Citizens for Fauquier County Honored by the Virginia Coalition for Open Government

WARRENTON, VA — Citizens for Fauquier County was honored in Harrisonburg last week at the Virginia Coalition for Open Government’s Access 2025 Conference with the Laurence E. Richardson Citizen Award. The award recognizes outstanding efforts to advance access to government records and meetings and improve awareness of state open government laws so that their citizens and communities can fully participate in the democratic process.

In 2022, CFFC sent Freedom of Information Act requests to Town of Warrenton officials seeking information related to a proposed Amazon data center in the town. The officials refused to hand over thousands of documents, and after multiple unsuccessful attempts to convince the town to do so, CFFC filed a lawsuit.

In June 2024, the Court of Appeals of Virginia ruled in CFFC’s favor, and the town officials who had withheld the documents decided to appeal the decision to the Virginia Supreme Court. However, in early 2025, a new town council decided to release the documents and drop the appeal.

“The FOIA principle that CFFC fought for was important enough to VCOG that it filed a brief in support of its case. Their arguments not only persuaded the court, but their persistence led to more transparency and broad access for all,” said Maria Everett, president of the VCOG board of directors and member of the award review committee.

In accepting the award, CFFC President Kevin Ramundo said, “I couldn’t be prouder to receive this award on behalf of our members and our board, who made this victory for open government possible. We are grateful for this honor and that VCOG filed a brief supporting our case that ultimately strengthened and clarified Virginia’s Freedom of Information statute.” He noted that 23 other organizations belonging to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press also filed a brief in support of CFFC’s case.

CFFC was represented by the Richmond office of Whiteford, Taylor, and Preston, LLC.

Photo courtesy of Citizens for Fauquier County. From left to right: Yak Lubowsky, CFFC board member; Michael Brady with Whiteford, Taylor, and Preston; Amy Trotto, CFFC board member; and Kevin Ramundo, CFFC president.

Posted on: April 7, 2025