Transparency News 8/15/16
Monday, August 15, 2016
State and Local Stories
Based on a state Freedom of Information Advisory Council opinion on Friday, the University of Virginia Board of Visitors appears to have improperly closed to the public a meeting about a controversial fund by insufficiently specifying what would be discussed or correctly recording a vote on whether the meeting followed the law. The June 10 meeting related to the Strategic Investment Fund. The board used FOIA exemptions for personnel and litigation to talk about the $2.3 billion fund in an executive session. Records show, however, that the closed session was to be a briefing about the fund by board Rector Bill Goodwin. Lawyer Kevin Martingayle, representing former U.Va. board member Helen Dragas said the closed meeting also highlights the need for government bodies to be represented by legal counsel who aren’t “wallflowers” but who are vigilant and aggressive in guiding the body away from violations of the FOIA.
Virginian-Pilot
Read the opinion on VCOG’s website
University of Virginia Rector William H. Goodwin Jr. denied Sunday that the university’s board of visitors broke public meetings law when it met in closed session to discuss a new investment fund. The state’s Freedom of Information Advisory Council issued an opinion Friday saying the board may have been in violation of the law when it discussed the $2.3 billion Strategic Investment Fund in a closed-door meeting June 10. “I think it was disappointing they would write such a lengthy article based on what one person said,” said Goodwin, referring to the 5,000-word opinion released Friday. During a break in an orientation program for new board members Sunday, Goodwin said the narrative provided by Virginia Beach attorney Kevin E. Martingayle was inaccurate, but declined to go into specifics. “I don’t think that would help,” he said.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
University of Virginia officials say they haven’t redacted any information in response to records requests from members of the General Assembly. The university released a statement Friday night saying the 2,000 pages of records were complete. “First, the University never claimed any FOIA exemptions in its response. You asked us not to assert any exemptions, and in the spirit of cooperation, we did not.” reads the statement, signed by UVa President Teresa A. Sullivan and Rector William H. Goodwin. “Second, the University did not redact any information from its response,” the statement continues.
Daily Progress
National Stories
The hacker who goes by “Guccifer 2.0” is claiming credit for the release of personal cell phone numbers and private email addresses of Democratic House members. The data — posted to their WordPress blog on Friday night — also contains the contact information for staff members and campaign aides.
CNN
Editorials/Columns
Depending on whom you believe, U.Va.’s $2.2 billion strategic fund is either a stellar example of careful stewardship or play money for irresponsible insiders who care little about taxpayers or families. The merits of the fund aside, though, discussion of it has not been quite so transparent as U.Va. has let on. U.Va.’s board — and others like it — need to bear in mind a simple point: They and the Freedom of Information Act should not work at cross purposes, because in the end they both serve the public. And the public is far more likely to forgive honest disagreements or mistakes than it is to forgive efforts at keeping it in the dark.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Discussion of a controversial $2.3 billion Strategic Investment Fund in closed session during a University Virginia Board of Visitor’s meeting appears to be a violation of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) — assuming events unfolded as alleged in a letter by an attorney representing former Rector Helen Dragas, concluded Maria J.K. Everett, executive director of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council in a staff advisory opinion. However, the law does not set forth any remedial action to be taken by the public body, in this case the UVa Board of Visitors. The statutory remedy for a FOIA violation, Everett wrote, is “a petition for mandamus or injunction supported by an affidavit showing good cause.”
Bacons Rebellion
FRIDAY WILL MARK one year since officers at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail found 24-year-old Jamycheal Mitchell unresponsive in his cell. It marks one year of unanswered questions about how a young man with a history of mental illness died in the custody of the state. One year in which citizens have been denied information about what happened in a facility funded with their tax dollars. jail officials first told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that video footage from outside Mitchell’s cell was not preserved, only to later acknowledge that it exists. In a letter dated May 9, the jail said it had located the footage but would not release it, citing a provision of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act that allows it to be withheld. Officials admitted to the Richmond paper that the letter was never sent to the reporter who filed the original FOIA request. Interestingly enough, the revised letter is dated one day before the family filed its suit on May 10.
Virginian-Pilot
State and Local Stories
Based on a state Freedom of Information Advisory Council opinion on Friday, the University of Virginia Board of Visitors appears to have improperly closed to the public a meeting about a controversial fund by insufficiently specifying what would be discussed or correctly recording a vote on whether the meeting followed the law. The June 10 meeting related to the Strategic Investment Fund. The board used FOIA exemptions for personnel and litigation to talk about the $2.3 billion fund in an executive session. Records show, however, that the closed session was to be a briefing about the fund by board Rector Bill Goodwin. Lawyer Kevin Martingayle, representing former U.Va. board member Helen Dragas said the closed meeting also highlights the need for government bodies to be represented by legal counsel who aren’t “wallflowers” but who are vigilant and aggressive in guiding the body away from violations of the FOIA.
Virginian-Pilot
Read the opinion on VCOG’s website
University of Virginia Rector William H. Goodwin Jr. denied Sunday that the university’s board of visitors broke public meetings law when it met in closed session to discuss a new investment fund. The state’s Freedom of Information Advisory Council issued an opinion Friday saying the board may have been in violation of the law when it discussed the $2.3 billion Strategic Investment Fund in a closed-door meeting June 10. “I think it was disappointing they would write such a lengthy article based on what one person said,” said Goodwin, referring to the 5,000-word opinion released Friday. During a break in an orientation program for new board members Sunday, Goodwin said the narrative provided by Virginia Beach attorney Kevin E. Martingayle was inaccurate, but declined to go into specifics. “I don’t think that would help,” he said.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
University of Virginia officials say they haven’t redacted any information in response to records requests from members of the General Assembly. The university released a statement Friday night saying the 2,000 pages of records were complete. “First, the University never claimed any FOIA exemptions in its response. You asked us not to assert any exemptions, and in the spirit of cooperation, we did not.” reads the statement, signed by UVa President Teresa A. Sullivan and Rector William H. Goodwin. “Second, the University did not redact any information from its response,” the statement continues.
Daily Progress
National Stories
The hacker who goes by “Guccifer 2.0” is claiming credit for the release of personal cell phone numbers and private email addresses of Democratic House members. The data — posted to their WordPress blog on Friday night — also contains the contact information for staff members and campaign aides.
CNN
Editorials/Columns
Depending on whom you believe, U.Va.’s $2.2 billion strategic fund is either a stellar example of careful stewardship or play money for irresponsible insiders who care little about taxpayers or families. The merits of the fund aside, though, discussion of it has not been quite so transparent as U.Va. has let on. U.Va.’s board — and others like it — need to bear in mind a simple point: They and the Freedom of Information Act should not work at cross purposes, because in the end they both serve the public. And the public is far more likely to forgive honest disagreements or mistakes than it is to forgive efforts at keeping it in the dark.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Discussion of a controversial $2.3 billion Strategic Investment Fund in closed session during a University Virginia Board of Visitor’s meeting appears to be a violation of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) — assuming events unfolded as alleged in a letter by an attorney representing former Rector Helen Dragas, concluded Maria J.K. Everett, executive director of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council in a staff advisory opinion. However, the law does not set forth any remedial action to be taken by the public body, in this case the UVa Board of Visitors. The statutory remedy for a FOIA violation, Everett wrote, is “a petition for mandamus or injunction supported by an affidavit showing good cause.”
Bacons Rebellion
FRIDAY WILL MARK one year since officers at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail found 24-year-old Jamycheal Mitchell unresponsive in his cell. It marks one year of unanswered questions about how a young man with a history of mental illness died in the custody of the state. One year in which citizens have been denied information about what happened in a facility funded with their tax dollars. jail officials first told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that video footage from outside Mitchell’s cell was not preserved, only to later acknowledge that it exists. In a letter dated May 9, the jail said it had located the footage but would not release it, citing a provision of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act that allows it to be withheld. Officials admitted to the Richmond paper that the letter was never sent to the reporter who filed the original FOIA request. Interestingly enough, the revised letter is dated one day before the family filed its suit on May 10.
Virginian-Pilot
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