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Committee continues FOIA library and open-data ordinances after public comment and administration briefing
Summary
Council sponsors and residents urged a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) library and open-data measures; administration described an ongoing JustFOIA software procurement and asked for more time to address scope, liability and staffing questions. Committee continued the FOIA/open-data papers to Oct. 22, 2025.
Council members and a group of residents, reporters and civic organizations urged the Governmental Operations Committee to adopt three transparency-related ordinances that would create an online FOIA library, expand open-data definitions and tighten disclosure for appointed boards. Sponsors framed the package as “radical transparency” to rebuild public trust; administration officials said they support a FOIA library but asked for additional time to refine scope and workflow.
Council member and co-sponsor (sponsor listed in the transcript as) Kelly Gibson introduced the FOIA-library ordinance and described pressure from recent litigation and multiple FOIA requests. Public commenters representing community groups and civic organizations voiced strong support:
- Joe Brancoli, a First District resident and member of Electrify RBA, said the ordinance would be “a beacon of sunlight” and said the city already holds JustFOIA software that can help implement a library. - Susan Revolo and Emma Clark urged adoption, saying a permanent FOIA library would help residents, organizers and reporters access records and reduce repeated or costly requests. - Quentin Robbins (Richmond for All), Erin Trimmer and other commenters warned about costs: they supported the library but raised concerns about a $350,000 administrative estimate to add three staff positions.
Ross Caitrom, director of the Office of Strategic Communications, briefed the committee on current FOIA operations. Caitrom said the city had finished procurement of a new FOIA-portal product (referred to in the meeting as Just FOIA or “JustFOIA”) and that the software will simplify building a searchable archive. He said the software can support automated redaction and routing but added that implementation requires policy decisions about which categories of records — and which sensitive exemptions — should go into a public-facing library. Caitrom and administration representatives explained that some record types are commonly excluded from public portals in peer cities (for example, certain emergency-response, human-services or police records that include sensitive personal data). He said that, pending final scope decisions, staff estimate an implementation need for three dedicated positions to review and curate records into a library if the ordinance as drafted requires everything or near-everything be published. He and the CAO’s office asked for a continuance so administration and council sponsors can reconcile scope, rubric and liability questions.
Public commenters and several committee members said they want the library but asked for transparency around cost estimates and urged quick implementation of JustFOIA’s capabilities for frequently requested public records. Reporters and long-time transparency advocates also urged lower FOIA fees and restoring public access tools such as a check register that had been removed from the website.
Outcome: after public comment and an administration briefing, the committee voted to continue the FOIA-library ordinance (ordinance 2025-210) and related papers (ordinances 2025-209 and 2025-211) to the next Governmental Operations Committee meeting on Oct. 22, 2025, to allow legal review and further work on scope and staffing.
Why it matters: the ordinances address how residents obtain public records, potential administrative costs and the balance between public access and legal/prosecution-sensitive exemptions. The committee’s continuance aims to let sponsors and administration harmonize the policy rubric with operational capacity and legal risk.
Ending: Committee staff will arrange a JustFOIA demonstration and collect FOIA-statistics requested by council and will return with clarifications and proposed amendments for the Oct. 22 meeting.
