Transparency News 10/21/14

The Governor’s Commission on Integrity and Public Confidence in State Government invites members of the public to participate in a forum from 6 until 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 6 at the University of Virginia School of Law. The event will take place in Caplin Auditorium, located in Withers-Brown Hall. Co-chairman Rick Boucher will present an overview of the work of the commission followed by an opportunity for individuals to share their ideas and offer comments.

A unique and secretive database formed two years ago to help police in five Hampton Roads cities scour personal telephone data for potential criminal activity is drawing the ire of some lawmakers and privacy experts. The formation of the so-called "Hampton Roads Telephone Analysis Share Network" in November 2012 drew virtually no public debate at the time. It would be another six months before Edward Snowden would become a household name. But a report this week by The Center for Investigative Reporting is now prompting some to question the program's legality. "In a democracy, we should know more about government than government knows about us – something that is clearly not the case here given the secrecy around the development and maintenance of this database," said Claire Guthrie Gastañaga, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia. According to a memorandum of understanding obtained by The Virginian-Pilot, Chesapeake, Norfolk, Suffolk, Hampton and Newport News in late 2012 started funneling phone records obtained by police to the Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Task Force, which is responsible for a "telephone analysis room" in Hampton.
Virginian-Pilot

The regional group that agreed to subsidize People Express' suspended service to Newark and Boston met behind closed doors for about 45 minutes Monday to discuss investing funds to support an air serviceat Newport News-Williamsburg International Airport. The group took no action and would not say if members discussed People Express and its status. The Regional Air Service Enhancement Committee, known as RAISE, had earlier this summer agreed to give the Peninsula Airport Commission $700,650 to match a federal grant of $950,000 to support the People Express service.
Daily Press

An attempt by Charlottesville officials to govern relations between the City Council and members of the public resulted in some angry comments from citizens Monday night. “I find it ludicrous and shocking that several items on this proposal fly in the face of free speech,” said city resident Rebecca Quinn. After a discussion at an August retreat about how to streamline city meetings, councilors agreed to allow city staff to write up a new policy to govern how they would act while in office. That resulted in a draft policy that includes a request that Councilors provide a copy of all constituent correspondence to City Manager Maurice Jones and Mayor Satyendra Huja. “We do not want our communications monitored,” said Charlottesville attorney Jeffrey Fogel. “We do not want to be monitored by Big Brother in Washington, and we do not want to be monitored by Little Brother here in Charlottesville.” All written communications to a member of the City Council from citizens and staff are already subject to Freedom of Information Act requests and may be public documents.
Charlottesville Tomorrow

A committee of the University of Virginia Board of Visitors met for a closed session in Richmond on Monday afternoon to discuss “the evaluation of senior staff” and potential litigation. The university would not say whether the meeting had anything to do with UVa President Teresa A. Sullivan, whose contract is up for renewal in January. Her contract expires in July 2016, but discussions of possible contract extension are slated to begin early next year. The board’s executive committee met for a scheduled two-hour meeting and immediately went into closed session.
Daily Progress

A Navy intelligence officer illegally diverted nearly $2 million in government funds to his boss's brother under a secret, illegitimate contract to build hundreds of untraceable rifle silencers, prosecutors said Monday in laying out their case against the officer. In opening trial statements in Alexandria, prosecutors said the defendant, Navy civilian Lee Hall of Sterling, had no authority to buy weapons and that the real reason for the contract was to bail out his boss's brother, Mark Landersman, who prosecutors said had a failing race-car business. Landersman, of Temecula, California, faces trial next week. Both he and Hall are charged with conspiracy and theft of government funds. Hall's lawyer says the contract was legitimate and needed to support a classified program that remains shrouded in secrecy.
Register & Bee

National Stories

Two top deputies of New York Mayor de Blasio, who campaigned on creating a new era of government openness, commonly use their personal Gmail accounts to discuss city-related issues, the Daily News has learned. First Deputy Mayor Anthony Shorris and director of intergovernmental affairs Emma Wolfe routinely communicate via their private email addresses, according to multiple government insiders. Good-government groups contend that’s a behind-the-scenes way to dodge oversight and contrary to the open government de Blasio vowed to run as he campaigned for mayor.
New York Daily News

In Maricopa County, Arizona, 88 of 143 school board races were canceled because the candidates ran unopposed or, in nine instances, no candidates stepped up. Maricopa, Arizona's most populous county, had by far the most cancellations. Yavapai County had the second most uncontested school board races with 54, and Yuma had the fewest with only eight. When candidates run uncontested, the county's board of supervisors cancels the election to save money and then appoints the candidates to the post as if they were elected.
Arizona Republic

An influential advocate for banks and financial services released 10 principles it believes the government should follow when issuing new cybersecurity regulations.  While a partnership between the government and private industry is important, information sharing should be “limited to cybersecurity purposes,” according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.
The Hill

First there was public uproar about how members of Montgomery County’s (Maryland) Board of Education used their district-issued credit cards. Now comes fallout regarding the $140,000 in legal bills that piled up as the records for those credit cards went under review and investigation. Board President Phil Kauffman (At Large) defended the legal costs in a commentary recently published by The Washington Post, arguing that hiring outside lawyers to examine members’ spending decisions was “the right thing to do” as the school board sought to examine its own actions and come up with new procedures. But several Montgomery County Council members and a Montgomery watchdog group have challenged the need to involve outside lawyers and assailed the cost of the help. “I just don’t think there is any way you can tie a ribbon on the fact that our school board spent $140,000 getting advice on how to stop wasting money and make it look good,” County Council member George L. Leventhal (D-At Large) said.
Washington Post

Documents related to Syracuse University's 2005 investigation into molestation allegations against former basketball coach Bernie Fineare not shielded from disclosure in a lawsuit filed by Fine's wife as attorney work-product, a federal magistrate judge decided.
New York Law Journal

Last week government attorneys submitted 28 documents concerning “watchlisting” procedures to a federal court for in camera review that they said should be protected from disclosure under the state secrets privilege.  The documents had been sought by the plaintiff in Gulet Mohamed v. Eric Holder, a case challenging the constitutionality of the “no fly” list. The government had previously argued that it was “not appropriate” for a court to perform its own review of such privileged records. But it nevertheless complied with a court order to produce them (under seal). The government reiterated its position that “the assertion of the state secrets privilege in this case is proper, and the appropriate consequence of the assertion of the privilege is dismissal of Plaintiff’s case.” Beyond that, government attorneys also took the opportunity to rebut the court’s criticism of the use of the state secrets privilege, and to defend several past assertions of the privilege.
Secrecy News