I had a chat with ChatGPT today, and I have to say that I think I liked it better when AI was the bastardized start of the Spanish exclamation of woe: Ai yi yi. Because AI is bastardizing the FOIA request process. I’m usually pretty hard on public bodies and officials in this space, but today I’m taking aim at requesters, even though it’s not totally their fault.

The full FOIA Council will meet on Thursday at 1 p.m. to discuss several proposals affecting meetings and records. The meeting will be livestreamed, though I encourage anyone interested in the proposals posted on the council’s website attend in person and share your thoughts with the council.

Roanoke Vice Mayor Terry McGuire and Councilman Phazhon Nash violated the city council’s code of conduct by allowing their “activism to override their governance responsibilities” in speaking out about a Wood Haven Technology Center project, according to a statement released by Mayor Joe Cobb Monday. Cobb called his colleagues’ actions a “zeal to promote personal causes,” and that prioritizing the best interest of the entire community over “personal or political gain” is what the council is committed to. McGuire and Nash were the only council members who attended a meeting of the Western Virginia Regional Industrial Facility Authority Friday when there was a vote by its board to approve the sale of a tract of technology center land. The authority members did not disclose the purpose for the sale, but speakers at the meeting were there to criticize what they believe is a data center project. McGuire and Nash spoke against the sale.