Transparency News 6/22/18

Friday
June 22, 2018

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state & local news stories

"He said officials mistakenly believed they were prohibited from sharing the information with the public."

After two hours in the second closed session of the night, the Bedford County School Board voted 4-3 late Thursday to accept a personnel report that lists Deputy Superintendent Cherie Whitehurst’s position as an instructional coach. Although school board members did not comment directly about Whitehurst’s reassignment, Leamy said the personnel report “speaks for itself.” The vote, the second of the night, concluded a marathon meeting that included an hour of public comments from about a dozen people, all in support of Whitehurst.
The News & Advance

Alexandria officials are apologizing to the public for keeping plans to redesign a new metro station secret. When the station went out to bid, officials determined they had to scale back the design and eliminate the south entrance due to cost. Thursday, City Manager Mark Jinks issued an apology to the people of Alexandria. He said officials mistakenly believed they were prohibited from sharing the information with the public -- and that officials should have pressed harder to clarify.
LocalDVM

Two local library “friends” groups are refusing to sign a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Fairfax County Public Library that requires stricter financial reporting, and several similar organizations in the county have yet to decide on whether to cooperate. The new agreement requires friends organizations to supply financial information that they already must report as non-profits, Hudson said.
Inside NoVa

stories of national interest

Citizens who routinely and repeatedly file Freedom of Information complaints over thin reasons are the subjects of a new law passed by the Connecticut legislature and signed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy June 7. House Bill 5175 — An Act Concerning Appeals Under the Freedom of Information Act and Petitions for Relief from Vexatious Requesters — gives additional authority to the Freedom of Information Commission to determine whether a FOIA request or appeal is vexatious and if so determined, grant relief to an aggrieved municipality or public agency. An agency may petition the commission for relief from someone the agency alleges is a vexatious requester. Upon receiving the petition the commission shall determine whether, given the allegations, a hearing is warranted. If it is determined that no hearing is warranted, the commission can dismiss the petition. It would allow a municipality or public agency to not respond to their requests for a period of a year.
Wilton Bulletin

The Los Angeles Police Department, roiled more than two decades ago by an infamous police beating video, entered a new era Wednesday, publicly releasing police body camera video in what will be a regular process aimed at increasing transparency when officers use force. The department's hope is to provide the public with a clearer view of the chaotic scenarios and split-second decisions officers face at a time when controversial officer-involved shootings in Los Angeles and across the country have eroded trust between police and the communities they protect.
Governing

A federal investigation initiated when West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Allen Loughry brought his concerns about Supreme Court spending to federal investigators has culminated with Loughry himself being indicted on 22 federal charges alleging fraud, witness tampering and lying to investigators. When news reports came out in fall 2017 regarding excessive spending on renovation in the Supreme Court offices, Loughry "continued the pattern of deceit and misdirection by misrepresenting to members of the media his role" in the renovation, Wright said. Loughry is accused of improperly using state vehicles and purchasing gas with a state credit card to travel for personal trips, including visits to his native Tucker County and signing events for his book, ironically about political corruption, at The Greenbrier resort.
Governing

The Justice Department’s seizure of online materials from New York Times reporter Ali Watkins is “not how the First Amendment operates,” Freedom Caucus member Jim Jordan said Thursday, advocating for a federal shield law for reporters that he is cosponsoring in the House.
Politico

Attorneys for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press have filed a lawsuit on behalf of WTHR, an NBC affiliate in Indianapolis, against the Hamilton Southeastern School District following its refusal to comply with requests under the Indiana Access to Public Records Act. For more than a year, WTHR and its senior investigative reporter, Bob Segall, have been attempting to get information about why the head football coach at Fishers High School — a public employee — was suspended by its Board of Education. WTHR’s records requests seek access to the factual basis for the suspension of the coach — information that is required to be disclosed under Indiana law but which HSE has refused to turn over.
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

The University of Connecticut has released hundreds of pages of documents pertaining to the university’s investigation and subsequent firing of former head men’s basketball coach Kevin Ollie over alleged NCAA violations. The 1,355 pages, released in response to a Freedom of Information Request, detail NCAA recruiting violations ranging from players working with an outside trainer, Ollie shooting basket with a potential recruit during an official visit, and more.
WVIT

Taxpayers have paid nearly $20 million for extra Coast Guard patrols that protected President Donald Trump by land and sea during 16 winter and spring trips to West Palm Beach since his inauguration, according to records obtained by USA TODAY. The spending records include all but one of his trips to his Mar-a-Lago estate in South Florida since the inauguration in January 2017. The data, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, do not include the cost of a weeklong trip in April when Trump hosted Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
USA TODAY

"The law would allow a municipality or public agency to not respond to their requests for a period of a year."

editorials & columns

Data usage is exploding in the modern world, and part of the challenge is not just making sure data stays out of the wrong hands — it’s making sure that data gets into the right hands. State Sen. Emmett Hanger Jr. has helped shepherd measures through the General Assembly to address that issue. "I consider it something very critical to promoting efficiency in government," he said. And it’s not just state agencies that need to share data among themselves. Often, information also needs to passed up and down the line among state, regional and local agencies. That includes local and regional jails, law enforcement agencies and community services boards, the groups that handle mental health and substance abuse evaluations and treatment.
The Daily Progress