Transparency News, 4/13/20

 

The Newport News City Council meeting will be Tuesday and conducted remotely. City staff will present a budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year to the council, and the council will begin a public hearing to collect comments. City Manager Cindy Rohlf said residents will be able to comment through call, email and physical mail.
Daily Press

The day after King George County declared a local emergency because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Matt Britton returned as county attorney—and has been busy ever since. Britton is no stranger to the locality or the position. A lifetime resident of King George, he served as both the commonwealth’s attorney and county attorney from 2002 to 2012. On Tuesday, Britton’s first board meeting, he presented an emergency ordinance that establishes local procedures in the midst of a global pandemic. The ordinance also allows public officials to meet remotely, both for their own safety and to avoid having more than 10 people in the boardroom. At Tuesday’s meeting, three of the five supervisors sat at the dais—with ample space between them—while two others joined the session from home. Britton and other staff members participated remotely. The ordinance is good for 60 days. It can be renewed again, or if it’s not needed, “it will die a natural death,” Britton said.
The Free Lance-Star

Central Shenandoah Health District announced that a resident of the region who was ill with COVID-19 has died. But it refuses to say where and will not explain why. “The only information VDH is releasing on deaths is the district in which the person lived,” said Central Shenandoah Health District’s director, Dr. Laura Kornegay, when The News Leader asked for locality.
News Leader

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the South Boston Town Council’s April meeting set for 7 p.m. Monday will be held at a new location -Washington Coleman Community Center at 1927 Jeffress Blvd. The town council normally meets in the Council Chambers on Yancey Street. The meeting’s location has been changed this month because of Gov. Ralph Northam’s order prohibiting gatherings of more than 10 people during the coronavirus pandemic. The community center has enough space to allow groups of 10 citizens to be six feet apart in multiple rooms and be able to hear the meeting, according to the notice of change of meeting location in the agenda packet authorized by Major Ed Owens.
The Gazette-Virginian

 

 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ general counsel called a representative of the Miami Herald’s law firm seeking to quash a public records lawsuit that would force the state to divulge the names of all elder-care facilities that have had a positive test for the coronavirus. The back-door pressure — through an attorney who had no involvement in the case — paid off. The law firm, Holland & Knight, told Sanford Bohrer, a senior partner with decades of representing the Miami Herald, to stand down and abandon the lawsuit. The lawsuit did not seek the names of residents or staffers who tested positive. The state has yet to provide a legal justification for its refusal to provide records. Under Florida’s public records law, records are generally considered public unless the custodian can provide a legal basis for withholding them.
Miami Herald

 

 

It’s now common knowledge that medical supplies such as ventilators and masks are key to fighting COVID-19. What’s less well-known is the importance of another weapon in this fight: open and in-depth hospital data. Virginia needs better numbers in order to surgically pinpoint hot spots and allocate resources. At the state level, Virginia’s Department of Health provides only “top-line” numbers — total cases, total deaths, cases per county, etc. — without the context of specific, granular data such as ventilator availability, total cases recovered, or even ZIP code-specific case numbers, to name a few. These specific numbers are helpful not only for retrospectively viewing the progression of the virus, but also for projecting future numbers at the actionable level. With timely and in-depth data, health officials can make decisions to prepare for a growing body of new cases. Because Virginia’s numbers don’t drill past the general level, administrators can struggle to make projections and prepare on a meaningful level.
Bristol Herald Courier

In some ways at least, technology has been able to tell us more about how and where the virus is spreading. Mostly, this has involved creatively harnessing the power of big data — using temperature readings from smart thermometers to detect COVID-19 hot spots, or aggregating cellphone location data to point to the areas of the country where people are staying home. But against a backdrop of debate between civil liberties and public health, we also need to be asking where the line is digitally: How much surveillance is acceptable in the service of the greater good?
FiveThirtyEight

The last thing Michiganders need is a less transparent government, especially during the throes of a pandemic. But that’s what we’re getting as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer relaxes the state’s Freedom of Information and Open Meetings acts to accommodate social distancing and remote working requirements instituted to combat the novel coronavirus. Rather than demanding innovation — after all isn’t necessity the mother of invention — Whitmer effectively gave local and state governments license to bend already ridiculously flexible rules. We have no doubt most of our elected and hired officials will continue to act in good faith on behalf of the public they represent. And we also would acknowledge the difficult circumstances they face in the midst of a crisis that threatens both our physical and economic health. But adding flexibility to already rubbery rules is asking for trouble, providing more loopholes for those who don’t believe in the public’s right to know how our government acts on our behalf.
Traverse City Record-Eagle