(C) Virginia Mercury
This story was originally published by Virginia Mercury and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
FOIA Friday: Richmond whistleblower complaint and closing police decertification hearings • Virginia Mercury [1]
['Staff Report', 'More From Author', '- March']
Date: 2024-03-08
One of the less noticed features of the Virginia Way is the long-running tendency of the commonwealth’s leaders to conduct their decision-making behind closed doors. While the Virginia Freedom of Information Act presumes all government business is by default public and requires officials to justify why exceptions should be made, too many Virginia leaders in practice take the opposite stance, acting as if records are by default private and the public must prove they should be handled otherwise.
In this feature, we aim to highlight the frequency with which officials around Virginia are resisting public access to records on issues large and small — and note instances when the release of information under FOIA gave the public insight into how government bodies are operating.
Fired Richmond FOIA officer files whistleblower complaint against city
Former Richmond FOIA Officer Connie Clay filed a whistleblower complaint against the city and its director of strategic communications and civic engagement, Petula Burks, claiming she was unlawfully fired for “refusing to engage in illegal and unethical activities in violation of FOIA.”
In her lawsuit, which seeks $250,000 in damages, Clay claims Burks and other city officials regularly prevented her from properly fulfilling FOIA requests.
“Twice during Clay’s truncated tenure, she was sued to turn over records pursuant to FOIA requests, exposing her to potential personal liability and fines,” Clay’s attorney wrote. “In both cases, Clay intended to turn over the requested information from the outset but was overruled by Burks and directed to withhold information. In each case, the lawsuit was withdrawn when City finally turned over the required information to the requester.”
Clay also says that when she began working for Richmond in summer 2023, Burks instructed her “that each time she received a FOIA request, she should wait until the day the response was due and then invoke an extension of seven working days regardless of whether the City could timely produce the required information.”
WTVR reporter Tyler Layne, who has covered FOIA problems in Richmond extensively, also released an email sent by Clay to Burks that he said the city repeatedly refused to provide him in response to a FOIA request. In the strongly worded email, Clay takes Burks to task over the handling of FOIA requests and says she “will not misstate the law or facts for the City or any City official.”
In an interview with Layne about her lawsuit, Clay said, “There were many instances where I was asked to withhold information that should have been released or to sit on records that should have been released.”
Richmond City Attorney Laura Drewry has told The Richmond Times-Dispatch and other news outlets that “the city believes the claims are baseless and intends to defend the lawsuit in court.”
An internal memo sent by Chief Administrative Officer Lincoln Saunders to City Council over the weekend said the city is overhauling its FOIA department, including creating updated standards for responses and potentially hiring an outside legal firm to help with future requests.
Closing police decertification hearings to the public
Legislation being carried by Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, would close hearings on the potential decertification of law enforcement and jail officers to the public.
Those hearings are currently open to the public.
Specifically, Senate Bill 88 would add “meetings or portions of meetings of the Board of Criminal Justice Services or the Department of Criminal Justice Services concerning the decertification of an identifiable law-enforcement or jail officer” to the list of meetings that officials can close under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
Additionally, the bill would order that any records provided to the board or department “for the purposes of decertification of an identifiable law-enforcement or jail officer or the decertification review process for that” individual “shall not be disclosed” under FOIA.
The bill is being backed by the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police, Virginia Association of Commonwealth’s Attorneys and Virginia chapter of the NAACP. Locke told The Richmond Times-Dispatch that people being interviewed by the Department of Criminal Justice Services during the decertification process “didn’t want to disclose information publicly.”
Dana Schrad, a spokesperson for the police chiefs association, also told the Times-Dispatch some decertification appeals are being “overturned for lack of evidence” because chiefs and sheriffs “don’t want to bring their files into an open hearing.”
The bill has passed both chambers and is under review by Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
The Mercury’s efforts to track FOIA and other transparency cases in Virginia are indebted to the work of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government , a nonprofit alliance dedicated to expanding access to government records, meetings and other state and local proceedings.
FOIA shows how much Hampton Roads council members are expensing
Through Freedom of Information Act requests, The Virginian-Pilot revealed how much city council members throughout Hampton Roads expensed in 2023. Those costs, which largely cover travel for official city business and attendance at conferences, are paid for with taxpayer money.
The Pilot found the highest expenditures in Newport News, where council members were reimbursed about $41,000. Norfolk members had the lowest expenses, at $12,400. Mayors across the region tended to rack up the most expenses on travel, which council members said was necessary to keep abreast of how local governments are dealing with common problems and what grant funds are available, as well as to attract potential economic development.
King George withholds records related to complaints about Board of Supervisors chair
King George County refused to release 34 pages of records in response to a FOIA request by the Fredericksburg Advance for emails from county employees to Human Resources staff or Board of Supervisors members that reference complaints about board Chair T.C. Collins.
The county’s FOIA officer said King George was withholding the records under the personnel information exemption of the Freedom of Information Act.
Have you experienced local or state officials denying or delaying your FOIA request? Tell us about it: [email protected]
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://virginiamercury.com/2024/03/08/foia-friday-richmond-whistleblower-complaint-and-closing-police-decertification-hearings/
Published and (C) by Virginia Mercury
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/virginiamercury/
