Transparency News, 3/28/2022

 

Monday
March 28, 2022

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state & local news stories

 

"The attorney did not try to argue that Twigg did not violate FOIA by entering a closed meeting without properly asking for a motion and holding a vote to enter the meeting, but suggested the action amounts to a 'procedural violation.'"

A judge on Friday denied a request to entirely dismiss a lawsuit alleging that members of the Spotsylvania County School Board violated Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act. John Martin, Westmoreland General District Court’s presiding judge—who came in to hear the petition after two Spotsylvania judges recused themselves—granted a request to dismiss certain counts but denied others, meaning that the case will be heard again. Specifically, Martin found the lawsuit’s allegations that Board Chair Kirk Twigg “willfully and knowingly” violated FOIA when he “declared and conducted an unlawful closed meeting without holding a vote to go into closed session” and that Vice Chair April Gillespie and members Lisa Phelps and Rabih Abuismail also violated FOIA by following him into the meeting have merit and should be heard. Jeremy Capps, attorney for Twigg, Gillespie, Phelps and Abuismail, did not try to argue that Twigg did not violate FOIA by entering a closed meeting without properly asking for a motion and holding a vote to enter the meeting, but suggested the action amounts to a “procedural violation.”
The Free Lance-Star

A political consulting firm tells clients it will help them navigate the new Republican-controlled executive branch of Virginia’s government. LINK Public Affairs might have an edge over its competition - one of its senior strategists is also a top aide to Gov. Glenn Youngkin and has been working in the governor’s suite. The Youngkin aide - Matt Moran - wields significant power on behalf of the governor, telling lawmakers which bills the governor might sign or veto and negotiating with them on top policy issues like marijuana legalization, school choice and public funding for a new Washington Commanders stadium. He’s not on the state payroll but is employed by - and on paid leave from - two political consulting firms that seek to influence elected officials. The situation is unheard of in Virginia, according to a veteran observer of state politics. And a law professor and expert on government ethics said that even if there’s no evidence of legal wrongdoing, the situation raises ethical questions. The Richmond Times-Dispatch learned through the Freedom of Information Act that Moran was not paid by the state when he was not listed on a roster of new Youngkin appointees, even though a Jan. 21 news release from the governor listed him as deputy chief of staff and director of policy and legislative affairs.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
While other Virginia governors have had unpaid advisers — and Youngkin himself has a second volunteer at his service — Moran’s situation is especially unusual, because he works full time for the administration with a state title, but without upfront disclosure that he’s a volunteer on someone else’s payroll. Critics say the arrangement presents a conflict of interest and creates a loophole around Virginia’s revolving-door laws, which prohibit certain paid state employees from lobbying for a year after leaving their jobs. Moran declined a request to be interviewed but issued a statement through Youngkin’s press office defending the arrangement. “I am on leave from all companies and as a result do not have clients with business before the Governor or state government,” Moran said in the statement. Moran’s volunteer status was disclosed only recently, following inquiries from the media. In response to a Freedom of Information request from The Washington Post earlier this month, Youngkin’s office released a spreadsheet with salaries for Cabinet secretaries and other top officials. Moran’s was listed as “$0.”
The Washington Post

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares' office denied a public records request from 13News Now for internal e-mails regarding the lawsuit filed against the Town of Windsor for "discriminatory, unconstitutional policing." Miyares' office said the records were withheld because of Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) exemptions regarding attorney work product, attorney-client privilege, or records related to alternative dispute resolution. 13News Now filed the FOIA request on March 2, seeking e-mails regarding the lawsuit sent and received by Miyares and members of the Attorney General's office between Jan. 15 and March 2. Two days later, the Attorney General's office invoked a seven workday extension allowed under FOIA and requested an additional five workdays to respond to the request. This is on top of the five days required to respond. After the public records request was denied, 13News Now reached out to Miyares' spokesperson, who declined to comment on pending litigation, as well as answer a list of questions related to the lawsuit.
WVEC

With the budget season approaching, some citizens are wondering whether the Augusta County Board of Supervisors will prioritize purchasing body and dash cameras for the sheriff’s office. Wayne representative Scott Seaton wanted to give the public the option to weigh in on the cameras on April 13 before the board held budget talks the next week, a motion seconded by Pastures representative Pam Carter. The motion was ultimately defeated 5-2, as the opposing board members said they lacked information about the cost of the technology to receive the public’s input. Sheriff Donald Smith has requested the purchase of the cameras every year since 2018, but budget limitations eventually led the requests to be dropped. Seaton cited a figure given to the board by Smith of $3 million over five years for 85 cameras, which he said was enough to begin the conversation publicly. South River representative Steve Morelli said the board would be unprepared to hold a public hearing that keeps people informed in three weeks.
The News Virginian

After nearly an hour of lively discussion on how to conduct public comment time during meetings — including who should be allowed to speak — Hanover County’s School Board on Friday scrapped the idea of giving county residents priority. Beaverdam representative John Axselle suggested during the board’s January meeting — though he noted Friday that back then, it was other board members who brought the matter to him — that there should be a priority list established for public comment time that favored Hanover residents; specifically, Hanover parents as the first speakers, followed by county residents without children, Hanover business owners, county school staff and then everyone else. But as discussion unfolded during the nearly seven-hour work session Friday, at least three of the seven School Board members felt strongly that the idea was unfair because it wasn’t a problem. Rather than pushing ahead with it, the board switched its focus to addressing the amount of public comment time rather than speakers’ identities, and asked its lawyer, Lisa Seward, to make two minor changes to the “citizen participation” policy.
Richmond Times-Dispatch

The Rappahannock-Shenandoah-Warren Regional Jail authority board discussed the recent inmate overdose death at the jail in a closed-door session Thursday at their regular meeting. The closed session of about 2 hours was held to discuss personnel matters involved with the investigation into the death of Jonte Smith, 21, of Manassas, on Dec. 13. Jail Superintendent Russell Gilkison gave a brief overview of the incident before the closed session began, stating Smith and another inmate overdosed the evening of Dec. 12. Board attorney Brendan Hefty initially stated discussing the death did not qualify under state code as a discussion topic for a closed meeting, but Warren County Sheriff Mark Butler and Gilkison stated their discussion of the incident would involve personnel matters. Personnel matters can be discussed in a closed meeting. A Warren County Sheriff’s Office lieutenant and investigator, as well as the jail's deputy superintendent were invited to remain in the closed session. Butler stated after the meeting that the personnel matters involved seeing if policy and procedures were being followed properly.
The Northern Virginia Daily
 

stories of national interest

"Although IWD received the request for the text messages in May 2021, they made no attempt to retrieve the records until the Iowa Public Information Board asked the agency to do so in February of this year. By then, the phone had been purged of all text messages."

The State Department is being sued by a government watchdog group after the department said they would not be able to fulfill a documents request involving presidential climate envoy John Kerry’s office until after the next presidential election in 2024. Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT), a government watchdog, filed the transparency suit against the State Department on Wednesday after the department said they wouldn’t be able to fulfill the group’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request on Kerry’s office until Nov. 18, 2024. This means that the State Department said they cannot fulfill the request until after the next presidential election.
Fox News

The head of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council says steps should be taken to ensure that public documents requested by the press and public aren’t then destroyed by government agencies. Randy Evans, the council’s executive director, has written to the Iowa Public Information Board about the Iowa Capital Dispatch’s request last year for work-related text messages on the state-owned phone of Iowa Workforce Development Director Beth Townsend. Although IWD received the request for the text messages in May 2021, agency officials said they made no attempt to look at Townsend’s phone and retrieve the records until the Iowa Public Information Board asked the agency to do so in February of this year. By then, the phone had been purged of all text messages, IWD officials told the public information board. The board issued a finding that IWD had violated Iowa’s Open Records Law, but it then dismissed the Capital Dispatch’s complaint with no further action taken.
Iowa Capital Dispatch

 

editorials & columns

"There is an inverse relationship to the faltering health of news organizations and the government’s ability to delay or deny accountability."

Our open records and meetings laws were not created for journalists. It was created for the people, the governed. And it works. A private Montebello couple who began filing FOIA requests to learn why the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries shuttered a fish hatchery near their home uncovered a state-funded African safari and tens of thousands of dollars in lavish gift purchases that forced the agency’s director to resign in 2005. There is, however, an inverse relationship to the faltering health of news organizations and the government’s ability to delay or deny accountability. As trusted, traditional institutions of journalism atrophy, the forces of deceit, disinformation and nondisclosure strengthen commensurately. As with so much in society today, for the average person it’s no longer a fair fight.
Bob Lewis, Virginia Mercury

Oklahoma lawmakers missed an excellent opportunity to make the legislative process more open and accountable to constituents when the Legislature refused to put House Bill 3525 to a vote. The measure would have made lawmakers abide by the same open records and open meeting rules that city councils, county commissions, school boards and many other state and local bodies must follow. Curiously, lawmakers are exempted from the state’s Open Records Act and Open Meeting Act, and have been for some time. HB 3525 would have changed that. Had it passed, things such as emails to and from lawmakers, communications with lobbyists and other records would have been open to public view. Additionally, HB 3525 would have created a more formal ways for members of the public to comment on pending legislation. None of these reforms saw the light of day, as HB 3525 wasn’t even given a hearing before the March 4 committee deadline.
Tulsa World

 

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