Transparency News 10/1/13

 

Tuesday, October 1, 2013
 
State and Local Stories

 

Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling’s Virginia Mainstream Project released a series of proposals Monday that are designed to improve the structure and operation of Virginia’s state government.  The proposed changes would impact the election and role of the Lieutenant Governor, approve gubernatorial succession, create a bipartisan redistricting process, implement the merit based selection of judges, establish a Government Performance Review Commission, change Virginia’s two year budget cycle and mandate a review of all current exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act to improve governmental transparency.
Bill Bolling Lieutenant Governor
Virginian-Pilot story on the same

Molly Joseph Ward is resigning as Hampton’s mayor on Friday to take a position within President Barack Obama's administration. As long as the federal government is operating, she will begin a job as the Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director for the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs on Monday. A federal shutdown would delay that start date.  She will work under Director of Intergovernmental Affairs David Agnew to engage mayors and municipal leaders across the country concerning issues facing localities. The position will force her to move to Washington, D.C.
Daily Press

For the fourth consecutive year, state auditors have cited internal errors in the Albemarle County Circuit Court Clerk’s Office that could account for thousands of dollars in lost revenue to the county and commonwealth. The most recent report from the Virginia Auditor of Public Accounts details fiscal errors in Clerk Debra M. Shipp’s office from January 2012 through March 2013.
Daily Progress

Political giving isn’t a requirement for appointment to higher education boards at Virginia’s top public universities and colleges, but it doesn’t hurt. A review of Virginia Public Access Project records shows that current board members at the state’s 10 largest public four-year institutions have shelled out about $9.5 million in state political donations in the past 20 years. Members at the biggest schools have doled out tens of thousands of dollars in recent years to the man who appointed them — Gov. Bob McDonnell.
Times-Dispatch

In an effort to quash a flurry of election-cycle rumors about past legal troubles, Brian Lang, the Democratic candidate for a seat on the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors, decided Monday to address his critics head-on. Holding a leaflet that had been anonymously distributed across the Hollins District, Lang was adamant in defending his ability to lead, despite a page-long list of 32 court cases he’s faced between 2002 and 2013. The list included traffic infractions, tax liens and garnishments, among others. “Unfortunately there are those who wish to cast me … in a negative light,” Lang said. “I have made some errors in the past and have corrected them. All of these have been paid or resolved.”
Roanoke Times

In response to a 3-3 vote that shelved Adam White’s proposed townhouse project on Riverside Drive during the Sept. 17 Danville City Council meeting, Councilman Lee Vogler is asking for some procedure changes. In an email sent to fellow council members, Vogler said “significant votes, such as that one” should not be decided when only two-thirds of the members are present. Any actions taken by council require at least five “yes” votes, according to City Attorney Clarke Whitfield said, with any spending proposals requiring six yeses.
Register & Bee

Google Street View is bringing its mapping technology inside Culpeper. Local restaurants, boutiques, galleries, hotels, professional offices, venues and campus buildings can sign up to participate in the Google Maps expansion that will create panoramic interior imagery of participating sites. The resulting Google Virtual Tour becomes a permanent part of Google searches, Google Maps, Street View and the businesses' Google Place page. Recently Google mapped interiors include the world's largest particle physics lab in Geneva. The White House and Thomas Jefferson's Monticello have also been photographed for the ongoing online initiative along with thousands of others places worldwide.
Star-Exponent

A former candidate for Alexandria’s city council was arrested this month on a charge that he impersonated a law enforcement officer. Scott Gordon returned to his car Sept. 19 to find a police officer giving him a ticket, police said. He then revealed a firearm, which he has a permit to carry, and implied that he was a federal law enforcement agent.
Washington Post

National Stories

Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino magnate and prominent Republican donor, has lost a $60 million libel lawsuit in which he claimed a Democratic group spread a false accusation that he had condoned prostitution in his casinos in Macau. At issue was an article published on July 3, 2012 by the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) on its website that sought to dissuade then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney and other Republicans from accepting Adelson's allegedly "dirty" and "tainted" money.
Reuters

A Washington federal judge has dismissed a defamation suit the son of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas brought against the publisher of Foreign Policy magazine. Yasser Abbas sued Foreign Policy and Jonathan Schanzer, vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, over a June 2012 article Schanzer wrote questioning whether Abbas and his brother were profiting from their family's political connections.
Blog of LegalTimes

If you’d like to know a little something about Mississippi’s next superintendent of schools, Carey Wright, you should thank Des Moines, Iowa. When Wright interviewed for the superintendent of that local school district in March, she and two other candidates met with members of the community and then gave speeches and brief interviews with the board that were recorded. That 20-minute recording is still online. It gives a much better insight into Wright’s background and professional views than the one-paragraph statement she issued through the Mississippi State Board of Education after it voted in a closed meeting last week to name Wright the leader of the Magnolia State’s 490,000 students and 148 school districts. When Wright interviewed in Omaha, Neb., in December, her name was again announced publicly and she took questions from community members after giving a presentation. Contrast that to Mississippi, where the names of most of the five finalists are still unknown, Wright left town before she was publicly announced and it’s still not very clear why the board chose her over other candidates. Superintendents, lawmakers and education advocates say they’re hopeful Wright is a good choice, but the truth is most don’t know much about her.
(Jackson) Clarion-Ledger

If like many people, you have questions about the confidential files detailing the National Security Agency's data-gathering activities, Tuesday may hold one of your best opportunities for answers. Glenn Greenwald, one of a handful of journalists who were provided the documents by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, will host a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) about the leaked files today, The Guardian announced in a tweet Monday evening.
CNET News

Editorials/Columns

Times-Dispatch: Gerrymandering distorts the political process. Virginia is purple in statewide elections yet all red or all blue in assembly races. Artfully drawn lines disenfranchise voters. Reapportionment has reversed the republican equation. Citizens no longer decide who will represent them; delegates decide whom they will represent. The only answer is to take redistricting out of the hands of elected officials. Independent commissions ought to control the process. The present system insults principles Americans are said to hold dear.

Daily Progress: Pay much attention to politics these days, and you’ll notice a “piling on” phenomenon: Because statewide campaigns are relentlessly, deliberately negative, problems that, although important, might have warranted only passing attention are instead inflamed into major controversies. Meanwhile, issues that are legitimately major problems might be manipulated for political advantage. Their true significance risks being obscured by political encrustations.  » When Ken Cuccinelli, current attorney general and Republican gubernatorial candidate, came under fire for his relationship with Star Scientific CEO Jonnie R. Williams, Democratic state Sen. Donald McEachin filed a request to see the correspondence between Mr. Williams and the AG’s office. » Meanwhile, emails obtained from the AG’s office by the Bristol Herald Courier detail another troubling case, one that perhaps has received insufficient attention.