The Greene County Board of Supervisors will henceforth limit public comments from out-of-county speakers at its meetings. It marks the second time in as many years the board has limited previously unrestricted speech, after supervisors tried and failed to prevent county employees from speaking to the press last year. Supervisors voted unanimously at their Aug. 11 meeting to permit only two speakers who are not county residents to address the board during public comment periods at future meetings. … County Administrator Cathy Schafrik, who was tasked with providing supervisors more information on how other localities handle public comment, provided supervisors with a report listing all 95 Virginia counties and what guidelines, if any, they have for public comment. A Daily Progress review of that report found no county in Virginia requires a speaker to provide proof of residency. Smyth County in Southwest Virginia is among the few that offer a “citizens’ time” in which the county board is to “allow citizens of Smyth County to address the Board regarding any matter.”
An investigation in Martinsville encompassing the entire city government is “trudging along,” as the Virginia State Police interviews witnesses and reviews financial records, said Gray Collins, the special prosecutor on the case. … Collins requested a forensic auditor from the Virginia State Police in April when he was first appointed to the case. He is waiting to be assigned someone who will assess Sands Anderson’s financial records. Sands Anderson conducted a separate workplace investigation report that detailed the reasons for the former city manager’s termination.
At least two maintenance workers employed by Richmond’s public housing authority were accused last year of trading maintenance work for sexual favors from residents, according to internal emails and memos obtained by The Times-Dispatch, including communications with residents who made the accusations. One of the maintenance workers is no longer employed by the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority, payroll records show. That worker, who spoke with The Times-Dispatch on the condition of anonymity, said he was fired, but denied allegations that he’d traded maintenance for sexual favors. The second maintenance worker was transferred to a different worksite after he was found to have violated authority policies by incorrectly prioritizing maintenance work orders and accessing a resident’s apartment without proper notice, according to an internal memo. He did not respond to a request for comment.
The Justice Department’s new overseer of executive branch FOIA records disclosures brings a conservative background working to expose alleged Democratic wrongdoing to a formerly nonpartisan position. Katie Blankenberg was announced as director of the Office of Information Policy last week after spending her entire six-year legal career at Judicial Watch, working on FOIA litigation. The conservative advocacy group known for using the Freedom of Information Act to target Democratic administrations is run by a vocal ally of President Donald Trump. Her arrival is generating concerns among open records advocates and former government FOIA lawyers that Blankenberg may favor document production to Trump-supporting causes and that the office is turning away from stable nonpartisan leadership.
