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Maria Everett, executive director of the Virginia Freedom of Information
Advisory Council, was given VCOG’s 2004 award for exemplary
work in seeking to keep government open to public scrutiny.
The Virginia General Assembly created the council in 2000 to foster
compliance with the state’s open-meeting and open-record laws.
Under Everett’s leadership, the council has gained national
recognition for resolving FOI issues outside the courts. Everett’s
full-time office has written more than 130 Freedom of Information
Act opinions, handled more than 1,000 yearly inquiries and sponsored
scores of training workshops throughout the state.
The coalition presented its Laurence E. Richardson Award to Lee
Albright, a Nelson County resident who is battling the Virginia
Game and Inland Fisheries Commission to find out why his community’s
fish hatchery was shut down.
The Richardson Award, named after a longtime Charlottesville broadcasting
executive, is presented each year to an individual citizen who makes
exceptional contributions in achieving greater freedom of information
in Virginia.
Richardson championed strong FOI statutes, press freedoms and free
speech, and played a key role in forming the Virginia Coalition
for Open Government prior to his death in 1999.
Richmond Times-Dispatch reporter Jeremy Redmon won the Coalition’s
2004 media award for successfully challenging an illegal meeting
of the Richmond City Council. Knowing the council was planning to
bar the public from a discussion of Richmond crime. Redmon formally
objected, noting the Freedom of Information Act prohibits any closed-door
discussion of general policy matters. Redmon’s newspaper immediately
asked a circuit judge to rule in Redmon’s favor. Crime, said
the judge, was an important topic -- but not one that met FOIA’s
closed-door requirements.
Awards were presented at the coalition’s annual meeting at
the Alumni Center on the College of William and Mary campus.
Previous award recipients have included the Librarian of Virginia,
a president of the State Bar of Virginia, former Del. Chip Woodrum,
Sen.Bill Bolling, R-Hanover, the Virginia Public Access Project
and the Montgomery County League of Women Voters.
The Coaltion is a nonpartisan, nonprofit group that advocates easy
access to public records and government meetings. Members include
First Amendment lawyers, educators, public-policy groups, media,
government officials, librarians and business organizations. |
