POLICE DEPARTMENT ENTERS “21ST CENTURY”
Not all that long ago, getting information from the Danville Police Department about crimes and criminals was extremely difficult.
The Danville Register and Bee commented editorially that the department was not only famously tight-lipped about the amount of information it released to the public, it strictly controlled access to its officers. Even murder cases rated terse three- or four-sentence press releases.
A few months ago, that changed.
The department issued a press release detailing a minor traffic accident involving two off-duty officers. Both officers were charged, and one of them was placed on administrative leave.
“The investigation determined that both drivers had been drinking alcohol earlier that evening and that both were headed to the same residence,” the news release stated.
The release was posted on the department’s Web site.
The Register and Bee called it, “The best proof yet that the Danville Police Department has entered the 21st century in terms of accountability and openness.”
OUT OF THE CAUCUS ROOM
For several years, Staunton City Council held pre-meeting work sessions in the cramped quarters of a caucus room adjacent to the larger council chambers. When city residents attended the work sessions, crowding resulted.
Six months ago it changed the policy, moving the sessions into the larger chambers.
Still, one council member, Dr. Jean Donovan, opposed the change.
The caucus room will still be used for closed sessions.
The council got into hot water in 2004 for failing to tell anybody when a closed session was over. That problem got fixed when lights were turned on in the chambers, doors were opened and closed-meeting certification votes were delayed until the public could be on hand for resumption of the open meeting.
KEEPING THE DOORS OPEN
Faced with a threatened closing of the Oceana Naval Air Station, the Virginia Beach City Council opted not to go behind closed doors, instead openly airing its doubts and frustrations about the demands the city was facing.
An ultimatum by the Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission demanded, among other things, that Virginia Beach condemn and buy all incompatible buildings in the riskiest accident-potential zones around Oceana. That would include about 1,800 homes with total assessments of $268 million. The actual cost, including businesses in the accident zones, was expected to be much higher.
AT-HOME RETREATS
Not all local government bodies take their annual retreats out of town. In Culpeper, the school board stayed home, conducting its retreat on three consecutive nights as a convenience to the public. Well, the public and the school board, that is.
TRÉS BON
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel Commission cleaned up its act after the Newport News Daily Press reported what struck many as lavish spending at public expense.
Under new guidelines, commissioners will be reimbursed no more than $45 a day for food when they travel. Additionally, no alcohol expenses will be reimbursed by the bridge-tunnel district, or charged to district credit cards.
During a 2003 convention in Paris, spending included a trip to a cabaret featuring topless dancers at a cover price of $150 per person. Commissioners left a $350 tip that pushed the total night’s bill to $2,200.
The Daily Press also reported that some regional lawmakers have nonetheless called for a state takeover of the bridge-tunnel management. Others question whether the state could do better than the commission, which has raised some $90 million for construction of a new tunnel, should one be needed.
k