Transparency News 5/2/17

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

State and Local Stories

Two members of the Washington County Board of Supervisors will seek answers to a number of financial questions tonight when they meet with the Virginia Highlands Small Business Incubator board and its executive director Cathy Lowe. The meeting comes after comments made last week by Supervisor Vernon Smith who said he requested information about the incubator’s financial status, as well as the incubator’s board’s meeting minutes for the last decade but did not receive them. Lowe, who is also mayor of Abingdon, said last week that some of the information was provided, while some of it is either too old or confidential.
Bristol Herald Courier

As they prepared to take up roughly a dozen old complaints of illegal political mail or signs, members of the Virginia State Board of Elections complained Monday that they were flying blind because the state agency they oversee stopped offering guidance on whether the ads in question did or didn’t violate the law. The lack of staff analysis and recommendations, coupled with lengthy delays between when complaints come in and when they come up for review, left one board member openly wondering whether the state is doing enough to police political campaigns. Board members also raised concern about receiving limited details about the cases — many dating back to the November election and some over a year old — on Friday afternoon for a Monday morning meeting.
Richmond Times-Dispatch

Those hoping to learn why the Richmond School Board negotiated an early exit for Superintendent Dana Bedden left Monday’s board meeting with questions and one answer: how much he would receive on his way out. The board voted 7-1-1 to pay Bedden nearly $300,000 in severance and unused sick and vacation days upon his departure June 30, two years before his contract’s end date. Monday’s meeting was the public’s first formal opportunity to lash the board for its perceived secrecy in negotiating Bedden’s departure, as well as an opening for board members to provide context for the decision. They declined, mostly.
Richmond Times-Dispatch


National Stories
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Nearly three months ago, the the USDA removed its database of animal abuse records from its public website, with no explanation. National Geographic wanted to know why. We filed a Freedom of Information Act request in February for records relating to the decision to take the database offline. In bold disregard for transparency, the department’s response Friday consisted of 1,771 pages of completely blacked-out documents.
National Geographic (includes document images)

The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas has filed a lawsuit in district court against the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for allegedly failing to provide documents or respond to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed back in February. In Texas, the ACLU is seeking records relating to the implementation of the order at sites that fall within the jurisdiction of the CBP’s Houston Field Office. Those sites include Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Bush Intercontinental Airport, and the Houston Airport. It also includes operations at the Port of Entry Offices in the region.
SE TexasRecord

The federal government’s top ethics officer is challenging the Trump administration’s issuance of secret waivers that allow former lobbyists to handle matters they recently worked on, setting up a confrontation between the ethics office and President Trump.
New York Times