Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2016 12:40 PM
Subject: PRESS RELEASE: Court of Appeals Orders Council to Produce Records Related to Development of McMillan Park
FOR RELEASE: June 15, 2016
CONTACT: Don
Padou, 202-664-4395Linwood Norman, 804-837-0737
Court of Appeals Orders Council to Produce Records Related to
Development of McMillan Park
WASHINGTON, DC -- In a decision that will have far
reaching effects for transparency in the District of Columbia, the Court
of Appeals, on June 9, 2016, handed down a decision ordering the Council of the
District of Columbia to hand over records related to the proposed development
of McMillan Park. The Council had claimed that the
records were protected from disclosure by the District's speech or debate
statute. The Court disagreed.
The Court's decision means that the Council is
fully subject to the District of Columbia Freedom of Information Act. The Council tried to avoid its
responsibilities under FOIA by claiming that the speech or debate statute –
also known as the Legislature Protection Act – provided a massive exception
that allowed the Council to withhold almost any record.
The
Court's decision arose from a FOIA lawsuit brought by Kirby Vining, one of the
founders of Friends of McMillan Park, against the Council. "The
public won today. It won very specifically regarding McMillan Park. This win
means that the public will finally get to review the records of how
councilmembers, executive agencies, and private developers worked behind closed
doors, doors the Council worked very hard to keep closed, to create a
sweetheart deal to destroy a historic landmark," said Mr. Vining.
"The public also won in a bigger way that will affect the District for
decades to come because this win means that anyone can now get many records
that the Council would have kept in the dark. This is a step toward
greater transparency."
“But
today we thank the Court for ruling on behalf of the people. This
decision is yet another victory in the efforts of the Friends of McMillan Park
to hold the District to abide by existing rules and regulations to revitalize
McMillan Park for future generations, keeping openness and transparency in this
process,” Vining said.
Mr. Vining was represented by Don Padou, a
lawyer who specializes in FOIA cases. The D.C. Open Government Coalition
filed a friend of the court brief in support of Mr. Vining.
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McMillan is a compendium of the ills that beset the District government. The deal between the government and Vision McMillan Partners is rancid from start to finish, and the banal outcome--McMillan Town Center--will be with us for a long time, while an authentic chapter in this city's life will be destroyed forever. Speaking of forever, I recently learned that D.C.'s Taft Bridge AND the Pantheon in Rome are built of unreinforced concrete, just like the substructure of McMillan. The same material that Vision McMillan Partners and DMPED insists cannot endure because it's UNREINFORCED!
ReplyDeleteHooray for Kirby Vining and his attorney and the others that fought the good fight, AND WON! Shining a light into this dodgy deal is one step further into full transparency in local government.
ReplyDeleteThis is a truly exciting and unexpected development! Kudos to all who have labored so long and so hard to protect this invaluable city asset.
ReplyDelete