Monday
February 27, 2023
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state & local news stories
VCOG’s annual conference
FOI Day — March 16
Charlottesville
Info and registration here
Among the last-minute bills approved Saturday before the General Assembly adjourned is SB 1361, which is aimed at Parole Board reform. The part of that bill of interest to VCOG is that for years (and years and years), the Parole Board has been totally removed from FOIA. A provision in FOIA says, “the provisions of this chapter shall not apply to…” and then lists several entities, starting with the Parole Board. That has meant that not only are records related to various cases or decisions off limits, but so is how much they might have spent on per diem expenses for board members or email traffic among members about their thoughts on the budget. You’ll also recall that the Office of the State Inspector General illogically said back in 2020 that it couldn’t give out its own report on the Parole Board because the Parole Board was exempt from FOIA. Anyway, SB 1361 strips that immunity out of FOIA, making the Parole Board just like other public bodies in the Commonwealth.VCOG doesn’t take a position on the rest of the bill, but the removal of the FOIA-ban from such a high-profile and important public body is the biggest FOIA win of the year.
The General Assembly has passed legislation to force a judicial oversight board to reveal the names of Virginia judges found to have committed judicial misconduct. The measure also requires the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission to identify the specific provision of the judicial canons those judges violated — and what discipline the jurists received. If Gov. Glenn Youngkin signs the bill into law, the lawmakers’ move would bring a modicum of transparency to a state agency long shrouded in secrecy.
Daily Press
Prince William County’s Economic Development Department signed 11 non-disclosure agreements in 2022 primarily with data center developers. County officials provided copies of the agreements to InsideNoVa through a request under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. Economic development officials have said the agreements are a routine part of their work attracting businesses to the county. The documents primarily prohibit disclosure of proprietary information related to project proposals. All the documents are signed by Christina Winn, executive director of economic development. Seven of the agreements are with data center developers or technology companies, of which three are with the developers behind the proposed PW Digital Gateway. One agreement has the company name redacted, but lists the contact as Emily Naughton of the Washington, D.C., law firm Greenberg Traurig LLP. One agreement from Oct. 17 is redacted such that it is impossible to determine the company associated with it.
Inside NoVa
JMU Faculty Senate did not follow Virginia’s open meeting laws at Thursday’s meeting when it went into executive, or closed, session for one hour without citing a reason beforehand and not certifying the session after it ended. The Faculty Senate states in its bylaws that it follows Virginia open meetings laws, but a day after the meeting the speaker said it is not required to. On the day of the meeting, Karen McDonnell, the Faculty Senate’s communications director, initially thanked The Breeze for pointing out the open meetings laws and said the Senate would follow them in the future. A day later, though, Faculty Senate Speaker Katherine Ott Walter contacted The Breeze requesting a retraction of this article, saying Faculty Senate isn’t a public body and therefore isn’t beholden to the state code for open meetings. Ott Walter said the Senate receives no public funding, as all of the Senate’s funds are raised via faculty donations. The Faculty Senate does, however, award mini grants with money that comes from JMU’s Office of the President, but Ott Walter said those funds don’t go through the Senate’s account. Ott Walter said that following the publication of this article, the Faculty Senate was told by Megan Rhyne, the director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, that “no offense, but Faculty Senate does not have the power to make any decisions.”
The Breeze
stories of national interest
“A FOIA request returned 103 pages of complaints, and almost all of them were about Rihanna.”
GATHER ‘ROUND EVERYONE! It’s that special time of year once again: The FCC complaints over the Super Bowl Halftime Show have arrived! Rolling Stone obtained the complaints to the proverbial television manager via a Freedom of Information Act request, and you better believe people were mad about Rihanna’s performance. In total, the FOIA request returned 103 pages of complaints, and almost all of them were about Rihanna — her gyrating, her crotch-grabbing, her finger-sniffing, and crude lyrics. (There were a couple of exceptions, like the person who complained about broadcaster Terry Bradshaw “fat shaming” Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid by “calling him ‘Big Guy’ three times, then saying ‘waddle over here.’”)
Rolling Stone
Swastikas and pornographic videos have been among the unwelcome visitors to legislative hearings at the Iowa Capitol in recent weeks. Some users of the video conferencing application Zoom, which the Iowa Senate uses to allow for virtual viewing of and participation from across the state in hearings on proposed legislation, have on multiple occasions posted offensive or graphic images or videos while those hearings were taking place. The incidents have Senate Republicans, who by virtue of their majority establish policy in the chamber, rethinking their use of Zoom in those legislative hearings.
Governing