Transparency News 3/18/15
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
State and Local Stories
Daily Press reporter Robert Brauchle says his coverage of a million-dollar tax delinquency in Hampton happened by accident. When he started covering the city, Brauchle did a quick Google search for "H20 Community Development Authority" — the city of Hampton had put together a couple of publicly funded community development authorities to help developers by providing money for roads, sewers, sidewalks and other infrastructure to encourage local investment. Because public money was involved, many details of the H2O project — the residential development at the east edge of Coliseum Lake — became public records. Public records on file with the Hampton Circuit Court showed that the developer, Cygnus H2O, was hundreds of thousands of dollars behind in paying taxes and special assessments to the city. He calls it "blind luck," but it helped that he knew where to look and knew which documents were likely to be covered by the state's Freedom of Information Act.
Daily Press
A federal judge is now working on another ruling involving the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors and the American Civil Liberties Union. Monday afternoon the two sides argued once again about the type of prayer at government meetings. This case is focused on splitting hairs. For example, at what exact point does a person become a member of the government, does the government or individual dictate what's said in the prayer, and who should give the prayers. Judge Michael Urbanski says he's taking the definitions of each of those questions and modifying his original ruling that stopped all Christian prayers by board members. Both sides agree something has to change after the U.S. Supreme Court last year ruled in favor of the town of Greece, New York.
WDBJ
Members of the James City County Board of Supervisors have county-issued phones, which some of them use to send and receive text messages. While James City County keeps written memos, as well as video and minutes of meetings, and can retrieve emails sent by board members, it maintains no records of the contents of text messages sent from county phones, according to county staff. That gap in collecting data collection means any official business conducted by text is unavailable for public inspection. When The Virginia Gazette filed a Freedom of Information Act request for all text messages sent by board members from their county phones in the month of February, the county could only provide a log of messages sent to and from county phones with the date and time each message was sent, plus the sending and receiving phone numbers. “We are unable to see the content of the text messages without a subpoena to Verizon,” Renee Dallman, a spokeswoman for James City County, said in an email to The Gazette.
Virginia Gazette
Judge Susan Whitlock Tuesday denied a controversial motion by Culpeper County Commonwealth’s Attorney Megan Frederick that would have forced the Culpeper town police department to turn over all materials relating to an internal affairs investigation. Angela Catlett, representing the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, told the court her office was denied access to an internal affairs file regarding Detective Matthew Haymaker, an investigation that Frederick’s office had requested. That investigation was in regard to a videotaped interview that Haymaker conducted with Steven B. Wright, who is charged in a drug distribution case. Catlett said she had seen the police department’s review of the internal affairs investigation, but had been denied access to all the files pertaining to the actual investigation. “We were told that if we wanted to see those files, we would have to obtain an order from you,” Catlett told the judge. “Turning over files to the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office is a voluntary process,” Town Attorney Martin Crim told the court. “There is no law to compel the police department to do that. Personnel files must be kept confidential.” Andrew Meyer, arguing on behalf of Haymaker, called Frederick’s request “a fishing expedition.”
Free Lance-Star
The Suffolk City Council tonight will consider an amendment to its code of ethics that gives guidance to council members when voting on issues where there could be a conflict of interest. Constituents expect council members to vote on issues, but there should be guidelines addressing circumstances when they would not be expected to vote, said Councilman Mike Duman, who introduced the idea earlier this month. The proposed change states that council members may not vote on matters where they have a financial interest or when their official conduct is being considered. But the crux of the amendment, Duman said, is that council members also may not vote when there might be an appearance of impropriety.
Virginian-Pilot
Halifax County School Board’s newly appointed parliamentarian Nick Long sees his role as one that will help the board have a “more efficiently run meeting. “I’ll be there to help keep them focused, stay on the agenda and get out of there,” said Long, who was approached about assuming the position after school board members authorized Chairman Kim Farson to explore possible candidates at their Feb. 10 meeting. Being that he has led many meetings, hosted candidate forums and currently serves as the co-chair for Halifax Forward, Long said he believes he was a “natural choice” for the position. At first he hesitated accepting the position, but after speaking with Larry Clark about being a parliamentarian, he decided he could be helpful to the board. Since accepting the position, Long said he has completed an online course with the National Association of Parliamentarians that discusses Roberts Rules of Order, the organization of a meeting and how to facilitate a meeting, and he is now in the process of becoming a member of that association.
Gazette-Virginian
National Stories
For the second consecutive year, the Obama administration more often than ever censored government files or outright denied access to them under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, according to a new analysis of federal data by The Associated Press. The government took longer to turn over files when it provided any, said more regularly that it couldn't find documents, and refused a record number of times to turn over files quickly that might be especially newsworthy. It also acknowledged in nearly 1 in 3 cases that its initial decisions to withhold or censor records were improper under the law — but only when it was challenged. Its backlog of unanswered requests at year's end grew remarkably by 55 percent to more than 200,000.
Times-Dispatch
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is daring fellow Democrats in the state Senate to put up or shut up when it comes to disclosure rules. Cuomo counsel Alphonso David sent a letter Monday calling on legislators to become the first in Albany to “voluntarily” be covered by the Freedom of Information Law, from which they’re largely exempt. “Given your conference’s vocal leadership on e-mail retention and FOIL, you are in a unique position to lead the entire legislature in finally reversing the long-held resistance to the transparency FOIL provides,” David wrote to Democratic leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Westchester).
New York Post
There was so much secrecy surrounding the rush to develop a new execution drug protocol in Oklahoma last spring that even the director of the Department of Corrections didn’t know the state had found a new source for drugs. Director Robert Patton told state investigators that he learned about the state’s newly obtained drugs through a news report in April 2014, according to documents obtained by the Tulsa World. As problems with lethal-injection executions have multiplied in recent years, so have the secrecy statutes that limit what people can find out about the process.
Tulsa World
New Mexico citizens who want to follow the progress of a particular piece of legislation, or simply know what their elected representatives are up to, can do that without traveling all the way to Santa Fe by watching webcasts of the Legislature. What they can’t do is access archived webcasts of committee hearings or floor sessions. Rep. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, is trying to change that. House Resolution 2 would archive webcasts of House floor sessions and committee meetings. If passed, the resolution would not affect the Senate, whose meetings would still be available only in real time.
New Mexico Watchdog.org
Tennessee House committees are increasingly gathering in cramped, tucked-away conference rooms in the legislative office complex to hold secret "pre-meetings" to discuss pending legislation. The public isn't informed or invited. No public notice is given for the time or location of the meetings held at odd hours by at least 10 of the 15 standing committees in the House. Supporters say the pre-meetings allow free-flowing discussion about bills without lobbyists, the media or parliamentary procedure. But without public access, it's impossible to verify whether lawmakers are keeping promises that they are not predetermining the outcome of later committee votes. Republican Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey sent House GOP leader Gerald McCormick a scathing letter about it last week. Ramsey objected to McCormick's claim that the House was more thorough than the Senate. "Our committees publicly debate each bill and do not meet in private before a meeting to discuss outcomes," Ramsey wrote in the letter.
Herald Courier
In most places, the actions of the police officer who fatally shot Kaileb Williams, 20, would have been judged in secret, by an anonymous grand jury weighing criminal charges behind closed doors. Here, it all played out in the open, during a little-known proceeding called a coroner’s inquest. It unfolded like a miniature trial, with a county coroner presiding in place of a judge, and seven Montana residents questioning witnesses and examining the violent, chaotic path that led Mr. Williams to a deadly standoff with the police on an icy night this past December. These inquests are relics in America’s justice system, harking back to an era when elected coroners sat in judgment of Western gunslingers like Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. But they are finding new support from some elected officials and civil rights advocates critical of the cloistered grand jury process that cleared police officers in the killings of unarmed black men in Ferguson, Mo., and Staten Island.
New York Times
D.C. prosecutors failed to provide criminal defense attorneys all relevant information obtained by police in an unknown number of cases, sparking a “large-scale” review of past and present cases that were potentially compromised by a flaw in the Metropolitan Police Department’s data management system. On the same day he announced his resignation, U.S. Attorney for the District Ronald C. Machen Jr. and District Attorney General Karl Racine notified criminal lawyers that a glitch in the police department’s data management system inadvertently withheld information that should have been contained on police reports. “Not all data entered into MPD’s record management system (I/Leads) by its officers over the last three years was necessarily populated into MPD police forms that are provided by OAG in discovery to criminal defendants and respondents,” Mr. Racine wrote in a letter sent Tuesday to defense attorneys.
Washington Times
The State Department said Tuesday it has no record of Hillary Clinton signing a key form stating she turned over all official documents upon leaving the department -- a form that was the subject of intense speculation since the issue could determine whether she broke the law. That document is known as a "separation" form, which officials are supposed to sign upon leaving the department. It certifies that the person who signs it has turned over all "classified or administratively controlled" materials, as well as all "unclassified documents and papers" relating to official government business.
Fox News
Editorials/Columns
Some compulsive tweeters are so vain they will think this editorial is about them.
Perhaps it is. Vanity is at least a plausible explanation for a trend: Americans tolerate intrusion, if not invite it, by opening their lives to the world on social media but are oblivious to public institutions increasingly functioning in a realm of closed doors. Reluctance to reveal is not new. But tactics and tendencies in the effort rapidly are gaining ground, chief among these, dramatically raising the rates to obtain public documents. Costs can run into the thousands of dollars. Nowhere does the problem loom larger than in Virginia, where fine print makes Swiss cheese of open government law.
State code allows public entities to set “reasonable” charges not to exceed the actual cost of access, duplicating, supplying or searching for requested records. Reasonability, however, is in the eye of the beholder. This is acutely evident at the University of Virginia, which treats records requests like pathogens. The costs for obtaining records from UVa following last year’s Rolling Stone scandal topped $1,000. Rates for searches typically were $22 an hour. In at least one instance, the rate was $70 an hour.
Daily Progress
Virginians expect government bodies to conduct the people's business in full view of the public. But there are a limited number of reasons when it may be in citizens' best interest when elected officials choose to discuss sensitive matters behind closed doors. For instance, a city council can enter closed session to consult with the city attorney about a personnel matter. A board of supervisors intending to purchase land can discourage speculation if it makes those plans behind closed doors. But, time and again on the Peninsula, elected bodies broadly define or vaguely cite reasons for entering closed session, effectively exploiting Virginia's Freedom of Information Act. Commonwealth lawmakers abet such behavior by amending the statute to include numerous exemptions. While we hope the ongoing review of Virginia's FOIA will help remove unnecessary loopholes, local officials should always err on the side of openness. And, when circumstances justify going behind closed doors, we expect them to be precise when citing their reasons for doing so.
Daily Press
Regardless of how ridiculous our county government gets at times, Sunshine Week reminds us of the importance of freedom of information and transparent government that provides a measure of accountability. Some may argue the flow of information about the recent behavior and actions of elected county officials damages local economic development efforts. However, should that information be curtailed by stifling freedom of information, democracy would be hurt, and the problem would potentially fester even more. When it’s working as it should, government serves an important function for citizens. When it’s not, the public’s right to know is just as necessary, so officials can be held accountable.
Paula I. Bryant, Gazette-Virginian
Among the reports in this edition of the Gazette that highlight less than transparent governing is Austin Bogues's front page story on the James City supervisors. Watch them on TV and you'll notice at times that there seems to be little eye-to-eye contact among our elected leaders. All too often they're looking down, as if to avoid an unpleasant moment. More likely, they're busy looking at cell phone screens, in the midst of sending and receiving text messages. Bogues filed a Freedom of Information Act request for usage data on those phones for the month of February. More than $60 later, we got back lists of phone numbers messaged and called, along with dates and times – but not the messages. Those are kept by Verizon, and it takes a subpoena to get them. Elected supervisors sending text messages while a called public meeting is in session are, in effect, speaking in public. Those messages should be kept at a local level since they are part of the public record, and be available for public inspection.
Virginia Gazette
Sunshine Week has helped foster government transparency in the United States during the past 10 years, but while we have focused inward at state and federal transparency, the world has passed us by. Open government efforts in the U.S. have helped create a federal ombudsman program and have led to some helpful amendments to the Freedom of Information Act. No doubt Sunshine Week has helped with the improvements. Public exposure was sorely needed since the years of increased post-9/11 secrecy. It is imperative that the public understand the importance of open government, and Sunshine Week has played a critical role. The week makes for a great “news peg” — a reason for journalists to write about transparency. But setbacks in the past 10 years include more exemptions, fees, delays and sophisticated spin tactics by government officials to thwart access. Meanwhile, amazing things have been happening all around us in the world, and in many ways other countries have outpaced the United States.
David Cuillier, Times-Dispatch
Fresh off a victory in the General Assembly that exempts it from future rate reviews until 2022, Dominion Virginia Power had another request. Just ahead of Sunshine Week, which promotes openness in government, it asked permission to provide the State Corporation Commission less information than usual for this year’s rate review. During debate over the law, Dominion President Robert Blue said the law would change nothing except for freezing the company’s base rate. Now it says the law should limit what it has to disclose. The SCC has rejected the request, thereby preventing Dominion from shielding even more information from ratepayers than it does now. And you thought Dominion tried to prevent blackouts, didn’t you?
Times-Dispatch
It’s tempting to write off the news that the Chesterfield Public Schools construction department keeps its records in woeful disarray as a venial sin hardly worth noting. That would be a mistake. It’s better to nip small problems in the bud before they fester into major ones. An official with the school system blamed two county residents for the sloppy record-keeping, saying that it’s too hard to keep the books straight when the public keeps asking to see them. Really? Somehow we doubt the county would accept a similar excuse from a private business that complained county demands for permit and inspection documents made it too hard to keep them in order.
Times-Dispatch
The most perplexing question isn’t about the emails themselves, but why she put everything at risk over such a small detail, declining to segregate her personal and business email. There can only be one answer and it isn’t “convenience,” as Clinton claims. Think of another word that begins with the letter ‘C’: control. Clinton claims she opted for the convenience of one cellphone and a personal server — rather than use a government-issued phone for business and another device for personal matters. Too much stuff to lug around? So the whole question of her conduct as secretary of state boils down to a few ounces of electronic equipment. Hate to say it, but only a woman could come up with such an excuse. It’s all about the purse. Plainly, Clinton didn’t want anyone snooping around her virtual file cabinet, and who does? But this isn’t the point. When you are secretary of state and are mulling a run for president, you steer clear of anything and anyone remotely questionable. No one should know this better.
Kathleen Parker, Herald Courier
State and Local Stories
Daily Press reporter Robert Brauchle says his coverage of a million-dollar tax delinquency in Hampton happened by accident. When he started covering the city, Brauchle did a quick Google search for "H20 Community Development Authority" — the city of Hampton had put together a couple of publicly funded community development authorities to help developers by providing money for roads, sewers, sidewalks and other infrastructure to encourage local investment. Because public money was involved, many details of the H2O project — the residential development at the east edge of Coliseum Lake — became public records. Public records on file with the Hampton Circuit Court showed that the developer, Cygnus H2O, was hundreds of thousands of dollars behind in paying taxes and special assessments to the city. He calls it "blind luck," but it helped that he knew where to look and knew which documents were likely to be covered by the state's Freedom of Information Act.
Daily Press
A federal judge is now working on another ruling involving the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors and the American Civil Liberties Union. Monday afternoon the two sides argued once again about the type of prayer at government meetings. This case is focused on splitting hairs. For example, at what exact point does a person become a member of the government, does the government or individual dictate what's said in the prayer, and who should give the prayers. Judge Michael Urbanski says he's taking the definitions of each of those questions and modifying his original ruling that stopped all Christian prayers by board members. Both sides agree something has to change after the U.S. Supreme Court last year ruled in favor of the town of Greece, New York.
WDBJ
Members of the James City County Board of Supervisors have county-issued phones, which some of them use to send and receive text messages. While James City County keeps written memos, as well as video and minutes of meetings, and can retrieve emails sent by board members, it maintains no records of the contents of text messages sent from county phones, according to county staff. That gap in collecting data collection means any official business conducted by text is unavailable for public inspection. When The Virginia Gazette filed a Freedom of Information Act request for all text messages sent by board members from their county phones in the month of February, the county could only provide a log of messages sent to and from county phones with the date and time each message was sent, plus the sending and receiving phone numbers. “We are unable to see the content of the text messages without a subpoena to Verizon,” Renee Dallman, a spokeswoman for James City County, said in an email to The Gazette.
Virginia Gazette
Judge Susan Whitlock Tuesday denied a controversial motion by Culpeper County Commonwealth’s Attorney Megan Frederick that would have forced the Culpeper town police department to turn over all materials relating to an internal affairs investigation. Angela Catlett, representing the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, told the court her office was denied access to an internal affairs file regarding Detective Matthew Haymaker, an investigation that Frederick’s office had requested. That investigation was in regard to a videotaped interview that Haymaker conducted with Steven B. Wright, who is charged in a drug distribution case. Catlett said she had seen the police department’s review of the internal affairs investigation, but had been denied access to all the files pertaining to the actual investigation. “We were told that if we wanted to see those files, we would have to obtain an order from you,” Catlett told the judge. “Turning over files to the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office is a voluntary process,” Town Attorney Martin Crim told the court. “There is no law to compel the police department to do that. Personnel files must be kept confidential.” Andrew Meyer, arguing on behalf of Haymaker, called Frederick’s request “a fishing expedition.”
Free Lance-Star
The Suffolk City Council tonight will consider an amendment to its code of ethics that gives guidance to council members when voting on issues where there could be a conflict of interest. Constituents expect council members to vote on issues, but there should be guidelines addressing circumstances when they would not be expected to vote, said Councilman Mike Duman, who introduced the idea earlier this month. The proposed change states that council members may not vote on matters where they have a financial interest or when their official conduct is being considered. But the crux of the amendment, Duman said, is that council members also may not vote when there might be an appearance of impropriety.
Virginian-Pilot
Halifax County School Board’s newly appointed parliamentarian Nick Long sees his role as one that will help the board have a “more efficiently run meeting. “I’ll be there to help keep them focused, stay on the agenda and get out of there,” said Long, who was approached about assuming the position after school board members authorized Chairman Kim Farson to explore possible candidates at their Feb. 10 meeting. Being that he has led many meetings, hosted candidate forums and currently serves as the co-chair for Halifax Forward, Long said he believes he was a “natural choice” for the position. At first he hesitated accepting the position, but after speaking with Larry Clark about being a parliamentarian, he decided he could be helpful to the board. Since accepting the position, Long said he has completed an online course with the National Association of Parliamentarians that discusses Roberts Rules of Order, the organization of a meeting and how to facilitate a meeting, and he is now in the process of becoming a member of that association.
Gazette-Virginian
National Stories
For the second consecutive year, the Obama administration more often than ever censored government files or outright denied access to them under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, according to a new analysis of federal data by The Associated Press. The government took longer to turn over files when it provided any, said more regularly that it couldn't find documents, and refused a record number of times to turn over files quickly that might be especially newsworthy. It also acknowledged in nearly 1 in 3 cases that its initial decisions to withhold or censor records were improper under the law — but only when it was challenged. Its backlog of unanswered requests at year's end grew remarkably by 55 percent to more than 200,000.
Times-Dispatch
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is daring fellow Democrats in the state Senate to put up or shut up when it comes to disclosure rules. Cuomo counsel Alphonso David sent a letter Monday calling on legislators to become the first in Albany to “voluntarily” be covered by the Freedom of Information Law, from which they’re largely exempt. “Given your conference’s vocal leadership on e-mail retention and FOIL, you are in a unique position to lead the entire legislature in finally reversing the long-held resistance to the transparency FOIL provides,” David wrote to Democratic leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Westchester).
New York Post
There was so much secrecy surrounding the rush to develop a new execution drug protocol in Oklahoma last spring that even the director of the Department of Corrections didn’t know the state had found a new source for drugs. Director Robert Patton told state investigators that he learned about the state’s newly obtained drugs through a news report in April 2014, according to documents obtained by the Tulsa World. As problems with lethal-injection executions have multiplied in recent years, so have the secrecy statutes that limit what people can find out about the process.
Tulsa World
New Mexico citizens who want to follow the progress of a particular piece of legislation, or simply know what their elected representatives are up to, can do that without traveling all the way to Santa Fe by watching webcasts of the Legislature. What they can’t do is access archived webcasts of committee hearings or floor sessions. Rep. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, is trying to change that. House Resolution 2 would archive webcasts of House floor sessions and committee meetings. If passed, the resolution would not affect the Senate, whose meetings would still be available only in real time.
New Mexico Watchdog.org
Tennessee House committees are increasingly gathering in cramped, tucked-away conference rooms in the legislative office complex to hold secret "pre-meetings" to discuss pending legislation. The public isn't informed or invited. No public notice is given for the time or location of the meetings held at odd hours by at least 10 of the 15 standing committees in the House. Supporters say the pre-meetings allow free-flowing discussion about bills without lobbyists, the media or parliamentary procedure. But without public access, it's impossible to verify whether lawmakers are keeping promises that they are not predetermining the outcome of later committee votes. Republican Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey sent House GOP leader Gerald McCormick a scathing letter about it last week. Ramsey objected to McCormick's claim that the House was more thorough than the Senate. "Our committees publicly debate each bill and do not meet in private before a meeting to discuss outcomes," Ramsey wrote in the letter.
Herald Courier
In most places, the actions of the police officer who fatally shot Kaileb Williams, 20, would have been judged in secret, by an anonymous grand jury weighing criminal charges behind closed doors. Here, it all played out in the open, during a little-known proceeding called a coroner’s inquest. It unfolded like a miniature trial, with a county coroner presiding in place of a judge, and seven Montana residents questioning witnesses and examining the violent, chaotic path that led Mr. Williams to a deadly standoff with the police on an icy night this past December. These inquests are relics in America’s justice system, harking back to an era when elected coroners sat in judgment of Western gunslingers like Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. But they are finding new support from some elected officials and civil rights advocates critical of the cloistered grand jury process that cleared police officers in the killings of unarmed black men in Ferguson, Mo., and Staten Island.
New York Times
D.C. prosecutors failed to provide criminal defense attorneys all relevant information obtained by police in an unknown number of cases, sparking a “large-scale” review of past and present cases that were potentially compromised by a flaw in the Metropolitan Police Department’s data management system. On the same day he announced his resignation, U.S. Attorney for the District Ronald C. Machen Jr. and District Attorney General Karl Racine notified criminal lawyers that a glitch in the police department’s data management system inadvertently withheld information that should have been contained on police reports. “Not all data entered into MPD’s record management system (I/Leads) by its officers over the last three years was necessarily populated into MPD police forms that are provided by OAG in discovery to criminal defendants and respondents,” Mr. Racine wrote in a letter sent Tuesday to defense attorneys.
Washington Times
The State Department said Tuesday it has no record of Hillary Clinton signing a key form stating she turned over all official documents upon leaving the department -- a form that was the subject of intense speculation since the issue could determine whether she broke the law. That document is known as a "separation" form, which officials are supposed to sign upon leaving the department. It certifies that the person who signs it has turned over all "classified or administratively controlled" materials, as well as all "unclassified documents and papers" relating to official government business.
Fox News
Editorials/Columns
Some compulsive tweeters are so vain they will think this editorial is about them.
Perhaps it is. Vanity is at least a plausible explanation for a trend: Americans tolerate intrusion, if not invite it, by opening their lives to the world on social media but are oblivious to public institutions increasingly functioning in a realm of closed doors. Reluctance to reveal is not new. But tactics and tendencies in the effort rapidly are gaining ground, chief among these, dramatically raising the rates to obtain public documents. Costs can run into the thousands of dollars. Nowhere does the problem loom larger than in Virginia, where fine print makes Swiss cheese of open government law.
State code allows public entities to set “reasonable” charges not to exceed the actual cost of access, duplicating, supplying or searching for requested records. Reasonability, however, is in the eye of the beholder. This is acutely evident at the University of Virginia, which treats records requests like pathogens. The costs for obtaining records from UVa following last year’s Rolling Stone scandal topped $1,000. Rates for searches typically were $22 an hour. In at least one instance, the rate was $70 an hour.
Daily Progress
Virginians expect government bodies to conduct the people's business in full view of the public. But there are a limited number of reasons when it may be in citizens' best interest when elected officials choose to discuss sensitive matters behind closed doors. For instance, a city council can enter closed session to consult with the city attorney about a personnel matter. A board of supervisors intending to purchase land can discourage speculation if it makes those plans behind closed doors. But, time and again on the Peninsula, elected bodies broadly define or vaguely cite reasons for entering closed session, effectively exploiting Virginia's Freedom of Information Act. Commonwealth lawmakers abet such behavior by amending the statute to include numerous exemptions. While we hope the ongoing review of Virginia's FOIA will help remove unnecessary loopholes, local officials should always err on the side of openness. And, when circumstances justify going behind closed doors, we expect them to be precise when citing their reasons for doing so.
Daily Press
Regardless of how ridiculous our county government gets at times, Sunshine Week reminds us of the importance of freedom of information and transparent government that provides a measure of accountability. Some may argue the flow of information about the recent behavior and actions of elected county officials damages local economic development efforts. However, should that information be curtailed by stifling freedom of information, democracy would be hurt, and the problem would potentially fester even more. When it’s working as it should, government serves an important function for citizens. When it’s not, the public’s right to know is just as necessary, so officials can be held accountable.
Paula I. Bryant, Gazette-Virginian
Among the reports in this edition of the Gazette that highlight less than transparent governing is Austin Bogues's front page story on the James City supervisors. Watch them on TV and you'll notice at times that there seems to be little eye-to-eye contact among our elected leaders. All too often they're looking down, as if to avoid an unpleasant moment. More likely, they're busy looking at cell phone screens, in the midst of sending and receiving text messages. Bogues filed a Freedom of Information Act request for usage data on those phones for the month of February. More than $60 later, we got back lists of phone numbers messaged and called, along with dates and times – but not the messages. Those are kept by Verizon, and it takes a subpoena to get them. Elected supervisors sending text messages while a called public meeting is in session are, in effect, speaking in public. Those messages should be kept at a local level since they are part of the public record, and be available for public inspection.
Virginia Gazette
Sunshine Week has helped foster government transparency in the United States during the past 10 years, but while we have focused inward at state and federal transparency, the world has passed us by. Open government efforts in the U.S. have helped create a federal ombudsman program and have led to some helpful amendments to the Freedom of Information Act. No doubt Sunshine Week has helped with the improvements. Public exposure was sorely needed since the years of increased post-9/11 secrecy. It is imperative that the public understand the importance of open government, and Sunshine Week has played a critical role. The week makes for a great “news peg” — a reason for journalists to write about transparency. But setbacks in the past 10 years include more exemptions, fees, delays and sophisticated spin tactics by government officials to thwart access. Meanwhile, amazing things have been happening all around us in the world, and in many ways other countries have outpaced the United States.
David Cuillier, Times-Dispatch
Fresh off a victory in the General Assembly that exempts it from future rate reviews until 2022, Dominion Virginia Power had another request. Just ahead of Sunshine Week, which promotes openness in government, it asked permission to provide the State Corporation Commission less information than usual for this year’s rate review. During debate over the law, Dominion President Robert Blue said the law would change nothing except for freezing the company’s base rate. Now it says the law should limit what it has to disclose. The SCC has rejected the request, thereby preventing Dominion from shielding even more information from ratepayers than it does now. And you thought Dominion tried to prevent blackouts, didn’t you?
Times-Dispatch
It’s tempting to write off the news that the Chesterfield Public Schools construction department keeps its records in woeful disarray as a venial sin hardly worth noting. That would be a mistake. It’s better to nip small problems in the bud before they fester into major ones. An official with the school system blamed two county residents for the sloppy record-keeping, saying that it’s too hard to keep the books straight when the public keeps asking to see them. Really? Somehow we doubt the county would accept a similar excuse from a private business that complained county demands for permit and inspection documents made it too hard to keep them in order.
Times-Dispatch
The most perplexing question isn’t about the emails themselves, but why she put everything at risk over such a small detail, declining to segregate her personal and business email. There can only be one answer and it isn’t “convenience,” as Clinton claims. Think of another word that begins with the letter ‘C’: control. Clinton claims she opted for the convenience of one cellphone and a personal server — rather than use a government-issued phone for business and another device for personal matters. Too much stuff to lug around? So the whole question of her conduct as secretary of state boils down to a few ounces of electronic equipment. Hate to say it, but only a woman could come up with such an excuse. It’s all about the purse. Plainly, Clinton didn’t want anyone snooping around her virtual file cabinet, and who does? But this isn’t the point. When you are secretary of state and are mulling a run for president, you steer clear of anything and anyone remotely questionable. No one should know this better.
Kathleen Parker, Herald Courier
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