Transparency News 8/5/16

 

People representing over 30 state and local government agencies, newspapers and advocacy groups attended a work session yesterday to discuss revising the personnel records exemption in FOIA. Comments centered on whether and how the term should be defined, with most in the room agreeing that the goal is to distinguish between records detailing the employee-employer relationship (like things a person’s supervisor or the human resources department would take care of) and those records representing the actual work the employee performs for the entity (like preparing reports, entering data, etc.). The group also largely agreed that an exemption for certain administrative investigations be brought into line with the personnel exemption. The devil, of course, is in the details. Suggested wording is being sought in advance of the workgroup’s next meeting, which will take place in advance of Labor Day.

Another write-up of the writ of mandamus issued last week in Pittsylvania County that requires the county agriculture board to maintain and publish minutes for the next 18 months.
Star-Tribune

The Prince William County School Board “has both the duty and the sole authority” to appoint a temporary replacement for Brentsville representative Gil Trenum, a Navy reservist preparing for a yearlong deployment to Africa, according to an “unofficial opinion” issued by the Virginia attorney general’s office this morning. The opinion goes on to say that Trenum has already effectively given his notice to temporarily vacate his office, triggering the process to appoint his interim replacement. All of that is important because Trenum’s pending deployment has sparked a politically charged dispute over who has the authority, under Virginia law, to appoint a temporary replacement when an elected official is called to active-duty military service. At issue is whether Trenum has formally given written notice to temporarily vacate his seat and whether the school board must honor his wishes by appointing one of three Brentsville residents Trenum recommended to serve while he is out of the country.
Inside NOVA

An email from Congresswoman Barbara Comstock (R) to a press secretary for the National Republican Congressional Committee that was accidentally forwarded to a Times-Mirror reporter today offers a peek inside her chops as a political and media strategist. A former Republican National Committee opposition researcher elected to Congress in 2014, Comstock has spent much of the past two years traversing the district and attending events, from ribbon cuttings and fairs to town halls and chamber of commerce events. She has appeared disinterested in the nitty-gritty politics of campaigns. But today's emails provide an inside look at how Comstock is also involved in the political strategy of her re-election campaign.
Loudoun Times-Mirror



National Stories
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While it's good for lawmakers to know about issues concerning citizens, they often don't have time to investigate every complaint. They also may be biased toward one agency or another. That's why New Jersey is one of the steady flow of states that have established ombudsmen offices for various departments. Ombudsmen are, by the nature of their job descriptions, neutral when it comes to a citizen vs. agency squabble. Increasingly, the people who hold these posts are being referred to as “ombuds,” in order to eliminate the gender-focused nature of the word ombudsman. The earliest ombuds served during the Nixon administration, which pushed states to set up these offices to help protect the rights of men and women who live in nursing homes or other long-term care facilities. Federal funding was provided through the Older Americans Act, and nowadays, most long-term care ombuds are volunteers, according to Beverly Laubert, the long-term care ombud for Ohio. Since then, a handful of states -- including Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii and Iowa -- started ombud offices with a broad focus. But in the past decade, ombuds have become much more specialized.
Governing

President Barack Obama confirmed on Thursday that Donald Trump will get national security briefings ahead of the November election, but he warned the Republican candidate, whom he has called "unfit" for office, that information from the meetings must be kept secret.
Reuters

When an orthodontist asked the reporter if he wanted a good story idea, the reporter, of course, said "yes." Jeff Donn, a national writer with The Associated Press and 2012 Pulitzer finalist, was doubtful, at first, about that tip from his son's orthodontist: There's no solid evidence that flossing actually works. “I found that the federal government had been promoting floss for decades, chiefly in its Dietary Guidelines for Americans. By law, the guidelines must be based on science, so I asked staffers at the responsible agencies — the departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture — for the documentation behind the floss recommendation. Weeks of requests failed to turn up anything. So I filed a formal FOIA request. Six months passed. On Jan. 7, the government put out a new edition of the guidelines, as scheduled. The flossing recommendation had quietly been dropped. The next day, HHS wrote a letter to me in reply to my FOIA request. It said that no relevant records could be located and then added that floss had never been researched by the committees that review science for the guidelines.”
Poynter

Of the past 20 presidential nominees, 19 made their tax returns public. Nearly all of them did it about 200 days before the election. While not required to release their tax returns for the prior year, all but one major party nominee since 1976 have done so. (Gerald R. Ford released only a summary.) So far, neither of the 2016 presidential nominees has adhered to this tradition, though Hillary Clinton has released eight years of returns through 2014. Brian Fallon, a spokesman for her campaign, said that Mrs. Clinton would release her 2015 return “soon.”
New York Times


Editorials/Columns

There’s been an important shift. Lobbyists in Virginia are spending less on high-end restaurant meals for public officials, reports The Associated Press. Public officials therefore are spending more. The rebalancing is a result of tighter state ethics laws, championed by this newspaper and others after the Bob McDonnell gift-giving scandal revealed just how easy it was for public officials to accept expensive gifts from those wanting favors from government. Virginia barely regulates this kind of spending. Lawmakers can raise unlimited campaign funds from any source — and then simply turn around and spend it on themselves. No other state allows this kind of largesse.
Daily Progress