Transparency News 9/10/14
State and Local Stories
More than two-thirds of Virginia voters say the jury that convicted Bob and Maureen McDonnell on federal corruption charges was right, according to a new poll from Wason Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University. That includes a majority of Republicans, the poll found. The poll found that Virginians want the General Assembly to pass stricter ethics laws for public officials.
Daily Press
The governor of Virginia doesn’t just write a thank-you note anymore when he gets a gift. These days, he also sends a reimbursement check. Gov. Terry McAuliffe promised not to accept any gifts worth more than $100 when he took office in January, aiming to chase away the ethical clouds that settled over Richmond under Robert F. McDonnell, the former governor convicted of corruption last week. But just because a governor declares that he will not accept expensive gifts does not mean people will stop trying to shower him with them. Old habits die hard in the Old Dominion, where public officials were free to take personal gifts of unlimited value until this year.
Washington Post
Most days, the public doesn't get to see what Virginia Beach Police Officer Dan Kneaskern and other patrol officers do during a typical shift. But last month, people got to follow him on a virtual ride-along, through text and photos posted in real time on the Police Department's Twitter account, @VBPD. The department will host its next virtual ride-along - this time with its Marine Patrol - from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. today. It is the second in a series of "Tweet from the Beat" ride-alongs designed to give residents a glimpse into what it's like to be a police officer.
Virginian-Pilot
Henrico County police officers will begin wearing body-mounted cameras this fall. County police hope to have the first 36 cameras in hand by Oct. 1, Henrico Police Chief Douglas A. Middleton told the county’s Board of Supervisors at a Tuesday meeting.
Times-Dispatch
Members of the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors wore looks of confusion and concern as they listened to representatives of Internet service providers in the area talk about broadband Tuesday. Board members questioned representatives from Comcast, Cox Communications and more for about an hour at a work session devoted to broadband after a regular supervisors meeting. With Hollins District representative Al Bedrosian leading the charge, supervisors tried to get to the bottom of the question: Why would the government get involved in the broadband business?
Roanoke Times
The Caroline County Board of Supervisors approved the publishing of the names of the top 500 tax delinquents in two newspapers. Since May, the board has been discussing publishing the names of those who owe personal property taxes from 2008 to 2013. There are 4,094 people who owe personal property taxes to the county for the years 2008–13, for a total of $1.6 million. That doesn’t include people who have declared bankruptcies, people who the county know are deceased and people who have set up formal payment plans.
Free Lance-Star
The average William and Mary student connects to the college's network with three devices, according to administrators with William and Mary's Information Technology division. Only one of those devices, data analysis has shown, is an actual computer. That's why it made sense, administrators say, to offer a mobile app for the students that also appeals to other members of the college community, including faculty members, alumni and local residents who like to take advantage of events like shows, games and lectures that are open to the public. "We've had a website that was mobile friendly, that you could bookmark on your phone, to give you a lot of the services," said Courtney Carpenter, William and Mary's chief information officer, in an interview. "But one thing I noticed on the mobile site is you couldn't get into the IT services that you have to log into to use, such as our student system to look at your grades or see what classes you registered for."
Virginia Gazette
Members of a recently created Joint City/School Task Force in Suffolk say they’re eager to get to work, but questions over whether the group would be able to meet in closed session have delayed their first meeting. An initial meeting in July was postponed only hours before it would have started in closed session. City Councilman Mike Duman, who proposed the task force and is one of two City Council members appointed to it, said the city attorney looked into the issue and decided the meetings must be open to the public. It went against his personal preference, he said. “My original desire was for the meetings to not be open. (Closed) meetings can always be somewhat more productive, especially if there’s negotiations involved or there’s a need for more open conversation,” Duman said. “It’s easier to have a conversation when you don’t necessarily have to worry about being politically correct.”
Suffolk News-Herald
In what are becoming heated exchanges over ethics in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District race, Republicans on Tuesday attacked Fairfax County Supervisor John W. Foust for filming a commercial inside the county government center. County and state officials said there was nothing out of the ordinary in using the government building for a commercial about cutting government waste that began airing Tuesday, a 31-second spot for which the Democrat’s campaign obtained a permit earlier this month. But after a journalist called the location “unusual” in a tweet, supporters of Foust’s Republican opponent, Barbara J. Comstock, noted that Fairfax ethics guidelines prohibit employees and elected officials from using any county facilities for political purposes.
Washington Post
National Stories
A judge has denied two petitions to release Ferguson, Mo., shooting victim Michael Brown's juvenile criminal records. Judge Ellen Levy Siwak of St. Louis County Circuit Court Division 11 on Tuesday denied both petitions filed by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and GotNews.com.USA Today
Editorials/Columns
Shawn Day, Virginian-Pilot
It would be both wise (to avoid prison) and good policy for officials to discourage large donations, avoid decisions that benefit big donors and generally disengage from contributors. But until that happens, we are stuck with a system in which lots of public officials could be convicted of a felony but few are prosecuted. That’s not healthy for a democracy. It gives prosecutors vast discretion to choose targets, undermines the credibility of prosecutions that do occur and, ultimately, says something very unsettling about our government. Something has to give. We either need to strengthen our campaign finance laws or, if that’s impossible, acknowledge that our public corruption laws are merely aspirational. A political system where any given federal, state or local official is just a wink, nod and a motivated prosecutor away from federal prosecution is untenable.
Jeffrey Bellin, Times-Dispatch
