died in a state Senate committee Monday. The Senate General Laws committee also voted to shield records related to bingo and other charitable gambling supplies, as well as making confidential engineering and construction plans for single-family houses filed with local building officials to ensure compliance with state building codes. Earlier Monday, the full state Senate voted to restrict the release of jurors' personal information, narrowly approving a House of Delegates measure.
Daily Press
The search for a new University of Virginia president will take place behind closed doors, but members of the search committee have promised to seek out public input. At its first meeting on Monday, the committee discussed the fine line it will need to walk between confidentiality and public outreach as it searches for a replacement for President Teresa A. Sullivan. To attract the best candidates, the search committee will need to keep discussions private, said committee co-chairman Frank M. “Rusty” Conner III. If candidates suspect their current positions could be jeopardized by talks with UVa, Conner said, they might not speak to the committee. “We want to interview the best people in the country,” said Conner, who is also UVa’s vice rector. “And the best people won’t talk to us if they think there’s a breach in confidentiality.”
Daily Progress
Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms planned last night to cut down on how long members of the public can speak at City Council meetings. City Attorney Mark Stiles said time limits, adopted by council members in 2003, have not been enforced. People wishing to talk about city codes, or ordinances, should get only three minutes. Only speakers representing groups on planning items, issues that deal with zoning and land use, are supposed to get 10 minutes of talking time.
Virginian-Pilot
When the Norfolk Treasurer’s Office opens for business at 8:30 a.m. today, who will be in charge? No one seemed sure on Monday. Starting at 5 p.m. Monday, the elected treasurer, Anthony Burfoot, was suspended from his post by court order. Burfoot’s lawyer, the man who got him suspended and the city attorney all seemed uncertain who will take over. The state law under which a judge suspended Burfoot says, “During the suspension the court may appoint some suitable person to act in the officer’s place.” But Circuit Judge Everett Martin’s order Friday did not name anyone. And no answers were forthcoming Monday, when courts and city offices were closed for Presidents Day. The law is clear on who would take over if Burfoot had resigned or been forced out of office for good. State code says a vacancy in a constitutional office is to be filled by “the highest ranking deputy officer … who is qualified to vote for and hold that office.” But there is not a vacancy. Burfoot is still the elected treasurer and has been merely suspended – not removed.
Virginian-Pilot
Warren County recently launched a new collection of interactive maps on the government website. The Planning Department unveiled applications last week that allow the public to use the county’s geographic information system maps to search for recreational amenities such as parks, trails and boat landings. The maps also allow the public to find the school a child would attend by searching by street or address. The applications also include interactive tours that feature county projects in progress, the capital improvement plan and the Royal Shenandoah Greenway.
Northern Virginia Daily
Getting your message out in the cyber world can come with a steep price tag, and in Loudoun County, some local officials are no strangers to those costs. Loudoun County's Department of Economic Development budgets $20,000 of taxpayer dollars for Facebook advertising alone, officials say. According to the department, those costs go toward landing new companies within the department's targeted industries, which, in turn, generates “millions of dollars in direct revenue to the county.” The cost to sponsor an ad on Facebook can range anywhere from $5 to $350 depending on what you select for projected reach.
Loudoun Times-Mirror
National Stories
Local government entities are working to comply with a new Tennessee law that will require them to have a written public records policy. The new law, which was sponsored by a pair of Knoxville lawmakers, aims to make accessing public records a less confusing process. The bill requires that all government entities in Tennessee establish a written public records policy properly by July 1. The policy must include the name and contact information of the person designated by the government entity as the public records request coordinator. The policy also must outline the process for making requests, including discussion of fees and redactions.
Herald Courier
Tom MacWright, a software engineer who bicycles to work in Washington, D.C., had no idea his search for a copy of the city’s cycling laws would become part of a simmering national debate about open government. Troubled that valet parking stands were blocking bike lanes, he wanted to create a website that included a link to the laws. Should be easy, right? After all, a law is by its very nature, a public record. But in the District and in many other places across the country, the rights to republish local laws in a user-friendly, searchable format, don’t belong to the people or the governments. They belong to the businesses that contract to publish those laws.
Newsday
A controversial Florida law that restricted doctors from asking patients about firearm ownership violates medical professionals' constitutional right to free speech, a federal appeals court ruled last week.
Governing
Nevada legislators make public records law, but it turns out they don’t have to follow it. That could change during this legislative session. Senate Bill 170 would make the Nevada Legislature subject to public records laws, and would expand the kinds of information that can be requested. But will legislators go for it? Will they pass a bill that exposes them to greater scrutiny?
KNPR
The Wisconsin Supreme Court wrestled with how broadly to apply the state's open meetings law in a case Wednesday that open government advocates warn could provide a gateway to getting around public access requirements. The lawsuit was brought by the parent of an Appleton Area School District student who said meetings of a committee charged with reviewing course material for a ninth grade English class should have been open to the public. Christine Hamiel, attorney for the school district, said because the course review committee was created by employees of the district, and not the school board itself, its meetings were not subject to the open meetings law. Hamiel argued that routine administrative functions of government have not, and should not, be subject to the law.
McClatchy
Editorials/Columns
Mr. President, we in the news media are not your enemy. Nor are we your friend. We are merely doing our job as an institution, holding government accountable to the people, speaking truth to power and informing the people so they can be more effective citizens in this great experiment called America. Politicians in the United States have been berating the press and using us as a foil in the court of public opinion almost from the start of the Republic. Thomas Jefferson, our third president, could be said to be the inventor of media bashing. Are we perfect? Do we always get it right? Absolutely not. But we — collectively as an institution and individually as journalists — own up to our mistakes; indeed, we are our own biggest critics when we slip up. We try to ferret out the truth and provide information to the public so they can be more effective, more informed citizens. And an informed citizenry is the bedrock upon which this republic is based.
News & Advance
Daily Press
The search for a new University of Virginia president will take place behind closed doors, but members of the search committee have promised to seek out public input. At its first meeting on Monday, the committee discussed the fine line it will need to walk between confidentiality and public outreach as it searches for a replacement for President Teresa A. Sullivan. To attract the best candidates, the search committee will need to keep discussions private, said committee co-chairman Frank M. “Rusty” Conner III. If candidates suspect their current positions could be jeopardized by talks with UVa, Conner said, they might not speak to the committee. “We want to interview the best people in the country,” said Conner, who is also UVa’s vice rector. “And the best people won’t talk to us if they think there’s a breach in confidentiality.”
Daily Progress
Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms planned last night to cut down on how long members of the public can speak at City Council meetings. City Attorney Mark Stiles said time limits, adopted by council members in 2003, have not been enforced. People wishing to talk about city codes, or ordinances, should get only three minutes. Only speakers representing groups on planning items, issues that deal with zoning and land use, are supposed to get 10 minutes of talking time.
Virginian-Pilot
When the Norfolk Treasurer’s Office opens for business at 8:30 a.m. today, who will be in charge? No one seemed sure on Monday. Starting at 5 p.m. Monday, the elected treasurer, Anthony Burfoot, was suspended from his post by court order. Burfoot’s lawyer, the man who got him suspended and the city attorney all seemed uncertain who will take over. The state law under which a judge suspended Burfoot says, “During the suspension the court may appoint some suitable person to act in the officer’s place.” But Circuit Judge Everett Martin’s order Friday did not name anyone. And no answers were forthcoming Monday, when courts and city offices were closed for Presidents Day. The law is clear on who would take over if Burfoot had resigned or been forced out of office for good. State code says a vacancy in a constitutional office is to be filled by “the highest ranking deputy officer … who is qualified to vote for and hold that office.” But there is not a vacancy. Burfoot is still the elected treasurer and has been merely suspended – not removed.
Virginian-Pilot
Warren County recently launched a new collection of interactive maps on the government website. The Planning Department unveiled applications last week that allow the public to use the county’s geographic information system maps to search for recreational amenities such as parks, trails and boat landings. The maps also allow the public to find the school a child would attend by searching by street or address. The applications also include interactive tours that feature county projects in progress, the capital improvement plan and the Royal Shenandoah Greenway.
Northern Virginia Daily
Getting your message out in the cyber world can come with a steep price tag, and in Loudoun County, some local officials are no strangers to those costs. Loudoun County's Department of Economic Development budgets $20,000 of taxpayer dollars for Facebook advertising alone, officials say. According to the department, those costs go toward landing new companies within the department's targeted industries, which, in turn, generates “millions of dollars in direct revenue to the county.” The cost to sponsor an ad on Facebook can range anywhere from $5 to $350 depending on what you select for projected reach.
Loudoun Times-Mirror
National Stories
Local government entities are working to comply with a new Tennessee law that will require them to have a written public records policy. The new law, which was sponsored by a pair of Knoxville lawmakers, aims to make accessing public records a less confusing process. The bill requires that all government entities in Tennessee establish a written public records policy properly by July 1. The policy must include the name and contact information of the person designated by the government entity as the public records request coordinator. The policy also must outline the process for making requests, including discussion of fees and redactions.
Herald Courier
Tom MacWright, a software engineer who bicycles to work in Washington, D.C., had no idea his search for a copy of the city’s cycling laws would become part of a simmering national debate about open government. Troubled that valet parking stands were blocking bike lanes, he wanted to create a website that included a link to the laws. Should be easy, right? After all, a law is by its very nature, a public record. But in the District and in many other places across the country, the rights to republish local laws in a user-friendly, searchable format, don’t belong to the people or the governments. They belong to the businesses that contract to publish those laws.
Newsday
A controversial Florida law that restricted doctors from asking patients about firearm ownership violates medical professionals' constitutional right to free speech, a federal appeals court ruled last week.
Governing
Nevada legislators make public records law, but it turns out they don’t have to follow it. That could change during this legislative session. Senate Bill 170 would make the Nevada Legislature subject to public records laws, and would expand the kinds of information that can be requested. But will legislators go for it? Will they pass a bill that exposes them to greater scrutiny?
KNPR
The Wisconsin Supreme Court wrestled with how broadly to apply the state's open meetings law in a case Wednesday that open government advocates warn could provide a gateway to getting around public access requirements. The lawsuit was brought by the parent of an Appleton Area School District student who said meetings of a committee charged with reviewing course material for a ninth grade English class should have been open to the public. Christine Hamiel, attorney for the school district, said because the course review committee was created by employees of the district, and not the school board itself, its meetings were not subject to the open meetings law. Hamiel argued that routine administrative functions of government have not, and should not, be subject to the law.
McClatchy
Editorials/Columns
Mr. President, we in the news media are not your enemy. Nor are we your friend. We are merely doing our job as an institution, holding government accountable to the people, speaking truth to power and informing the people so they can be more effective citizens in this great experiment called America. Politicians in the United States have been berating the press and using us as a foil in the court of public opinion almost from the start of the Republic. Thomas Jefferson, our third president, could be said to be the inventor of media bashing. Are we perfect? Do we always get it right? Absolutely not. But we — collectively as an institution and individually as journalists — own up to our mistakes; indeed, we are our own biggest critics when we slip up. We try to ferret out the truth and provide information to the public so they can be more effective, more informed citizens. And an informed citizenry is the bedrock upon which this republic is based.
News & Advance
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