Transparency News, 8/19/21

The FOIA Council will be hosting the following live webinar FOIA trainings during the months of August and September. The webinars are free to attend and are approved for DCJS or CLE credit, as appropriate. Links to register can be on the FOIA Council website. If you are interested in receiving DCJS or CLE credit, you will need to individually register and attend the webinar so that the council can confirm your attendance.

Access to Law Enforcement and Criminal Records (2 hours)
August 31, 2021 at 9:00 am
September 23, 2021 at 9:00 am

Access to Public Records (1.5 hours)
August 31, 2021 at 1:00 pm
September 23, 2021 at 1:00 pm

Access to Public Meetings (1.5 hours)
August 31, 2021 at 3:00 pm
September 23, 2021 at 3:00 pm

Questions? EMail:  ric-foiatraining@dls.virginia.gov

The Breeze’s editor-in-chief Jake Conley is asking a judge on behalf of The Breeze to demand that JMU provide The Breeze with COVID-19 data that the university failed to release in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request made last year. Conley filed a writ of mandamus on behalf of The Breeze against JMU on Aug. 17. Conley filed the writ pro se, meaning without legal representation. While the university’s COVID-19 dashboard, which began publicly displaying data Aug. 17, 2020, included [many data] points, it didn’t include positive student tests broken down by number per campus dormitory and a designation for self-reported cases in off-campus students.  JMU cited the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) in the denial. Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for an Open Government, said JMU’s reasoning behind not releasing the data is flawed because the sample size of a dormitory or an off-campus designation is too large for case numbers to identify certain individuals.
The Breeze

After listening to legislators and studying other states, a citizens group that wants money out of Virginia politics issued a report Wednesday they say can be a blueprint for the General Assembly to improve the state’s lavish campaign finance structure. Virginia is one of few states without a limit on campaign donations, and reform efforts like banning the personal use of campaign money have stalled in the General Assembly, when Republicans were in control and now with the Democrats controlling both chambers. MoneyOutVA, which is the Virginia chapter of the group American Promise, prepared the 28-page report. Its members say lawmakers could improve public trust and spend less time “dialing for dollars” if they’d improve Virginia’s laws. Among the recommendations by MoneyOutVA are enhanced finance disclosures, regular auditing of campaign funding, and creating guidelines for complaints. The report endorses public financing of elections.
Richmond Times-Dispatch

Testifying in his own defense Wednesday, former Norfolk Sheriff Bob McCabe admitted to violating campaign finance laws, getting loans and gifts from businessmen who had multi-million dollar contracts with the city’s jail, and sometimes treating employees badly — but he adamantly denied taking any bribes. McCabe, who served as the city’s sheriff for 22 years, spent about five hours testifying in U.S. District Court in Norfolk. He’ll return to the witness stand Thursday to begin cross examination. “I’ve never taken a bribe in my life,” the former sheriff said. “I’ve made mistakes, but I’ve never taken a bribe.” He had no administrative experience and learned how to do the sheriff’s job largely from talking to other local sheriffs, he said. He also said he had a drinking problem. “I kind of flew by the seat of my pants for the first 10 years probably,” he said. He admitted to consistently waiting until the last minute to put together and file his campaign finance reports and said he probably failed to report some contributions and expenditures, but claimed it was never intentional. “I don’t think I ever did a campaign finance report that wasn’t on the day it was due,” he said. “That’s not an excuse, it’s just an explanation. … I just didn’t pay attention to them like I should have.” McCabe also admitted to taking a check for $12,500 from Gerard “Jerry” Boyle when McCabe was running for mayor in 2016. Boyle, who also is charged in the case and had a contract with the Norfolk jail to provide inmate medical service, left the “pay to the order” part blank.
The Virginian-Pilot

After hearing criticism from town residents in two public meetings, the Mineral Town Council reversed its decision to start the process of anulling the town charter. Many residents attended the Aug. 9 council meeting to speak on the issue during the public comments section of the meeting, all urging council to reconsider the action taken during town’s regular business meeting on July 12. Councilmen Ed Jarvis and Tommy Runnett also addressed criticism from town residents about their absence at the special July 22 meeting. Runnett said he was unable to attend due to a previous engagement he had scheduled several weeks in advance and that he “was not consulted on the date for the meeting.” Jarvis cited a family emergency as his reason for not attending.
The Central Virginian

Leaders of the City of Suffolk voted to give themselves a raiseWednesday night — although it won’t kick in right away. The salaries for City Council members and the mayor will increase on July 1, 2023 after council agreed to the increase by a 6-2 vote. At that time, City Council members will receive $23,000 a year, up more than 53% from their current $15,000. Likewise, the position of mayor will be paid $25,000, up nearly 39% from the current $18,000 a year.
WAVY

 

A new lawsuit is demanding that Congress release a vast trove of Capitol riot surveillance video currently the subject of legal tussles involving judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys and the press. Past efforts to use the courts to force disclosure of congressional records like the videos have gotten little traction, but the Jan. 6-related case seizes on an opinion a D.C. Circuit judge issued in June. The new legal fight has the potential to set a new precedent for what kinds of information Congress must disclose, and when — and is squarely aimed at upending decades of law that shielded the institution from public scrutiny.
Politico

A southeast Oklahoma assistant police chief quit days after an open records request was made for his employment application. Quinton Mayor Allen Miller confirmed to the News-Capital that assistant police chief Joey Oliver notified him of his resignation Aug. 13. The McAlester News-Capital submitted a request Aug. 10 for Oliver’s employment application under the Oklahoma Open Records Act to confirm some details about Oliver’s past legal history and previous employment.  Oliver stated on his employment application he worked as a material handler from 2016 to May 2020 in Muldrow before joining the Quinton Police Department.  It did not mention his short stint as a police officer with the Howe Police Department — where Sequoyah County court records show he was charged in 2017 with sexual battery and furnishing alcoholic beverage to a person younger than 21.
McAlester News-Capital

 

During a break in this week’s meeting of the Virginia Redistricting Commission, a live mic caught two Democrats conferring. As Graham Moomaw reports in The Virginia Mercury: With microphones still on and broadcasting to a livestream, Sen. George Barker, D-Fairfax, huddled with Democratic citizen commissioner Brandon Hutchins, who seemed concerned the commission was setting itself up for public blowback by not living up to its promise of a fairer redistricting process. “They are going to bomb us for this,” Hutchins said. “Actually, they won’t,” Barker said. “It’s actually a fairly small segment of the public that is working on this issue. … There’ll be some complaints here and there. There always are.” Time will tell whose prediction is correct. Yes, it will. Barker is probably right about the general public’s interest in the minutiae of redrawing legislative lines to fit the new census results, but we’re more than happy to provide that bombing that Hutchins fears. So here it is: This redistricting commission is not turning out the way the public thought it would (although, to be fair, it’s turning out how we feared).
The Roanoke Times