A Roanoke Circuit Court judge issued a declaratory judgment confirming that neither the City of Roanoke’s internal policies nor the contract it had with Flock Group, Inc., over the use of Flock’s license plate reader cameras could override the city’s duty to comply with a FOIA request for Flock data.

Richmond’s top watchdog — Inspector General Jim Osuna — has been relieved of his duties, according to texts exchanged between Osuna and 8th District Councilwoman Reva Trammell. The inspector general’s office reports to the Council and conducts internal investigations into allegations of fraud, waste and abuse in city government. For example, Osuna recently spearheaded the probe of the city’s Office of Elections, and identified fraudulent use of city funds by former Registrar Keith Balmer, who later resigned. The revelation comes after City Council met at 4 p.m. Monday for a closed session to discuss “consideration of the performance of a Council appointee.” A person familiar with the situation told The Times-Dispatch that the group agreed not to move forward with Osuna. Trammell said she was not in the meeting — she was attending her grandson’s college graduation — but said she texted Osuna afterward for updates on the closed session. “What happened?” Trammell asked in a Monday evening text message that she shared with the newspaper. “Fired,” Osuna responded at around 5:50 p.m. The quiet departure bears a striking resemblance to that of former City Council Chief of Staff LaTesha Holmes. City Council last year voted to dismiss Holmes in a closed session following workplace environment complaints, but did not publicly disclose the personnel decision. Holmes’ separation came to light due to leaked disclosures published in The Times-Dispatch.

Earlier this year, I attended a community meeting in Williamsburg focused on property maintenance code violations. It’s worth noting that several members of the City’s staff graciously shared a couple hours of their time that evening addressing residents’ questions about code enforcement. Public information was subsequently obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the City of Williamsburg concerning property maintenance code violations cited since January 1, 2024 through April 8, 2025. Individual addresses and property owners are not identified in the body of this post. But the public information released by the City of Williamsburg in response to my FOIA can be downloaded from a shared folder on Google Drive by clicking the button above.

Martinsville government employees spent more than $1.4 million on city credit cards for the 15 months ending in March. Here’s how the spending broke down by month.

The Loudoun County Circuit Court has appointed Stafford Commonwealth’s Attorney Eric Olsen as a special prosecutor in the recall petition for Purcellville’s mayor, vice mayor and two councilmembers. The petition was submitted April 28 by town resident Brian Morgan, who has been leading the effort to have Mayor Christopher Bertaut, Vice Mayor Ben Nett, and councilmembers Carol Luke and Susan Khalil removed from office. The move to start a recall petition came after residents repeatedly expressed concerns during council meetings that the council majority was having discussions between the four of them without informing the public or the remaining three members of council.

In 2014, the University renewed its contract with Aramark — a for-profit company that supplies food and provides other services in various fields, including education, healthcare and government — for an additional 20 years, set to end in 2034. This renewal came after the company had already partnered with U.Va. Dine for over 20 years prior. Because the University’s dining ranks lower compared with similar institutions which also use Aramark, The Cavalier Daily submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the University for its contract with Aramark to understand the specific terms of the agreement.

Public and private schools in Virginia are required to report vaccination data to the State Department of Health at the start of every school year. The reporting marks how many kindergartners in a class received a measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, shot. The data from the Virginia Department of Health does not capture reporting from the state’s 56,000 homeschooled children. And Virginia is one of 44 states where religious exemption from vaccination is legal, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Parochial schools, as expected, account for the highest rates of religious exemptions.

Sometimes we need hyperbole to make a point. And the point here is that as a government of, by and for the people, the people have a right to know how decisions are made, how their money is spent and who is responsible for the decisions that impact them. It’s not a novel concept. One of the grievances enumerated in the Declaration of Independence was that King George III convened legislative bodies at unusual places and away from the repository of public records, “for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.” James Madison famously added, “Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”…FOIA sets out the processes by which anyone can ask to see the records our government is creating, keeping and using as they do business in our name. FOIA is the ultimate in oversight, the original “receipts.”