Video Ban 'Spin' Continues; Brian Trompeter of the Sun Gazette Hides the Truth

From this week's Sun Gazette newspaper reporter Brian Trompeter writes:

"[Vienna Town] Council members earlier this month had mulled a ban on videotaping at public meetings, but were told by Town Attorney Steven Briglia that such a restriction would violate Virginia's open-meeting laws. 'It's a part of free speech in Virginia, and we're on board with that,' Vienna Mayor M. Jane Seeman said."

The only reason the Mayor is "on board" with not banning video is because it is against Virginia State law! She makes it sound like she never wanted to ban video when in actuality she was told she would be violating State law if she did so. The larger question looms: why would Vienna Town Council members seek to ban video at all? Who exactly proposed this ban?

Brian Trompeter was there. Trompeter has refused to report the truth and the Town records are silent as to who made the proposal. That is cr*p.

Here is the governing Virginia State Law regarding freedom of information. Here is the exact code section. State code clearly says:

"Any person may photograph, film, record or otherwise reproduce any portion of a meeting required to be open."

It appears certain members of Vienna Town Council clearly intended to violate State law. Is it believable that after all these years the Town Council did not understand or know about State law? If you know who proposed the videotape ban please email us. Anonymous tips are welcomed.

As a side note, the Virginia Coalition for Open Government may be a useful resource. Their web site includes this useful guide. Also consider:

"If you feel you've been wrongfully denied a public record, if the government doesn't respond to your request for records, if you think the notice for a meeting or the topic of it was improper, there are a few things you can do. For starters, you can try to work out a mutually satisfactory agreement with the public body directly. You can ask the Freedom of Information Advisory Council to issue an oral or written opinion. The council's opinions are persuasive and its answers are generally respected by citizens and government alike. There is no charge for the council's help."