Transparency News, 3/14/2022
Monday
March 14, 2022
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Contact us at vcog@opengovva.org
In honor of Sunshine Week, I'm hosting three lunchtime drop-in sessions to ask, "WTF? What the FOIA."
It's free, but you have to register, and you can drop in or leave at any time during any or all sessions.
state & local news stories
Virginia lawmakers gave final passage Saturday to a measure that would undo a recent reform intended to expand public access to certain law enforcement files in closed criminal investigations. Under the bill that both the Senate and House of Delegates approved Saturday, the disclosure of such records to the press and general public would no longer be mandatory under the state’s freedom of information act. Instead, disclosure would again be up to the discretion of the law enforcement agency. The measure’s sponsor, Republican Del. Rob Bell, said the bill was intended to increase protections for crime victims and their families by prohibiting the public release of sensitive information that might cause additional suffering. But opponents, including some relatives of crime victims, said the changes would reduce transparency and accountability and hinder work on wrongful convictions. The 2021 law was touted as a win for transparency and good governance. But even with the expanded access, the high cost agencies sometimes charged to fulfill freedom of information act requests proved to be another barrier to accessing public records. For instance, in 2021, The Associated Press requested state police records in a closed investigation into a failed economic development project. The agency said it would take 295 hours to fulfill the request at a cost of $6,207.82.
Associated Press
Both chambers on Saturday passed House Bill 734 from Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle, which shifts FOIA back to allowing police and prosecutors to withhold all records from the press and public in inactive investigations. Police and prosecutors would be required under the new law to provide records to family members of homicide victims and to lawyers doing post-conviction work. The bill goes to Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The GOP-controlled House voted 55-39 for the bill. The Democratic-controlled Senate voted 25-15 for the bill after six Democrats joined Republicans. Republicans and some Democrats who backed the legislation did not hide their desire to allow police and prosecutors to withhold records in the closed cases. “We say as a policy decision that everybody just doesn’t need to see the details in that closed criminal file,” said Sen. Richard Stuart, R-King George. Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, gave an example of what will happen under the new legislation: If the press wants to investigate a “bad apple” police officer by requesting files on other cases on which the officer worked, police and prosecutors will withhold those files.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
A Virginia Beach legislator who previously tried to get a Portsmouth lawmaker recalled led an effort this week to kill one of that state senator’s bills, which would have reformed Portsmouth’s rules on recalling elected officials. The bill, introduced by Sen. Louise Lucas and supported by Del. Don Scott — both Portsmouth Democrats— received bipartisan support in the Senate and was approved with a 14-7 vote by a House committee earlier this month. But when the legislation came up for a vote Wednesday on the House floor, Del. Tim Anderson, R-Virginia Beach, motioned for it to be returned to the committee for further consideration. In an email to The Virginian-Pilot, Anderson said he believes the bill would have made the recall process in Portsmouth far too restrictive. “I would have objected to this charter change from any jurisdiction asking for such ridiculous insulation from citizen scrutiny,” he wrote.
The Virginian-Pilot
The Portsmouth City Council voted to appoint a new interim city attorney Friday morning after the incumbent allegedly made profane comments toward city leaders. In a three-minute meeting, council members voted 4-3 to appoint Simone Boothe as interim city attorney, replacing Burle Stromberg. Prior to the vote, Boothe served as one of the city’s assistant city attorneys. The move to replace Stromberg comes after he used “highly inappropriate” language during an encounter with Mayor Shannon Glover and Councilwoman Lisa Lucas-Burke, Councilman Mark Whitaker told The Virginian-Pilot in a phone call after the vote. The incident happened publicly in council chambers after the Tuesday council meeting, Whitaker said.
The Virginian-Pilot
Frederick County Supervisor Shawn Graber stormed out of Thursday night's joint meeting between the Frederick County Board of Supervisors and the county's School Board after School Board member Ellen White accused him of calling fellow School Board member Brian Hester a "sh--head" during the meeting. Graber criticized the school division's equity initiatives and accused school officials of not providing detailed budget proposals. He said other public school divisions — such as Loudoun County, Alexandria and Albemarle County — have more detailed budgets. "I can go by school on many of those budgets, and I can see exactly what's being spent on each program at that school," Graber said. "And that is really helpful for me." Hester interjected, "We have that also." Graber responded, "May I continue, or would you like this to be the Brian Hester show? In fact, I'll just shut up; it's the Brian Hester show." Graber then mouthed something inaudible. A few minutes later, White said, "I think it's necessary that we call this session to order. There's a board member on the other side who just mouthed the word 'sh--head' towards another board member." "No, I did not," Graber replied. Someone in the audience yelled back, "Yes, you did!," and White responded, "We saw it, Mr. Graber." Graber repeatedly denied saying the word and stormed out.
The Winchester Star
stories of national interest
The California city of Fresno's loss to an online phishing scam totaled more than $600,000, was part of a larger scheme targeting multiple municipalities nationwide and the FBI has identified an American suspect, Mayor Jerry Dyer announced in a news conference at City Hall on Thursday. Some details Dyer reported differed from information he shared the day prior. Dyer said he spoke to a special agent Wednesday evening and learned new information, but there were some details he wasn't sharing so as not to further compromise the federal investigation. Dyer spent a large portion of the news conference explaining why his administration didn't reveal the loss earlier, saying it was out of respect for the FBI investigation. He also explained how the Fresno City Attorney's Office handled a December public records request from The Bee and why records were not released. Dyer said he was concerned to learn The Bee knew about the investigation and obtained city emails discussing the fraud. He did not speculate on why the information was leaked.
Governing
editorials & columns
"By being forceful, vigilant advocates for transparency, they can hold officials accountable, ensure more thoughtful oversight, and foster more responsible and responsive government."
In honor of today’s kick off for Sunshine Week, the annual initiative that puts a spotlight on the cause of government transparency, let’s start with some good news. The Virginia General Assembly defeated a host of bills this year that would have made public records harder to access and allowed officials greater latitude to hide behind closed doors. Some of these were truly terrible ideas and lawmakers were right to dispatch them quickly. Despite those victories, there are always a few bad bills that manage to sneak through — despite all evidence that they would diminish government transparency and make informed citizen oversight more difficult. Case in point: House Bill 734, which would effectively reverse legislation passed last year to make closed criminal investigation files more accessible. It bears repeating that transparency laws serve as a cornerstone of good government. They provide citizens access to meetings and records, and they allow for informed oversight of public officials. They are a critical component of our democratic system. Virginians can also do more. By being forceful, vigilant advocates for transparency, they can hold officials accountable, ensure more thoughtful oversight, and foster more responsible and responsive government. That’s the best way to deter this sort of chicanery by public officials, and Sunshine Week is a perfect time to start.
The Virginian-Pilot
Unfortunately, the debate to overturn the year-old change in the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (VFOIA) that unsealed certain records in closed cases largely ignored another kind of victim. They have names and tragedies, too. One name, according to the Innocence Project at the University of Virginia, is Emerson Stevens. He served 32 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. Innocence Project director Jennifer Givens summarized his story in a letter to a state senator explaining why the legislature should study the law unsealing some closed case records before once again removing them from public view. It is sad, but true, that some police and prosecutors misbehave in their eagerness to win convictions. Sealing closed case records protects people who abuse their power, not the majority of law enforcement and commonwealth’s attorneys who play by the rules. Blind faith in a justice system administered by fallible humans invites miscarriages. That is easy to forget, even among journalists who rely on freedom of information laws. The volume of “jail mail” from aggrieved inmates often gives way to gallows humor and the cynical joke that “obviously, there are no guilty people in prison.”
The Daily Progress
NOTE: The legislation referred to in this article passed in both chambers on Saturday. It is NOT, however, a "sealing" statute. A sealing order is one made by the courts and prohibits release. This bill makes release of files discretionary. In practice, that means records won't be released, but the records are not sealed. Further, the bill provides at least some access for attorneys pursing actual innocence claims.
FULLY TWO MONTHS into the Spotsylvania County School Board’s new ruling majority, we are running out of adjectives to describe just how bad the board’s public behavior has become. The board might have turned things around, but meetings have, unfortunately, become must-see TV. Board members regularly talk over one another, yell, and make questionable decisions like moving the public comment section, for a time, to the end of board business. Their disrespect hasn’t been limited to one another. During public comments, board members have been publicly called out for rolling their eyes, looking away, and talking among themselves while members of the community are addressing them. The Spotsylvania County School Board needs to go back to school and take an introductory course on how a well-run school board should function. Of the eight characteristics it identifies, an argument can be made that this board is failing each one. We will focus only on characteristic No. 4: “Effective school boards have … a strong communications structure to inform and engage both internal and external stakeholders in setting and achieving district goals.” The Free Lance–Star has reached out to Twigg throughout his chairmanship for interviews. He has not responded to any.
The Free Lance-Star
Do elected officials represent taxpayers or corporations? This question shouldn’t have to be asked, but the rise of nondisclosure agreements in negotiations over tax incentives and subsidies makes it necessary. In my home state of Michigan and nationwide, politicians are promising to hide details about tax breaks or outright grants they plan on doling out to businesses until such deals are all but impossible to stop. Taxpayers have a right to know that information — and politicians have a democratic duty to disclose it. The nationwide number of NDAs signed by public officials is unknown, but it’s clear they’re widespread. In 2020, an Illinois official said it “happens all the time,” most notably “when mega-Fortune 500 companies come.” Considering that states and cities provide up to $95 billion in corporate incentives every year, clearly a gusher of taxpayer dollars is negotiated annually with the risk of taxpayers not finding out the details until after the deals are approved. Which is exactly the point. While companies and politicians say that NDAs protect sensitive negotiations, the NDAs help ensure that companies’ potential big paydays aren’t sunk by unwanted publicity.
Michael LaFaive, The Washington Post
Spending at the federal, state and local government levels has soared in the last few decades. Are taxpayers getting their money’s worth? The answer is too often obscured by resistance — at all levels of government — to records requests by members of the public who want information about how their government works. While politicians and bureaucrats disagree about many issues, it unfortunately seems that one thing they agree on is keeping members of the public in the dark as much as possible about government operations, how decisions are made, and how government money is spent. Secrecy, it seems, is something that has bipartisan support among politicians.
Karl Olson, The Fresno Bee
