22 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY MARCH 19-25, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com THE CITY OF DARKNESS AWARD Richmond, Virginia Richmond’s creation of a new FOIA Library may seem like a step toward transparency, but there are questions about the city’s commitment after it left the same officials subject to records requests in charge of curating which records might be released. Faced with a plan to post all of the city’s eligible public records released under Virginia’s sunshine law, the Richmond City Council instead opted to go with the mayor’s alternative proposal. That plan lets the mayor’s administration—the same one that might be the subject of those records— decide what’s worth posting to the library. Instead of providing access to all public records that the city released under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, the library will only contain a subset that officials believe meet certain criteria, including records that the administration deems “relevant” to city business or that would aid “accountability.” The city cites concerns that “transparency without context” might be too confusing for the average citizen. Forgive us for having more faith in Richmond residents than its leaders do. The city’s secrecy shenanigans extend beyond the FOIA library. In an ongoing legal battle, attorneys representing Richmond asked a judge to prohibit former city FOIA officer Connie Clay from filing FOIA requests seeking information about her firing, and sought a gag order to prevent her from talking about the case. Clay alleges she was fired for insisting the city comply with public records law, describing what she calls a “chaotic and mismanaged” and illegal FOIA request process. Rather than agree to a $250,000 settlement, Richmond has spent more than $633,000 in taxpayer funds on legal costs. The trial and the FOIA library launch are both slated for the summer of 2026. THE SURCHARGE, EH? AWARD Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver residents must now pay twice for public records. Despite taxes already funding the creation and storage of government records, the City Council approved charging people $10 Canadian (about $7.33 in the United States) every time they ask for “non-personal” public records. Officials claim the fee is necessary to deter misuse and cover some administrative costs. The only people abusing anything, however, are the officials who imposed this tax on the public. The message Vancouver is sending is as crisp as a newly minted $10 note: Secrecy is a higher priority than public accountability. THE DATABASE DELETION AWARD Muneeb and Sohaib Akhter, formerly of Opexus Brothers Muneeb and Sohaib Akhter are accused of essentially hitting delete on federal government data, destroying access to information contained in millions of records. The government hired a federal contractor called Opexus, which hosts data and provides services to dozens of federal agencies. The company employed the Akhter siblings, though in February 2025, Opexus learned about the brothers’ previous convictions for wire fraud and obstructing justice. Soon after, the company fired the pair. But, according to prosecutors, the two decided to double down on being wildly unsuited for administrative access to government records systems. The Akhters immediately turned around and retaliated “by accessing ON DEMAND A quick guide to public records in Monterey County. As with seemingly everything in government, there is an alphabet soup to public records as well. In the most general terms, you have probably seen references to FOIA—that’s the federal Freedom of Information Act, which applies to federal agencies—and the CPRA, or California Public Records Act. These are functionally equivalent and our team at Monterey County Weekly files a bunch of both types of requests, mostly the CPRA, which applies to local and state agencies in California. One important takeaway is that these laws govern public records, emphasis on public. Journalists may be eligible for fee waivers associated with processing FOIA and CPRA requests, but any member of the public—that’s you!—is entitled to receive the same information. You can submit a CPRA request to your local city hall or school district or water board any time. Some things to keep in mind: Only records that already exist are disclosable, and the agency is not obligated to produce new records to fulfill your request. Providing a clear, narrow request and date range is generally helpful in getting produceable records. Only public agencies—not private businesses or nonprofits—are subject to FOIA or the CPRA. There are many other places to obtain public records that do not require submittal of a CPRA request. Court records are viewable in Monterey County Superior Court courthouse locations in Salinas and Monterey. The Monterey County Jail keeps an updated list of incarcerated people on its website. Every public agency publishes agendas for meetings and many of the topics on the agenda have reports and addenda attached. For instance, a check register regularly goes to city councils for approval. In a lot of cases, you don’t need to request a record to view a record that already has sunlight shining on it. A growing number of local government agencies have webpages dedicated to public records. It’s easy to make an account with your name and contact info and file a request. Then set yourself a calendar reminder for 10 days out—that’s how long they have to respond to you, although it might take them longer to fulfill your request—and then see what you can glean. Don’t expect to see everything. A number of items are generally exempt from public disclosure, such as police reports, attorney-client communications and personal contact information. How we define public records and what is or is not disclosable is evolving with the times. The original CPRA, modeled on FOIA, was passed by the California Legislature back in 1968 and signed into law by then-governor Ronald Reagan. It has been repeatedly updated since then, but the core premise remains the same and was enshrined in the California Constitution after voters in 2004 approved Proposition 59, affirming the public’s right to access public records. “The people have the right of access to information concerning the conduct of the people’s business, and, therefore, the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies shall be open to public scrutiny,” it reads. About 1,200 pages were fully redacted— just sheets of gray. computers without authorization, issuing commands to prevent others from modifying the databases before deletion, deleting databases, stealing information, and destroying evidence of their unlawful activities,” according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The two have been accused of deleting 96 government databases, many of which contained FOIA records and sensitive investigative files. Their indictment alleges that a minute later, one brother queried an artificial intelligence tool for “how to clear system logs following the deletion of databases.” The brothers are also charged with stealing government records and conspiracy to commit computer fraud. The Brothers Akhter allegedly took mere moments to destroy untold amounts of information that belonged to the public. Though they could face decades in prison, the public may never know the extent of the damage. The Foilies were written by EFF’s Beryl Lipton, Dave Maass and Aaron Mackey and MuckRock’s Dillon Bergin, Kelly Kauffman and Anna Massoglia.
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