Transparency News 5/4/17

Thursday, May 4, 2017

State and Local Stories

Prince William County School Board Chairman Ryan Sawyers is pushing for full access to emails sent and received by his predecessor on the board, a move that he claims is aimed at better understanding school system issues as his opponents blast him for trying to use his position to intervene in an unrelated legal dispute. Sawyers, a Democrat, is hoping to comb through all email correspondence of former Chairman Milton Johns, a Republican whose retirement before the 2015 elections opened the seat for Sawyers’ eventual victory. But, according to emails provided to InsideNoVa, Superintendent Steven Walts rebuffed Sawyers’ requests on April 27, telling him that he would need to request the correspondence through the Freedom of Information Act or secure permission from a majority of the school board.
Inside NOVA

Richmond School Board members endorsed a letter touting Superintendent Dana T. Bedden’s accomplishments but forfeited their right to criticize him publicly to secure his early exit. A separation agreement signed Tuesday by both Bedden and Richmond School Board Chairwoman Dawn Page bars members from sharing negative assessments of his performance. Likewise, Bedden may not voice concerns about the board.
Richmond Times-Dispatch

The war of words escalated Wednesday over two of Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s budget vetoes that House Clerk Paul Nardo has refused to recognize. Nardo, who serves as Keeper of the Rolls, told McAuliffe that he is “duty-bound not to publish” the governor’s veto of budget items that prevent the expansion of Virginia’s Medicaid program without General Assembly approval and expand a prohibition on mandatory labor agreements to public-private transportation projects. The clerk, who works for the Republican-controlled House of Delegates, said in a three-page letter that the governor’s vetoes are unconstitutional because he attempted to purge language from the budget without also taking out the appropriations attached to it — in the case of Medicaid, the entire $107 billion budget. “As a result, it is my duty not to publish the purported vetoes for the reasons set forth in this letter,” Nardo said.
Richmond Times-Dispatch

On Monday a Chincoteague resident handed town council members copies of a request she made under the Freedom of Information Act, seeking details about the recent elimination of the town planner position. Patricia Farley, speaking during the public comment period, said she also had emailed the request to the town manager. The request was made Monday afternoon, May 1.  Farley asked for a transcript or minutes regarding portions of the closed session that happened during the March 17 town council work session. She said this is her second request for the information.
Delmarva Now


National Stories
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A judge has rejected MLive’s request that the city of Grand Rapids release recorded phones calls of police investigating a former Kent County prosecutor’s crash. MLive and the Grand Rapids Press sought recordings of five telephone calls on a phone designated non-recorded. The calls involved fired Lt. Matt Janiskee talking to an officer, Adam Ickes, who described former prosecutor Josh Kuiper as “hammered,” and to Sgt. Thomas Warwick, who drove Kuiper home after the Nov. 19 crash. Kent County Circuit Judge Joseph Rossi sided with the city of Grand Rapids which said the release of the recordings should occur only after a federal judge determines whether the release of the recordings would violate state or federal wiretapping laws.
MLive