Transparency News, 6/28/21

 

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June 28, 2021 follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram

 

state & local news stories

  "Whatever changes may come to incorporate pandemic-era habits into state law . . . they should favor public participation rather than the convenience of board members."   Here is the video of the June 24 FOIA Council subcommittee on meetings, where they talk about a move being advanced primarily by local officials in Northern Virginia to relax the rules for electronic meetings. My comments for VCOG come at the 48:30 mark.

For more than a year, policymakers across Virginia have been able to log on and conduct public business from whatever room, or car, they happen to be in. But public bodies will have to transition back to in-person meetings after June 30, the expiration date of the state of emergency Gov. Ralph Northam declared at the onset of the COVID-19 crisis. That declaration gave all state and local boards more leeway to meet electronically and avoid rules requiring officials to conduct most business in person and in direct view of the public.  The return to normal operations is also sparking discussion about transparency and civic engagement, and whether some aspects of virtual meetings should be kept once the pandemic’s over. Some have suggested updating the state’s transparency laws to give everyone more flexibility to participate in public meetings remotely. Others see a key difference between allowing citizens to be involved remotely and letting officials stay remote and shape policy through a screen or a speaker. Whatever changes may come to incorporate pandemic-era habits into state law, Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, said they should favor public participation rather than the convenience of board members.
Virginia Mercury

In the middle of the discussion of Matters From the Public during the City Council meeting Thursday evening, Mayor Andrea Oakes paused heavily and announced she had something to say. The future of public commentary in city council meetings has remained fragile and subject to change since the discussion of changing memorandum number four was placed on the table. The memorandum deals with the rules of public hearings and Matters From the Public.  Council records show that Oakes expressed her agreement for at least some portions of Robertson's proposals, but at the recent meeting on Thursday, she supported an idea that defied any restrictions — Oakes wanted to open up the public commentary section completely. "I plan to hold true to my platform when I said I will listen to the citizens because we work for you," Oakes said. "It was mentioned at the last meeting that if we need to be here till two in the morning then so be it." Just before the second vote to approve the two Matters from the Public sections, Council member Brenda Mead spoke out to thank residents of Staunton who had been protesting the restrictions on public commentary, which had been a group called "Silenced Staunton."
News Leader

Most new laws approved earlier this year by the Virginia General Assembly go into effect on Thursday. This year’s session was the second year Democrats had full control of the General Assembly since flipping the House of Delegates in 2019. While marijuana was one of the top issues, here’s a recap of some other new laws that will affect people: A new law requires criminal investigative files in cases that are old or closed to be released to the public within 65 days of the request.
NOTE: It's actually 60 working days
Richmond Times Dispatch

A former political consultant for ex-U.S. Rep. Scott Taylor became the latest member of the one-term congressman’s staff to be indicted on election fraud charges. Robert J. “Rob” Catron was indicted Monday by a Virginia Beach grand jury on 10 counts of making false statements and election fraud, according to online court records. The crime is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
The Virginian-Pilot

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality allowed the developers of a proposed natural gas plant to keep a permit to build even after agency managers found the permit invalid because developers weren’t meeting a requirement to have ongoing construction at the site, public records show. The documents were obtained under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act by the environmental group Food & Water Watch, which shared them with the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “The documents demonstrate that DEQ has what it needs to invalidate C4GT’s air permit, but has chosen not to act yet,” Food & Water Watch said in a news release. Mary Finley-Brook, an associate professor of geography and the environment at the University of Richmond and a regular critic of DEQ, has tried unsuccessfully through state records requests to learn more about exactly who is behind the two gas plant proposals.
Richmond Times-Dispatch

Thousands of historic Arlington newspaper issues from 1935 to 1978 are now available online. Arlington Public Library’s Center for Local History worked with the Library of Virginia to transfer more than 40 years of published material to the Virginia Chronicle, where they are searchable by keyword, date, location and publication. The materials include newspaper clippings and images published in Columbia News, the Daily Sun, and the Northern Virginia Sun. Previously, these publications were only available in the Center for Local History as microfilm and digital scans, according to Arlington Public Library’s announcement.
ARLnow   stories from around the country   In a 2018 report about the Champlain Towers South Condo in Surfside, an engineer flagged a “major error” dating back to the building’s origin where lack of proper drainage on the pool deck had caused “major structural damage,” according to records released by town officials in the wake of the tower’s disastrous collapse on Thursday. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the “major error” could have ultimately contributed to the building’s catastrophic collapse. As of Saturday evening the official death toll stood at five, although that was certain to spike with 156 people still unaccounted for. It was feared that scores of bodies remained trapped under tons of rubble.
McClatchy