The Onancock Residents Group was founded to address the flawed plan for a performance structure at the Historic Onancock School. As we pursued this matter, we discovered a much larger problem: the lack of transparency in town government more broadly. The place to begin addressing this issue is the State of Virginia’s FOIA law, which requires a good deal of transparency on the part of government at all levels in our state. It does not require complete transparency, however. For more details on FOIA’s requirements, scroll to the bottom of this page to find the link to a useful booklet from the Virginia Municipal League and the link to the text of the Virginia FOIA.
WHAT IS A “MEETING”? The law defines a “meeting” as a gathering (either in person or electronically) of three or more people of a public body, as in the case of the Onancock Town Council. If Town business is being discussed, the meeting that must follow the requirements of FOIA.
OPEN MEETINGS ARE THE LAW UNDER FOIA.
Under the State of Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Section 2.2-3707, all meetings of “public bodies,” which includes municipal government — even for small towns like ours — must be open. Virginia FOIA defines what a meeting is:
1) Notice has to be given of the meeting. The notice has to be posted three working days in advance of the meeting.
2) The meeting must be open to the public.
3) Minutes have to be taken (the draft must be completed by 10 days after the meeting) and must be preserved as part of the public record.
Let’s look at these three requirements in more detail, noting where the Town of Onancock has met, has not met, or has even exceeded the requirements of the law.
1. NOTICE. The notice of each regular meeting must include date, time, place and location. Here in Onancock, it is posted on the Town website. It also needs to be posted in a “prominent public location” where notices are “regularly posted” and in the town clerk’s office. Special or emergency meetings get some latitude on this, so it is important to check the town website for these. If you want to receive a “snail mail” or email notice of meetings, you need to request this from the Town Clerk in writing annually. (See §2.2-3707 item F).
Advance notice is required to include “at least one copy of the proposed agenda and all agenda packets” and “materials furnished to members” of the public group. Some materials, such as personnel records, are exempt from this. The Town of Onancock posts its meeting agenda with attachments to download the week before each meeting.
2. OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. These days, being open to the public means both in-person and online access. Onancock town meetings are available through the online platform zoom. A quorum of Town Council members has to be present in person, however. (Please note that the Town is not liable if there is a glitch in electronic communications.)
Open meetings have to be open to media. The Town of Onancock records and posts videos of Town Council meetings. If you attend a meeting and want to photograph or record the meeting, you may do so (although your equipment cannot interfere with the meeting).
The right of citizens to comment at public meetings is not guaranteed under Virginia FOIA. However, §15.2-1416 Part D of Virginia law states that governing bodies “shall provide members of the general public with the opportunity for public comment during a regular meeting at least quarterly.” In the case of Onancock, the monthly Town Council meetings include a public comment session. If you come to the meeting, you have to sign in both as an attendee and on the list of speakers.
3. Minutes. Virginia’s FOIA spends a lot of time on the requirements for meeting minutes, and when they are not required. Public minutes are not required for closed sessions. Nor are they required to document the deliberations of study committees unless the group contains a quorum of the organizing group.
Minutes are public records and must be made available to the public if requested. The Onancock Town Council’s minutes are included in the packet available to be downloaded before each meeting. For more detail on the requirements for meeting minutes, see the link below from the Virginia Municipal League.
THE PROBLEM OF COMMISSIONS AND OTHER SUBCOMMITTEES.
There are exceptions to the public minutes rule. The most troublesome is the exception of committees and commissions. The Virginia Municipal League notes: “Study commissions or study committees, or any other committees or subcommittees appointed by the governing body…of a county, city or town” do not have to take formal minutes. This also applies to closed meetings, although the results of any vote taken in a closed meeting must be included in the minutes of the open meeting.
WHEN CAN A MEETING BE CLOSED? The Onancock Town Council, like other public bodies, can go into closed session to handle personnel and other confidential matters. The full list of matters suitable for closed session is listed in Virginia’s FOIA (available as a link below). The results of votes in closed session have to be included in the minutes.
VA Municipal League FOIA This is a useful booklet on Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act, published by the Virginia Municipal League in 2015.
https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacodepopularnames/virginia-freedom-of-information-act/ This link leads to the full text of the FOIA.
FOIA is a great place to start in opening up our town’s government to more public input — but it is only a start. The lack of transparency in town governance is a complex problem that developed over decades. It will take some time, and the good will and cooperation of both citizens and our town councilors, to un-knot it.