FOIA Request: Copies of Governor Ralph Northam's internal calendar between December 1, 2019 and the date this request is processed

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

Copies of Governor Ralph Northam's internal calendar maintained by Governor Northam or any representative of Governor Northam's administration between December 1, 2019 and the date this request is processed (approximately 4 months).

This request is specifically seeking any entries related to the Covid 19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. This request IS NOT seeking the publicly available calendar found here: https://www.governor.virginia.gov/about-the-governor/governors-calendar/ but rather is seeking any internal calendar kept by the Governor or any member of his administration.

In the event that entries need to be redacted, I ask that only those entries that need to be redacted are redacted and all other entries are provided in full.

I would prefer the calendar to be provided in whatever format it is maintained and used by the Governor or the administration.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Please note that I am a citizen of Virginia, and am using MuckRock's services to help manage and track my request.

Sincerely,

Tom Nash

Hello,

Please find proof of residency attached. Thank you!

Sincerely,

MuckRock Staff

[IMAGE REDACTED]

It means the person who maintains the calendar. Typically, high profile government officials don't maintain their own calendars, but delegate that task to assistants. This refers to whoever the actual individual is that maintains the calendar, if that individual is not the Governor.

Thank you.

Please bear with me. This is the first FOIA I’ve ever filed where executive privilege has been invoked.

So it is just like the executive privilege which was originally invoked here?:

https://justthenews.com/accountability/political-ethics/virginia-governor-spent-65-days-taxpayer-funded-jaunts-his-nc-beach

(Note: the article states the documents were provided after an appeal was filed)

Just to clarify, when executive privilege is invoked related to the denial of a FOIA request, is this passage of the VA FOIA law aaplicable to the denial, or is it enough to just mention executive privilege?

“ 1. The requested records are being entirely withheld. Such response shall identify with reasonable particularity the volume and subject matter of withheld records, and cite, as to each category of withheld records, the specific Code section that authorizes the withholding of the records.”

For instance, assuming the VA FOIA law passage above does apply even though executive privilege has already been invoked, and based on the specificity of the request, there should be a number of entries in the calendar mentioning COVID during the timeframe (Dec 1, 2019 - end of March) that could be tallied and provided Indicating the volume of records withheld, and also the specific code section that applies to the denial, or is this section of the law not applicable once executive privilege has been invoked?

If it is applicable, I would appreciate if you could provide the information related to volume and specific code sections.

Hi,

Thanks so much for your help with this request! I really appreciate it.

Sincerely,
Shawn Breen