Monday, June 30, 2014
State and Local Stories
Just weeks after pledging greater collaboration on the James City County Board of Supervisors, a majority of three – two sitting supervisors and one supervisor-elect – met behind closed doors, according to a whistle-blower who stumbled onto the meeting. Keith White, a James City pilot, said he discovered the meeting of Supervisor Chair Mary Jones, Supervisor Michael Hipple and then supervisor-elect Kevin Onizuk sometime after the election but before Onizuk was sworn in as supervisor. He had gone to Hipple's Richmond Road contracting office about a private matter, he said. The receptionist turned him away because Hipple was in a meeting. White said he recognized Jones' voice through the door and asked if she was meeting with Hipple. The receptionist confirmed that and added that Onizuk was also in attendance, he said. "I didn't think anything else of it," he said in an interview. Months later he was talking to Supervisor Jim Kennedy and divulged that he had stumbled into the meeting. Still, White said he wasn't all that concerned. But White said Onizuk called him on Monday, asking him why he is spreading rumors about him.
Virginia Gazette
The city auditor has logged in to Portsmouth's financial system only twice since he started the job 14 months ago, and both logins occurred within two weeks of his starting date, city records show. Jesse Andre Thomas' work calendar for the past year shows sparse activity, including numerous months without a single meeting or appointment listed. Both city records were obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests. The findings come one week after The Virginian-Pilot reported that Thomas had not released any audits in his time on the job.
Virginian-Pilot
The Virginia Department of Transportation won't say how much subcontractors involved in its suspended U.S. 460 project have been paid, because it doesn't know. The department may not even have the names of every company involved in the project, which has cost more than $290 million without land being bought, road construction started or a required federal permit in hand. It also doesn't know how much profit the project's lead contractor, U.S. 460 Mobility Partners, has made so far, or how much it kept for in-house expenses. This is not unusual, according to VDOT. Even in traditional project contracts, as opposed to the public-private deal struck for U.S. 460, the department generally works with a prime contractor and may not know who they use as subcontractors, VDOT spokeswoman Tamara Rollison said.
Daily Press
Fairfax County fired one of its assistant county attorneys Friday afternoon because she won election last month to the Fairfax City Council, allegedly creating an incurable conflict in legal matters that might involve both the city and the county. Nancy Fry Loftus worked on the staff of County Attorney David Bobzien for 17 years, mostly in tax collection and bankruptcy cases. A native of Fairfax City, she said in early February she asked Bobzien both orally and in writing if she could run for city council in the jurisdiction of 23,000. “He said, ‘Great, good for you,’” Loftus said Friday evening. She said Bobzien suggested she speak with the deputy county atttorney for personnel, who told her, “Not only can you run, we can’t prohibit you from running.”
Washington Post
The Prince William County School Board recently extended Superintendent Steven L. Walts’ contract to 2018, and awarded him a 3-percent raise, bringing the his annual compensation package to about $390,000. But Walts’ annual evaluation – which was not made public – also includes directives asking him for a plan to expand the county’s state-supported preschool program to more low-income students and to implement zero-based budget planning for the coming year, School Board Chairman Milt Johns said an interview this week. None of the other seven school board members responded to emailed requests for comment about Walts’ contract or evaluation.
Inside NOVA
U.S. Congressman and Virginia Ninth District Representative Morgan Griffith introduced The Cell Phone Freedom act on Tuesday, which would prevent government officials from remotely disabling mobile devices. As mobile devices having become an increasingly attractive target for theft, industry group CTIA – The Wireless Association signed a voluntary agreement to include a “kill switch” feature in smartphones manufactured after July 2015. The kill switch is intended to deter theft by allowing the owner to remotely disable the phone, ruining any resale value it may have. According to Griffith, it’s vital that First Amendment protections keep up with smartphone technology as it is continuing to evolve at a rapid pace.
Southwest Times
Loudoun County Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio has declared victory in the federal case involving his controversial advocacy organization and its inflammatory campaign mailer, but the plaintiff and representatives from the Southern Poverty Law Center say the matter isn't quite over. While Delgaudio has settled, with his conservative Public Advocate of the United States group agreeing to pay $2,500 to a Brooklyn photographer who took an engagement photo for a gay couple, that photographer, Kristina Hill, is still seeking relief from other defendants in the lawsuit, including the National Association for Gun Rights, Rocky Mountain Gun Owners and several people involved with those organizations, according to the SPLC, which is providing counsel to the plaintiffs.
Loudoun Times-Mirror
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