Fork Union representative Danny Reed resigned his seat on the Fluvanna County School Board on Friday morning (July 18) to take a teaching position with Fluvanna County Public Schools. The resignation came near the start of a special session of the board, which assembled primarily to approve Reed’s employment contract. Under Virginia law, School Board members cannot work for the school district. Before resigning, Reed said he was “embarrassed” by how the situation had “snowballed” from a personal matter to a source of public rumor and speculation over the previous six weeks. Instead of the confidentiality granted to other job candidates, Reed said his situation had turned into “political games, a mockery of this school board, and a very unnecessary distraction.” The June meeting [about Reed’s status] never happened because they did not have enough members present to form a quorum. “We’re approaching the June meeting where we know this political circus is getting ready to happen,” said Board Chair Andrew Pullen, “so I didn’t attend the June meeting for that reason, because if there’s no quorum, there’s no business. And when there’s no business, they couldn’t make a spectacle out of Danny.” “If you’re angry with me for doing that,” he added, “I don’t care.”

The former mayor and town manager of Glen Lyn was placed on probation for two years Wednesday for directing employees of the small town to release untreated wastewater and sewage into the East River. Defense attorney Tony Anderson argued that Glen Lyn’s financial distress — one of the reasons its residents voted last year to dissolve the town charter and become an unincorporated community of Giles County — played a role in Spencer’s actions. Spencer, 84, spent nearly half his life in a variety of municipal capacities that included serving as Glen Lyn’s mayor, town manager and a member of its town council. He also was elected to the county board of supervisors and worked as a grant writer for the Giles County Partnership for Excellence.

Danville City Councilman Lee Vogler was attacked by a man who poured gasoline on him and set him on fire on Wednesday, according to reports. On Wednesday afternoon, the vice-mayor of Danville, James Buckner, confirmed to ABC13 that Vogler had been attacked and set on fire. Buckner said Vogler is being flown by helicopter to the UNC burn unit in Chapel Hill. Danville City Councilman Lee Vogler was attacked by a man who poured gasoline on him and set him on fire on Wednesday, according to reports.”Based on the investigation at the time of this release, the victim and the suspect are known to each other and the attack stems from a personal matter not related to the victim’s position on Danville City Council or any other political affiliation,” DPD said.

Orange County residents will soon be using a new platform when seeking information from their county government. According to a release, the county is streamlining processes, promoting transparency and improving the resident-customer experience by adopting the JustFOIA solution for online Freedom of Information Act requests. The new platform will roll out on Friday, and the county says it will offer increased convenience for its users. It will be available here. Residents will still be able to submit FOIA requests by mail, fax, email, in person or over the phone, so those who would rather not use the platform will continue to have options.

It’s hardly news that governments face challenges communicating with constituents in our fractured media landscape. Certainly “building a brand,” primarily through social media, is a necessary component of modern public-sector public relations. But with local news in danger of extinction, government communicators should be cautious of PR efforts that ignore the role of reliable local news in the community. Devoid of independent scrutiny, these efforts run the risk of devolving into little more than propaganda. Can local government play a legitimate role in preserving local news? Should it? I say yes.