McLean Board Denies Public Access to Report
McLean Community Center Committee Shields Report on Public Opinion of the Center
Risa Sanders, a McLean Community Center board member, denied a citizen request for copies of a publicly-funded survey of McLean taxpayers' opinions about the community center and its operations.
Sanders, who is running for reelection to the MCC board, talked about selective results of the small survey of McLean residents at a Monday night meeting of Communications Committee, which she chairs.
Board and staff members had copies of the survey results. Dr. Jim Witte, a George Mason University professor, hired by the MCC board to conduct the survey presented selective results in a Powerpoint presentation to the committee.
After the meeting, McLean Patch, who is a McLean resident and taxpayer, asked for a copy of the report which cost McLean taxpayers more than $20,000. Sanders denied the request saying it was a “working document.” McLean Patch then asked to review the Powerpoint presentation. Sanders also denied that request.
"It is my understanding of the FOI law, which has been been similarly interpreted by the Virginia FOIA Council, that a report that has been disclosed or disseminated to the public can not later be claimed to be confidential. Furthermore, FOIA applies to draft and working documents, too, not just 'final' or 'official' reports." said Megan H. Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government.
The Virginia Coalition for Open Government, whose members range from the League of Women Voters, to newspapers to the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, is a non-profit alliance that promotes citizen access to government records, meetings and proceedings.
The staff attorney for the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council, Alan Gernhardt, said, “Generally speaking, draft documents are not excepted from the definition of "public records.”
The Council is a Virginia state agency that helps resolve disputes over Freedom of Information issues.
The Virginia Freedom of Information law states, “The affairs of government are not intended to be conducted in an atmosphere of secrecy since at all time the public is to be the beneficiary of any action taken at any level of government.”
The McLean Community Center board oversees the operation of the community center and has a $6 million budget and a $12 million surplus made up largely of taxes paid by us McLean residents. The board is an agency of Fairfax County government and subject to the FOIA law.
McLean Patch has filed a formal FOI request with Sanders for the complete report and the Powerpoint presentation so we can share the complete findings with the neighbors.
Stay tuned.
Friday: McLean Patch writes about the selective results revealed by Sanders.
Greg Brandon
9:52 am on Thursday, April 14, 2011
Do McLean and Langley taxpayers want to have their tax dollars paying for a potential FOIA lawsuit? I don't think so. We are entitled to analyse the results of a public survey paid for by our tax payer dollars. If the results of that $20,000 McLean Community Center Board survey show that fewer than 50 or so people responded, well Shame on the Tax Payers and Users of this great community asset. However, to deny our access to the results, Shame on the MCC Board.
Laura Sheridan
10:13 am on Thursday, April 14, 2011
Ditto!
Risa Sanders
12:46 pm on Friday, April 15, 2011
Dear Fellow Neighbors of McLean,
I have now written and sent two replies to this piece, but Bobbi has, unfortunately, refused to publish either one. Readers should wonder why that is. Her coverage of this topic are rife with errors and misrepresentations which create unecessary drama and an erroneous atmosphere of intrigue. This is truly a disservice to our entire community. I am very grateful to our neighbors who took the time to respond to this survey and we all look forward to the completion of the data analysis and presentation of all of the results to everyone. With nearly 800 completed surveys, we are excited to have such a great response. All indications are that the community is very pleased, but we always want to do better. The purpose of the meeting was to ask questions and give our expert from George Mason feedback on items to analyze and comparisons that need to be made. It is not complete yet. This was a work session. I urge all neighbors to be very careful and scrutinizing consumers of the information they receive. Character limits on this portion of the site prevent me from replying fully in this space. Please feel free to email me directly at risasanders@mcleancenter.org and I will be very glad to answer your questions. Thank you for listening~ Risa
Bobbi Bowman
5:13 pm on Friday, April 15, 2011
Dear Ms. Sanders,
Thank you for your comments. If you sent two comments, we received only one. The second comment that you sent us by e-mail included the phrase "you may not post this." In context, you might have been asserting what you believed to be our intention, but we chose not to make that assumption. Either of those comments could have been posted publicly, as you have for your apparent third comment.
If our character limitations prevent you from fully responding, we invite you to use multiple comments. We invite you to continue the dialogue on this issue.
Greg Brandon
6:07 pm on Friday, April 15, 2011
Dear Risa Sanders,
Regardless of the character limit for comments, you could have stated up-front in your open letter to McLean neighbors that you fully intend to release the results of the survey.
I look forward to a May article in the McLean Patch that reports the highlights of the survey.
Greg
Joan F. Morton
2:44 pm on Sunday, April 17, 2011
If Ms. Sanders is going to be running for the MCC board again, perhaps she should reconsider. We need people on that board, which our dollars is paying for, who will be more up front with those of us who live in the community.
Joan Morton
Marion Fulton
10:50 am on Monday, April 18, 2011
Joan, I haven't met you but I could not have said it better myself. ..and Ms. Sanders is the person in charge of "communications," at the center. -Ha! Chair of the Communications Committee!!
Gerrie Smith
12:27 pm on Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Ms. Sanders states that the "Patch" article is "...erroneous...[and] rife with errors...[and]...misrepresentations"? Simply release the results of the tax-payer funded survey. We will be the judge of your statement.