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Category Archives: FOIA

Understanding the Freedom of Information Act: Take advantage of a great opportunity.

15 Mar

Sunshine Week began on March 13, 2011 and there are a lot of events occurring around the Country. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a key component in keeping Sunshine in government. For citizens, governments and the agencies subject to the FOIA, knowledge is the key. Understanding rights and responsibilities inherent with FOIA is crucial in developing a healthy approach to open government and citizen engagement. FOIA is a ‘living entity’ in that it is subject to change over time as laws are modified. Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by on March 15, 2011 in Citizen Participation, FOIA, Letter vs Spirit of the Law, Local Government, VA government, Your Tax Money

 

Has Sunshine Week Started Early in Christiansburg?

10 Mar

No. It isn’t an early start to Sunshine Week which falls on March 13th thru 19th this year. What has been happening for the last 6 months has continued to grow, the Town of Christiansburg is definitely moving into a new era of open government and citizen participation. This is what I have been hoping to see and the Town is far exceeding any expectations I had for such changes in a short period of time. So, that means I shouldn’t have anything to complain about? Well, I do, they’re running me ragged. They have so many meetings where citizens are invited to participate and where important information is made available to the public, I seem to be falling behind in getting videos posted. Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by on March 10, 2011 in Christiansburg, VA, Citizen Participation, FOIA, Local Government

 

SJ300 Pertains to the sharing of local electoral boards by jurisdictions

07 Feb

Clearly a ‘cost-saving measure’, this bill allows for 2 or more county or city jurisdictions can share one electoral board or general registrar. This sharing of expenses could help to cut some of the year-around costs of elections. It is unlikely to affect the costs of specific elections all that significantly, but it does raise some interesting questions. Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by on February 7, 2011 in FOIA, Local Government, VOTE, Your Tax Money

 

Can You Afford to Ignore What Your State Legislature is Doing?

20 Jan

It’s that time again. Things are happening in Richmond and those things are more visible than ever thanks to the internet and such sites as “Richmond Sunlight” (http://www.richmondsunlight.com). I previously wrote an article here “VA Bill Watch” where I discussed some of the features of this website and how to use them. Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by on January 20, 2011 in Citizen Participation, FOIA, Local Government, VA government

 

Walking the Tightrope in Government

13 Jan

Imagine, if you will, that you are tasked with walking across a bed of broken glass on a tightrope that is formed of an 8 pound test line. Would you do it?

Our elected officials frequently do just that psychologically when they are making decisions. A perfect example of what I am talking could be observed at the Jan. 11, 2010 Christiansburg Town Council Worksession on the Employee Handbook. Although it is not on the Town’s website yet, it was recorded and should be there shortly. Use the Meeting Videos link at Christiansburg’s website in order to check the most recent video. Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by on January 13, 2011 in Christiansburg, VA, Citizen Participation, FOIA, Local Government

 

Why is Open Government Important? Here’s a Local Example.

22 Dec

On Dec. 21, 2010, the Town Council for the Town of Christiansburg met to discuss and vote on several issues. Previously, at these meetings, I have been a bit too focused on getting video done and not paying as much attention to the nuances of the discussions. The topic of locating a cell tower came up and the light bulb in my head went on! Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by on December 22, 2010 in Citizen Participation, FOIA, Land Use, Local Government, US Government, VA government

 

FOIA Advisory Council being cut? Citizen Input? What a Joke!

08 Dec

Governor McDonnell’s Commission on Government Reform & Restructuring has been very busy. They are looking at which commissions need to be cut or combined with other commissions. The Welcome to Reform.Virginia.Gov website provides information that is very informative but unlikely to be read by many people because so much of the information is contained in lengthy documents. Wonder what joys this process holds? Oh…just keep reading…yepper….I’m a tad bit upset again…in fact, I’m furious! Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by on December 8, 2010 in Citizen Participation, FOIA, VA, VA government, VOTE

 

Citizens may lose a valuable resource: FOI Advisory Council

06 Dec

On Sunday, December 5, 2010, the Roanoke Times provided this: Editorial: Don’t eliminate the FOIA council. There are probably a lot of people who do not know exactly how important this council is to citizen throughout the state. Well, here is a bit of information about what you and your community stand to lose. Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by on December 6, 2010 in Citizen Participation, FOIA, VA, VA government

 

Priority Based Budgeting – Christiansburg Takes on the Challenge!

19 Nov

As many of you will remember, Mayor Ballengee noted a few months ago that he anticipated a 5 cent real estate tax increase would be necessary in order to handle next years budget.

Christiansburg Mayor acknowledges 5 cent real estate tax needed.

In order to try to keep that prediction from becoming reality, Acting Town Manager Barry Helms began to actively look for different ways of budgeting that would offer a more progressive way of budgeting. Once he found information about a specific process, Priority Based Budgeting, he working with Finance Officer Val Tweedie to see if it could be applied in Christiansburg and IF it would be a good fit. They determined that this would be an approach that would be helpful in balancing Christiansburg’s budget. Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by on November 19, 2010 in Citizen Participation, Education, FOIA, Local Government, Uncategorized, Your Tax Money

 

VML Conference: Couldn’t go but want to know?

01 Nov

While representatives from the Town of Christiansburg Government went to the recent annual VML Conference, little information has trickled back to citizens about what information or ideas those people brought home with them…yet. Of course, it is still early and Town Council members have been very busy dealing with Town business.

Fortunately, VML (Virginia Municipal League) does an excellent job of outreach to citizens. They provide a website that includes a page of topics covered and handouts provided at: http://www.vml.org/CONF/10ConfHampton.html. If you are not one of those people who wants to sit back have information delivered to you, simply take the initiative to see what is available. Who knows, it may just give you the background you need to understand why some things are done the way they are, or might inspire you to come up with a different idea that would work better for your area. Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by on November 1, 2010 in Blacksburg, Christiansburg, VA, Citizen Participation, Economic Development, Environment, FOIA, Land Use, Local Government

 
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