Two Town of Mineral council members, Michelle Covert and Rebecca “Becky” McGehee, have filed a petition in the Louisa County General District Court seeking enforcement of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) regarding seven alleged causes stemming from the actions of Mineral town staff. The filing explicitly mentions Mayor Pam Harlowe and Town of Mineral FOIA officer Teresa Newton and alleges that they have not been “providing public notice of meetings, adopting and following agendas, complying with rules for electronic participation, and ensuring that committee meetings are open to the public.” In their petition, Covert and McGehee cite that the alleged FOIA violations prevent them from rightfully and fully participating in their town government.

The Prince William County Planning Commission on Sept. 9 will rehear the entirety of a landmark proposal to significantly reduce the size of the county’s Data Center Opportunity Zone Overlay District due to concerns of improper public notice with community mailers. On July 15, the commission held its initial public hearing on a zoning text amendment drastically shrinking the size and scope of the overlay from its originally adopted form, which dates back over a decade to May 2016. … The invalidation of the commission’s July 15 deliberations on the amendment mirrors the recent downfall of the PW Digital Gateway, echoing insufficient public notice that was a key tenet of both successful legal challenges against the massive Gateway data center campus. … “Staff identified that the mailed public notice did not include all required meeting information,” Nikki Brown, a county spokesperson, told InsideNoVa.

Northampton County supervisors voted to move forward with the purchase of a new audio and video system for the Board of Supervisors meeting room following a lengthy discussion about transparency, public access and the potential drawbacks of broadcasting meetings on video. County staff presented an updated quote totaling approximately $25,000, an increase from an earlier estimate because it includes a fixed camera and the equipment needed to integrate the video system with the county’s existing audio equipment. Staff confirmed the system will connect to the boardroom’s current speakers and amplifiers, eliminating the need for additional audio infrastructure. … Supervisor Oliver Bennett expressed reservations about adding video, saying he feared it could invite unnecessary grandstanding during public comment and change the nature of board meetings. … Supervisor Jon Dempster argued that live streaming meetings would improve transparency and make county government more accessible to residents who cannot attend evening meetings because of work or family obligations.

Well over 100 people squeezed into the meeting room at the Rappahannock County Public Library Thursday for a public hearing on its proposed move, overflowing into the hallway and between bookshelves to voice their opinions. The library’s Board of Trustees hosted the hearing seeking feedback from residents on an offer from Black Kettle LLC, the company behind the Rush River Commons development in the Town of Washington, to construct a new, “rent-free” library building as part of the development’s second phase. … It was revealed in a board presentation ahead of the public hearing that if the library were to relocate to Rush River Commons, backed by local philanthropist Chuck Akre, the lease would be “gifted” to the library for free for a new building. No rent would be due, according to a fact sheet distributed at the meeting, but a $500 monthly maintenance fee would be charged. … Local attorney David Konick submitted a letter to the board prior to the meeting laying out his — and “a number” of residents he claimed to represent — concerns about the transparency of the board’s negotiations and how the public hearing was handled. “I want to know why the lease and this great agreement that has been offered by whatever it’s called, Rush River or Black Kettle, isn’t available,” he said. “I want to see it. You’ve discussed it, you’ve summarized it, but you haven’t shown us or anybody else the agreement. Why not?”

The Department of Homeland Security is expanding its AI use for FOIA processing in response to a sizable backlog and increasing number of requests, per the agency’s annual report. In fiscal 2025, DHS started with 221,068 pending FOIA requests. After receiving more than 1 million requests and processing nearly the same amount, the agency ended the year with 245,572 pending requests. Despite the uptick, DHS said it maintained its backlog — defined as the number of requests or administrative appeals at the end of the fiscal year that are beyond the statutory time for a response — at just 16% of total requests received. Technology could help the agency make a bigger dent in the years to come.