Transparency News 8/12/16

 

At yesterday’s meeting of the FOIA Council’s Subcommittee on Meetings, more discussions were held, but again no action was taken as the subcommittee wants to wait until new members are appointed to the seats vacated by two members who stepped down in July.

A bit of new testimony was taken on whether to impose a requirement that local governments post meeting minutes. I earlier compiled a chart showing minutes availability on the 10 biggest and smallest counties and the five biggest and smallest cities. Thirteen percent either did not have a website or did not post minutes. The rest did, and most minutes that were posted were current. Even in the locality where the minutes lagged behind (none posted since April), the agenda for an upcoming meeting was posted, indicating the locality had the ability to update their site within a reasonable timeframe. Local government representatives worry the requirement would stymie localities who contract out website management and don’t have the ability to post materials in a timely fashion.

The committee listened to a strong statement from Dave Ress, a reporter at the Daily Press, about the need for a stronger policy statement at the start of FOIA. Ress suggested adding language stating that FOIA is a fundamental right and not  an additional burden on government.

Finally, the committee talked about how to deal with the issue brought to light by a situation in Loudon County last month, where a member of the board of supervisors was texting members of a board committee during that committee’s meeting. The county attorney had the texts — which had to do with the topics being discussed at the meeting — read into the minutes, so the subcommittee talked about ways not only to limit the practice but also about ways to possibly cure instances as they happened.



National Stories
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A notorious video showing Toronto politician Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine that sparked a storm of controversy and marred the tenure of the former mayor of Canada’s largest city, was released Thursday to the public. A Toronto court lifted a ban on publication of the video, shot in February 2013 and later seized by the police, after an extortion charge was withdrawn Thursday against Sandro Lisi, Ford’s friend and former driver. It shows Ford swearing and mumbling while holding what appears to be a crack pipe, which he lights and draws on.
USA Today


Editorials/Columns

IN A CITY such as Portsmouth, a community with a poverty rate that outpaces those of the state and region, the operation of the Redevelopment and Housing Authority is critical. Earlier this month, the PRHA Board voted 4-2 to terminate Executive Director Harry “Hal” Short, who worked at the authority for 44 years. Short’s termination sets the stage for new leadership, and the PRHA needs a steady hand on the wheel since the agency has of late been at the center of questionable decisions and smoldering legal flare-ups. Chief among them is the case of $7 million in public funds related to the 2008 purchase of the Holiday Inn property on Crawford Parkway.  Then there is the matter of the PRHA’s legal representation, the subject of a lawsuit the authority faced from its long-time legal counsel, Cooper, Spong & Davis.  Not only does that agency provide affordable housing, its work to purchase and help rebuild blighted sections of the city sets the tone for how the community will look in the years to come. The sum total of these issues is the erosion of confidence in a vital public agency, one that must operate transparently, deliberately and thoughtfully. Diminished respect for public institutions is sadly becoming commonplace in Portsmouth.
Virginian-Pilot

After the McDonnell fiasco, Virginia had a chance to really do something about its severely lax attitude about political giving. It could have created an independent ethics commission with subpoena power. Instead, the General Assembly set a $100 annual limit on what lawmakers can accept, although if it is “personal,” it may be okay. The chilling effect of the first-ever corruption trial of a sitting or former Virginia governor has resulted in in more self-checking behavior. That’s all fine, but one wonders how long it will last.
Peter Galuszka, Washington Post

When Washington Dulles International Airport opened in 1962 in Loudoun County, Va., the county was mostly rural. It was only after local industry expanded to accommodate the needs of this major global travel hub that Loudoun started becoming the dynamic community it is today. GIS has proven to be a comprehensive tool for managing the county's growth. What started in 1986 to automate and house the county's various maps has evolved into a system that maintains and stores a vast array of up-to-date spatial data that is readily accessible to the public and is integrated with the county's other information systems. Over these past 30 years, we have learned a few best practices in evolving to what we think is a model for smart communities everywhere.
Lawrence Stipek, Governing