All Access

Among many issues around the county’s approval of a Wegman’s warehouse, the Court of Appeals affirms the trial court finding that the COVID restrictions put in place for the public hearing did not violate FOIA.

Note: VCOG did not participate in this suit.

A lawyer for Spotsylvania County School Board members April Gillespie and Lisa Phelps is asking a circuit court judge to dismiss a $1 million lawsuit filed by fellow board member Nicole Cole, who alleges malicious prosecution in relation to an assault and battery charge last May. Cole’s assault charge was dismissed in July, but she filed a lawsuit in November alleging that Phelps fabricated the claims and Gillespie lied to support the allegations. Michael Sylvester of the Founding Freedoms Law Center in Richmond is representing Phelps and Gillespie. He said no trial date has been determined to hear Cole’s lawsuit. Sylvester, Phelps and Gillespie declined further comment, but their response filed in Spotsylvania Circuit Court sheds light on their argument for dismissal.

Arlington Public Schools’ recent decision to stop posting on the social-media platform X is getting some scrutiny from a School Board member. Miranda Turner at the Feb. 27 Board meeting sought clarification of the reasons behind leaving the platform — formerly Twitter — and the 21,000 people who followed APS’s main X account (among smaller school-level accounts). School-system leadership in February announced plans to stop posting on Twitter and move to Bluesky, a rival site. As of the Feb. 27 meeting, APS had picked up about 900 followers on Bluesky since starting to post in December, Superintendent Francisco Durán said. While not directly criticizing the decision, Turner tried to get a definitive answer on the thinking behind the change. “Why not maintain both?” she asked. “The transition seems to be just leave the one. What was the analysis done?”

The Warren County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 Tuesday night not to renew its funding agreement with Samuels Public Library. The agreement is set to expire June 30. The motion originated from the newly formed Warren County Library Board (WCLB), which was introduced in November in a report by Jamieson and Cook. The new WCLB has met four times since the start of the year and recommended last week that supervisors not renew the contract with the Samuels after WCLB chairman Eric Belk accused the Samuels’ board of trustees of violating the Freedom of Information Act by holding a "secret" meeting in December and inappropriately changing the nonprofit's bylaws. At the December meeting Samuels trustees changed the nonprofit's bylaws to specify that in case Samuels was shut down its assets would go to a nonprofit, educational organization of the trustees' choosing rather than automatically go to Warren County for the purposes of a library. Samuels owns all the books, fixtures and equipment at the library building on Criser Road, which it leases from the county. Samuels trustees continue to deny they violated FOIA laws and that the trustees "have every right" to change the bylaws.

Surry County Supervisor Amy Drewry says her absence from two board meetings in February has been deliberate and in response to her being “marginalized” by county staff and fellow supervisors. She says she doesn’t plan to return until the board retains an outside consultant for diversity training. “I am attempting to right numerous wrongs by illustrating publicly through my absence who in fact is running the county,” Drewry told the Times. “Presently, the county administrator and board majority are making all decisions, leaving myself and the Surry representative (Tim Calhoun) in the dark. In asking for nearly a year for professional guidance in dealing with our bias and division, I have been met with stonewalling, denials and silence.” “Supervisor Drewry’s absence from recent meetings means her constituents are not being properly represented, and that is a disservice to those who elected her,” Vice Chair Breyon Pierce told the Times.

Two Alexandria City Council members are taking to the airwaves with a new podcast aimed at keeping residents informed about local government activities. Vice Mayor Sarah Bagley and Councilman R. Kirk McPike have launched “Council Connection,” a monthly podcast focused on the activities of the Alexandria City Council. McPike announced the podcast’s debut on his Facebook page on Tuesday, March 4, describing it as “our way of keeping Alexandrians informed about what Council has been doing every month.” “Big news for folks who like long conversations about public policy: Sarah Bagley and I are launching a podcast tomorrow!” McPike wrote in his social media announcement.

A Lynchburg parents’ group accused a city councilman of intimidation and retaliation after he threatened legal action against the group in response to statements it posted on social media criticizing him. The group, Save Our Schools, said in a Feb. 25 post on its Facebook page that At-large Councilman Martin Misjuns “has repeatedly advocated for school closures and defunding education.” A day later, Misjuns asked on his Facebook page whether anyone knows who is behind the Facebook page for “the radical left socialist” Save Our Schools group. “I can’t [wait] to take them to court for this easy slam dunk false claim that’s black and white in the public records,” he wrote.

Isle of Wight County supervisors made an excellent choice in Thomas Distefano to fill the District 2 board seat left vacant by the death of the Rev. William McCarty. Unfortunately, his soon-to-be colleagues did him, themselves and citizens a huge disservice by cloaking in secrecy the process leading to his nomination. It’s an unforced error that could come back to haunt the board and, sadly, Distefano should he choose to run in this November’s special election. By invoking a Virginia Freedom of Information Act exemption that allows, but does not require or even encourage, secrecy surrounding political appointments such as this one, the four current supervisors – Joel Acree, Rudolph Jefferson, Don Rosie and Renee Rountree – stand alone among local governing bodies with their lack of transparency. Not only did they go behind closed doors to discuss Distefano’s appointment; they refused to make public the names of others who applied or were nominated.

Meetings of county committees and subcommittees must generally be open to the public, even where the meeting is of a county subcommittee and no employment issues are discussed or decided, the Arkansas Court of Appeals said on Wednesday. The case arose out of Washington County. The county created a Criminal Justice Coordinating (“CJC”) Board, which has three subcommittees. For previous subcommittee meetings, the county provided the public with a Zoom link to a videoconference where they could watch and participate. About half an hour before a Feb. 7, 2023, subcommittee meeting, the county learned the Zoom link would not work. Three people who wanted to attend asked the county to postpone the meeting until a later date, since holding the meeting without allowing public attendance would violate the FOIA. Despite these requests, the county proceeded with the Feb. 7 meeting. The county’s criminal justice coordinator told the three interested parties that because no decisions were made, it was not a violation of the FOIA. Elizabeth Coger, a Washington County Justice of the Peace and one of the three citizens who had been unable to watch the meeting, sued the county under the FOIA.