In Defense of FOIA and Brenda Blackburn
by Michael Reis
Whether federal, state or local government, sunshine laws and FOIA can be inconvenient. However, just like with many other inconveniences inherent in the work of public bodies, compliance is not optional. Many agencies work to provide significant information on publicly available platforms because it can help mitigate the need for FOIA requests by making information
readily available. For example the State Corporation Commission website shows you who and when someone set up a business, the IRS website provides access to exempt organizations’ basic financial information, VDOT’s website will show you crash data and timelines for future construction projects. Locally, Wythe County has extensive documentation provided to their Supervisors on their website. Montgomery County not only has videos of its meetings, but their Boarddocs shows all the details of the meeting in real time.
The Pulaski County Board of Supervisors takes a very different approach. One, meetings are not live streamed and, when the local paper live streams them on Facebook, they are hard to hear. Finding even basic information about budgets, audits, or even meeting schedules can be difficult. Even the basic ordinances (laws) of the County are not available online. So information must either be requested by FOIA or remain unknown. The new Sports Tourism and Entertainment Authority had their first meeting in October to announce their meeting schedule, and the only way to find it would be to FOIA that information.
On October 28, 2024, instead of acknowledging this issue, the Board of Supervisors and staff took up time at a public meeting to petulantly complain about the cost and difficulty of responding to FOIA requests. While a half dozen well-paid County Staff looked on, a “presentation” was made about the extent of one citizen’s FOIA requests, Mrs. Brenda Blackburn. Without any basis, the County Administrator derided her requests as frivolous despite providing all or most of the requested information. Mrs. Blackburn has the absolute right to request any and all information available under State law, and requesting records is a critical component to oversight of public bodies. Sunshine is the best disinfectant for corruption, and criticizing a member of the public for exercising her rights is antithetical to the American tradition of vigorous debate. Mrs. Blackburn spends her own money to request and receive records that all our tax dollars pay for. She should be applauded, not publicly shamed.
In fact, Virginia Code Sec. 2.2-3103 states “No officer or employee of a state or local governmental or advisory agency shall:... (10) Use his public position to retaliate or threaten to retaliate against any person for expressing views on matters of public concern or for exercising any right that is otherwise protected by law.” Making FOIA requests is a right protected by law and using public funds to shame someone in a public meeting sure seems like retaliation.