Transparency News, 3/18/2022

Friday
March 18, 2022

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state & local news stories

Last chance for"WTF? What the FOIA." It's free, but you have to click to get the meeting link. You can drop in or leave at any time during the session.

The Virginia legislature approved nearly 40% of bills introduced this year. What was the success rate of each legislator? VPAP's latest data visualization shows each lawmaker's "batting average," along with filters that show how seniority, political party and gender affected success rates. With each party controlling one chamber this year, neither Republicans nor Democrats had an edge in shepherding measures through the legislature.
Virginia Public Access Project

The State Board for Community Colleges named a new leader on Thursday, defying Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who one day earlier called for the board to restart the hiring process and appoint an interim chancellor. The board named Russell A. Kavalhuna as the next chancellor of Virginia’s 23 community colleges, succeeding Glenn Dubois, who will retire at the end of June. Kavalhuna is president of Henry Ford College in Michigan, a community college founded in 1938. His appointment ends a tumultuous hiring process that the governor criticized for excluding Youngkin’s administration, lacking transparency and neglecting the Virginia Community College System’s most significant needs. The announcement came after the board spent at least three hours in closed session discussing the hire. The board publicized the job posting last summer, attracting nearly 50 candidates, and posted updates on the committee’s progress to the VCCS website. But the VCCS failed to update that site. On Thursday, the web page indicated the board was ready to conduct round one interviews. In reality, it had made far more progress.
Richmond Times-Dispatch

One elected official’s quest to be in the loop—and track down every conversation between other King George board members and the county administrator—is costing him money. T.C. Collins, who joined the King George Board of Supervisors on Jan. 1, submitted a Freedom of Information Act request earlier this month to be provided every email and text between fellow supervisors, as well as directors on the King George Service Authority board. His request also included all communication between members of both boards and County Administrator Chris Miller, acting general manager of the water and sewer authority. Collins initially submitted the request because he said he believes county officials have demonstrated a “lack of transparency to the board members and to the public,” both about problems at wastewater treatment plants and an upcoming discussion about possibly merging the Service Authority into county operations. He said he could cite several examples, but never gave any, and didn’t expect to have to pay for the information he requested.
The Free Lance-Star

The prosecution of Robert Jeffrey Jr. ended Thursday with Jeffrey a thrice-convicted felon who owes his victims more than $100,000 in restitution and faces a strong possibility of removal from his Roanoke City Council seat. Thursday’s major legal development happened during a week that included several others. Jeffrey, 52, pleaded no contest to embezzlement. A judge found him guilty of the felony charge. He was convicted earlier in the week of two other felony financial crimes. Roanoke Circuit Judge David Carson ordered Jeffrey back to jail to await sentencing, now scheduled for June 7. Jeffrey’s sentence could include prison time, but the amount was not made public Thursday. After the proceedings adjourned, Jeffrey’s wife Tina angrily complained to reporters outside the courthouse about pretrial media coverage. She asserted that her husband had already been convicted in the press before court proceedings began. “Congratulations,” she told a Roanoke Times reporter.
The Roanoke Times

The commonwealth’s attorney for Fairfax County isn’t going to file charges against the police officer who shot a man in a van in Lorton last month. Hours after Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano’s statement, Police Chief Kevin Davis held a news conference in which he provided more details and showed body-camera footage of the incident. Descano said his office reviewed interviews, radio communications, body camera footage and more. “Based on these facts, Officer Jones had a reasonable fear of serious injury or death for himself and others involved.”
Inside NoVa

The Montgomery County School Board voted Thursday night to end Superintendent Mark Miear’s employment with the district, bringing an end to a tenure that lasted just over six years. The board, which voted unanimously on the matter, made the decision following a closed session. The board also unanimously voted to name Deputy Superintendent Annie Whitaker as acting superintendent. Several board members, including Chairwoman Sue Kass, declined to elaborate on the reasons behind the decision. Kass, however, did make a general statement on the matter. “This decision is one that we take seriously,” she said. “We are not able to comment about why this decision was made, but we as a board are united in this vote.”
The Roanoke Times

In February, an incident involving a gun occurred at Washington & Lee High School in Westmoreland County. While there was a general statement released by the school board in the aftermath, there has been a stone-faced silence on the matter in all other circumstances. The matter was finally forced before the school board during its public comment period, when Sheena Johnson addressed them. School board chairman Ralph Fallin restrained himself from going into specifics, simply stating, “We’ll look at every safety precaution that we can to keep all of our students and staff safe.” In the closing minutes of the meeting, however, school board member Kathy Lewis raked the rest of the board over hot coals for refusing to discuss the matter.
Northern Neck News

stories of national interest

The Justice Department is directing federal agencies to promote openness in processing records requests.  On Tuesday, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a guidance memo on the Freedom of Information Act to heads of the executive departments and agencies. The new guidelines came one day before “Freedom of Information Day” and during “National Sunshine Week,” which promotes open government.  “The attorney general’s new FOIA guidelines underscore the Justice Department’s commitment to [a] government that is open, transparent and accountable to the people we serve,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, who also serves as the department’s Chief FOIA Officer, in a statement. “The Office of Information Policy looks forward to working with agencies to ensure the presumption of openness is applied across the government.”
Government Executive
 

editorials & columns

"Those holding governmental power usually claim they are transparent in their dealings. We in the press know that’s often not the case.""

Sunshine Week occurs each year in mid-March to coincide with the March 16 birthday of James Madison, whose framework formed the basis of the U.S. Constitution. It’s an annual reminder of why transparency in government is so important and why the quote of another former U.S. President, Thomas Jefferson, runs at the top of our opinion page: “Where the press is free and every man is able to read, all is safe.” A free press matters. And yet the press can’t do its job of keeping watch on the centers of power, mainly government, if government isn’t open and transparent. Most people agree open government is important, and those holding governmental power usually claim they are transparent in their dealings. We in the press know that’s often not the case. Three examples, ranging from the national to local might make this topic more tangible:
Alexandria Times